The Romantic Road

Long and winding, the Romantic Road in southern Germany is known for its storybook Bavarian villages and scenic countryside. This driving tour introduces you to the region’s sights with a private driver-guide, giving you the freedom to linger at sights that hold your interest.

Stops along the way include Harburg Castle, where you can see one of the area’s only completely preserved ring walls, and Nördlingen, a walled city that dates back to 898 and was built in an impact crater. Here, you’ll have the chance to admire the pastel buildings with their steep Bavarian-style roofs and Saint George’s Church with its steeple made from meteorite stone.

Your driver-guide will pick you up at your hotel before heading out along the Romantic Road. You’ll spend half a day riding the route, stopping at Harburg Castle, Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl. The tour is about the journey as you watch Bavarian mountains, forests and timbered villages go by.

Harburg Castle was built in the 11th century and boasts all the features of a true medieval castle. It’s one of the few remaining castles with a fully preserved ring wall, the terracotta tiled roof popping against the soft grey sandstone building. Built on a hill, the castle overlooks a countryside valley with grassy green hills, dotted with trees and shrubbery. You can explore the interior of the castle, as well as wander through the manicured gardens.

You’ll then head to Nördlingen, one of just three German towns that still has a fully intact city wall. The wall completely encircles the old town, which was built in an impact crater. Walk the scalloped cobblestone streets, lined with steep-roofed pastel buildings full of shops and restaurants, and head to see Saint George’s Church. The steeple, named Daniel, soars 90 m (295 ft) into the sky and is made of suevite breccia, a stone containing shocked quartz and only found in meteorite craters.

The last stop is the town of Dinkelsbühl. A quintessential Bavarian town, Dinkelsbühl boasts neatly cobblestoned streets full of shops, restaurants and cafés inside buildings of varying shades of orange, yellow and red. The dark shutters pop against the brightly painted buildings, and the flower boxes in the windows overflow with greenery and blossoms. The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm was filmed in Dinkelsbühl to take advantage of its storybook charm.

When you’re finished exploring, your driver-guide will bring you back to your hotel.