The "Romantic Road" cycle route runs from Würzburg to Füssen and is 428 kilometres long in total. If you want to take a closer look at the medieval towns, baroque castles and parks, you should take your time. The cycle route described leads from Würzburg to Donauwörth, the 235 km in between can be extended to over 400 km by taking detours, variants and circular tours if required.
The cycle route mostly runs on quiet side roads, often on tarmac cycle paths and sometimes on forest and field paths. Uphill sections are to be expected, especially in the first few kilometres after Würzburg and between Dettwang, Rothenburg o.d.T. and Schillingsfürst. Recommended detours include the "Liebliches Taubertal" cycle path from Tauberbischofsheim to Wertheim (http://www.liebliches-taubertal.de), about the "Rad-Schmetterling" around Rothenburg o.d.T. (http://www.frankenhoehe.de) and via the "carp cycle paths" around Dinkelsbühl (http://www.dinkelsbuehl.de).
GPS data
You can find the GPX track for this tour in the MYBIKE Collection on komoot
Arrival
Take the train to Würzburg. The Romantic Road Cycle Route starts directly at the main railway station. Würzburg, located at the motorway intersection of the A3 Cologne-Würzburg-Munich, A7 Hanover-Würzburg-Ulm and A81 Stuttgart-Heilbronn-Würzburg, is also easy to reach by car.
Information
Touristik-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Romantische Straße, Segringer Str. 19, 91550 Dinkelsbühl, Tel. 09851/551387, Fax 551388, mailto:info@romantischestrasse.de , http://www.romantischestrasse.de
Accommodation
Feel-good hotel - Das Schaffers in Bad Mergentheim, www.dasschaffers.de
Family-run hotel in the centre of Rothenburg's old town:
Hotel Gasthof Zur Sonne, Hafengasse 11, 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Tel. 09861/2166, Fax 8919
Idyllic accommodation in the historic centre of Dinkelsbühl: Hotel Weißes RossSteingasse 12, 91550 Dinkelsbühl, Tel. 09851/579890, Fax 6770
Beautiful old town location:
Hotel Greifensteiner HofDettelbachergasse 2, 97070 Würzburg, Tel. 0931/35170, Fax 57057
Centrally located and inexpensive, the Youth and family guest house NördlingenBleichgraben 3 a, 86720 Nördlingen, Tel. 09081/2750575, mailto:noerdlingen@jfgh.at
Worth seeing
The Würzburg Residence is the most beautiful palace building of the southern German Baroque period and one of the highlights of the Romantic Road, tel. 0931-355170, http://www.residenz-wuerzburg.de
The Renaissance castle of Weikersheim presents itself with baroque castle gardens and an interesting alchemy exhibition, Tel. 07934/992950, http://www.schloss-weikersheim.de
The medieval Harburg is worth a (steep) detour, tel. 09080/96860, http://www.burg-harburg.de
At the Rieskratermuseum in Nördlingen (Eugene-Shoemaker-Platz 1) you can find out more about the meteorite impact in the Nördlinger Ries, tel. 09081/2738220, http://www.rieskrater-museum.de
Further information on this topic can be found at http://www.geopark-ries.de
In the Medieval Crime Museum in Rothenburg o.d.T. (Burggasse 3 to 5) you can gain an insight into the often radical legal practices of our ancestors. For information call 09861/5359, http://www.kriminalmuseum.rothenburg.de
Every year in July, the historic Kinderzeche takes place in Dinkelsbühl, http://www.kinderzeche.de
Fuggerei Augsburg, the oldest social housing estate in the world. www.fugger.de
Tour combinations
Danube Cycle Route, Altmühl Cycle Route, Lovely Tauber Valley, Via Claudia Augusta, Franconian Cycle Eight
Literature/Maps
Cycle tour book "Romantic Road", published by Esterbauer, with lots of tips, precise route descriptions and detailed maps at a scale of 1:75,000, 11.90 euros.
In addition, we recommend the cycling guide "Romantic Road - from the Main to the Alps" published by Galli-Verlag with very detailed stage descriptions (altitude metres are also given) and map sections at a scale of 1:50,000, price: 9.90 euros.
The full-length article from issue 3/2009 is available as a free PDF download.
