Germany’s Romantic Road is a picturesque 350km route through the forests and mountains of Bavaria. It doesn’t have a well defined route but many consider its northern endpoint is Würzburg and its southern endpoint is Füssen. Würzburg, a wine-region city, is world famously known for the Residenz. The Würzburg Residence has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture. Füssen, in the foothills of the Alps, is near King Ludwig II’s iconic Neuschwanstein Castle.

The best time to visit is during shoulder Spring and Fall seasons. Summer is the peak seasons with busy traffic. October brings in beautiful fall foliage. The end of September to early October is also the time for the world famous Munich Oktoberfest, which is less than two hours away by car from Füssen. The temperature is in the range of 68°F (20°C) high and 50°F (14°C) low along the Romantic Road. During fall seasons, there are more cloudy days and some light raining days. A weatherproof rain jacket should be sufficient.

A road trip is the best way to explore the Romantic Road. A car allows the flexibility to explore many beautiful small towns along the German Romantic Road. One can also add visits to Munich Oktoberfest, or a Rhine River cruise to explore many medieval castles. Five or more days, probably ten days are needed if you want to add a stint at Oktoberfest.

Our journey was taken during middle September to early October 2024 starting with a car rental at Frankfurt International Airport. We spent a couple of days exploring Rhine River valley first before we drove to Würzburg. Please refer to our trip report on Rhine River Castles for details of that trip.

Our first stop was Würzburg. Würzburg is a university town. University of Würzburg is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Germany, having been founded in 1402 with more than 28000 students enrolled. A popular tourist attraction is Alte Mainbrucke, or Old Main Brige, across River Main. It is a tradition for young university students to hang out with friends while holding a drink during sunset time on the pedestrian bridge. There is a stand on the bridge selling wines and spirits by the glass. We found park garage Parkhaus Wöhrl conveniently located within a few minutes of walk distrance.

Going east from Alte Mainbrucke, we walked through the main streets of Würzburg, passing Vierröhrenbrunnen (Four Tubes Fountain), a clock tower at Rathaus, a museum under clock tower. Slightly toward left, there are three beautiful churches awaiting you, Wurzburg Cathedral (Würzburger Dom), Schönborn Chapel Schönbornkapelle (Mausoleum), and New Munster (Neumünster). Do take some time to explore these sights slowly and check out the museum and interiors of these churches.

After indulging these beautiful churches, it is time for the Crown Jewel of Würzburg, the Würzburg Residence. Würzburg Residence, or Residenz Würzburg, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture. It was commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn and his brother Friedrich Carl von Schönborn in 1720, and completed in 1744 as their residence.

Würzburg Residence’ exterior is not that magnificent. Interiors, however, are considered masterworks of Baroque/Rococo or Neoclassical architecture and art include the grand staircase, the chapel, and the Imperial Hall. The building was reportedly called the “largest parsonage in Europe” by Napoleon. It was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during World War II, and restoration has been in progress since 1945. Since 1981, the Residence has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its outstanding Baroque art, design, and architecture. The magnificent Grand Staircase is the most beautiful staircase you found anywhere in the world.

Our next stop is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. Today it is one of only four towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls. The best way to experience Rothenburg ob der Tauber is to walk along the city well. Link below provide details of the walk which is 2.9 miles. One can finish it in 2-3 hours. However, budget in making multiple stops to see sights along well, 5-6 hours is more reasonable. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is famous for its tens of towers, most notables are Marcus Tower and Arch, Röder Tower, Rotten Tower Stroll, and Sifter Makers’ Tower, Don’t forget other sights inside the city wall such as Blacksmith’s shop and most instagrammed sight in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the Plönlein Corner.

We stayed at Romantik Hotel Markusturm & Restaurant. It was difficult to access the hotel, or any hotel inside the city wall. We had to park outside of the city wall at Parkplatz Friedhof. As many roads inside city wall are one-way or closed due to construction, GPS wouldn’t help you at all. My suggestion is to stay in a hotel just outside of the main gate of city and walk to the main sights as Rothenburg ob der Tauber is tiny.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is considered the most romantic of the all small towns along German Romantic Road. Other towns worth visiting are Augsburg-Fuggerei and Bamberg.

Our next stop is the brainchild of castle indicated King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Neuschwanstein Castle. The nearby town Füssen is a good base for sleep, eat, and shopping. GALERIA BAVARIA is most notable for massive collection of bavaria cuckoo clock and other gift items. GALERIA BAVARIA is sitting on top a shopping street. We unexpectedly found a Pan-Asian KYŌDAI restaurant after shopping which had good sushi dishes.

Neuschwanstein Castle is Romanticist style. Neuschwanstein Castle and nearby Hohenschwangau Castle can be seen in one day. Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th-century palace. It was built by King Maximilian II of Bavaria, and was the childhood residence of his son, King Ludwig II of Bavaria.  The palace complexity has 12 some park lots. Make sure to remember and better take a picture of where you parked your car. From the park lot, we walked about ten minutes to the shuttle station where we caught a shuttle bus to Marienbrücke (Mary Bridge). Marienbrücke is one of the best places to take photos of the Neuschwanstein Castle. The photo is the back side of the castle with Bavaria countryside as background. Another good place to take a photo is the Neuschwanstein Castle Observation Deck in front of the castle. To see the Castle against Alps mountain background, you can drive to Tegelbergbahn cable car parking lot. Walk up the trail at the end of the cable car parking lot for ten minutes you will find a clear path to view the Castle at a distance. It is better to do this in the morning when early morning sunlight shines at the Castle with a telephoto lens.

We took the same shuttle back to the parking lot after visit. You can also take a horse drawn carriage back to parking lot. We found the carriage route is not more scenery so we just used the shuttle bus round trip. If you want to visit Hohenschwangau Castle, you can walk directly from shuttle bus drop off point (not parking lot). It is only about 10-15 minutes of walk.

You need to prebook your tour tickets in advance in order to visit the inside of both castle at the link below. Tickets are typically sold out quickly many weeks in advance. Because of the time it takes to go from Neuschwanstein Castle to Hohenschwangau Castle, it is better to book the two castle tours at least 2 to 3 hours apart. If you found any down time in between, you can visit the Museum of the Bavarian Kings. The Museum of the Bavarian Kings is not very busy. You don’t need to prebook it.

https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist

Neuschwanstein Castle is not finished. The access is limited to a tourist route inside. So the inside visit just gives you a glimpse of what life looked alike for King of that period. King Ludwig II of Bavaria has never lived in the castle before he died. Hohenschwangau Castle was actually a living palace where you can find era rooms, furniture, and tapestry wall hangings, etc. It gives you real feeling about how kings lived at that time.

The final stop of our German Romantic Road trip was the Munich Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a two-week festival in Munich, Germany that takes place in late September and early October. The exact dates varies from year to year. It’s the world’s largest folk festival and is known for its beer festival and traveling carnival. The festival originated in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.  In 2024, the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany had 6.7 million visitors over 16 days. Six breweries are official participants at Oktoberfest: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten. These breweries are known as the “big 6” and are located within Munich’s city limits. They each have their own large beer garden tents at the Theresienwiese fairgrounds. People drink, dance, sing all day long inside tents with bangs playing music. Outsides are traveling carnivals where children and adults can enjoy some thrilling rides.

Oktoberfest ground and nearby streets are closed during the feastival. Nearby hotels are all booked out 6 months to one year in advanced. We used a tour company called Thirsty Swagman to arrange a hotel and book tent admission tickets for us for the convenience. There a couple of other tour companies offer similar service. Thirsty Swagman placed us at Hotel Senator München which is at the doorstep of Oktoberfest tent ground. If I were going to do it again, I probably will do it by myself. Rather than staying at a hotel near the tent ground, you can stay a hotel further away. Driving is impossible and many streets are closed. Only limited public transportation is still operational. Make sure your hotel is on public transportation route. We found the M18 bus is operating along BayerStraBe. M18 also take you to The Altstadt. There is no unified book portal where you can book admission tickets to the tents of six breweries. You will need to find the booking portals for each one of them and book. The operational dates for each portal can be different so you will need to check regularly. The busiest time are weekend evenings. Weekdays are typically easier to get tickets. You cannot simply walk into the tents so make sure to prebook. We save us the trouble by booking the tour package.

Why not spending a couple of more dates exploring Munich since we were already there. Munich has a wonderful museum quarter. It consists of the three “Pinakotheken” galleries (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne), the Glyptothek, the Staatliche Antikensammlungen (both museums are specialized in Greek and Roman art), the Lenbachhaus, the Museum Brandhorst (a private collection of modern art) and several galleries. Also the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst (the state collection of Egypt art) was moved to the Kunstareal in 2013. The history of the museums in this area of Munich began in 1816 with the erection of the Glyptothek at Königsplatz and was completed with the new building for the Egyptian Museum (2012) and the extension of the Lenbachhaus (2013).

The Altstadt, Munich’s medieval old town, beautifully rebuilt after WWII, is known for its pedestrian streets lined with global flagship stores and boutiques selling traditional Bavarian costumes. Crowds gather on central Marienplatz to watch life-size figurines emerge from the neo-Gothic New Town Hall’s bell tower. The Hofbräuhaus is a huge beer hall dating to the 16th century, while Viktualienmarkt combines gourmet food stalls and a beer garden.

The Glockenspiel in the New City Hall on Marienplatz has been enchanting visitors and locals for over 100 years. What many do not know is that, every day, real manual work is needed, just as it used to be. High Noon on the Munich Marienplatz. Everybody looks up at the tower of the Neues Rathaus. Then, finally, the Glockenspiel rings out: Shortly after 11am, the bayerische Ritter (the Bavarian knight) reliably removes the Lorraine rival off his horse using a lance; after this comes the animation dance of the Munich Schäffler (barrel-maker), followed by the cheers and the spectators’ applause. The two scenes have lost none of their appeal in over 100 years. The figures also make their rounds at 12pm and, from March to October, also at 5pm. Every day at 9 pm the night watchman blows his horn while the angel blesses the Münchner Kindl.

Hope you enjoyed reading my blog!