Romantic Road

The Romantic Road (German: Romantische Straße, pronounced [ʁoˈmantɪʃə ˈʃtʁaːsə]) is a "theme route" devised by promotion-minded travel agents in the 1950s. It describes the 460 kilometres (290 miles) of surface roads between Würzburg and Füssen in southern Germany, specifically in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, linking a number of picturesque towns and castles. In medieval times, part of it was a trade route that connected the center of Germany with the south. Today, this region is thought by many international travellers to possess "quintessentially German" scenery and culture, in towns and cities such as Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber and in castles such as Burg Harburg and the famous Neuschwanstein. With about five million overnight stays, four to five times that number of day visits and around 15,000 jobs in tourism generated by the route, it is an economically important southern German travel destination. Locations along the route, listed from north to south, include: Würzburg Holzkirchen (Unterfranken) (new itinerary since 2016) Urphar (new itinerary since 2016) Wertheim (new itinerary since 2016) Tauberbischofsheim Lauda-Königshofen Bad Mergentheim Weikersheim Röttingen Creglingen Rothenburg ob der Tauber Schillingsfürst Feuchtwangen Dinkelsbühl Wallerstein Nördlingen Harburg Donauwörth Augsburg Friedberg Kaufering Landsberg am Lech Hohenfurch Schongau Peiting Rottenbuch Wildsteig Steingaden and Wieskirche Halblech Schwangau, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Füssen