9 Best Sights in The Romantic Road, Germany

One of the best-preserved late-Gothic castles in Germany, Hohes Schloss (High Castle) was built on the site of the Roman fortress that once guarded this Alpine section of the Via Claudia, the trade route from Rome to the Danube. Evidence of Roman occupation of the area has been uncovered at the foot of the nearby Tegelberg Mountain, and the excavations next to the Tegelberg cable-car station are open for visits daily. The Hohes Schloss was the seat of Bavarian rulers before Emperor Heinrich VII mortgaged it and the rest of the town to the bishop of Augsburg for 400 pieces of silver. The mortgage was never redeemed, and Füssen remained the property of the Augsburg episcopate until secularization in the early 19th century. The bishops of Augsburg used the castle as their summer Alpine residence. It has a spectacular 16th-century Rittersaal (Knights' Hall) with a carved ceiling, and a princes' chamber with a Gothic tile stove.

Ulm's Minster, built by the citizens of their own initiative, is the largest evangelical church in Germany and one of the most elaborately decorated. Its church tower, just 13 feet higher than that of the Cologne Cathedral, is the world's highest, at 536 feet. It stands over the huddled medieval gables of Old Ulm with a single, filigree tower that challenges the physically fit to plod up the 768 steps of a spiral stone staircase to a spectacular observation point below the spire. On clear days, the steeple will reward you with views of the Swiss and Bavarian Alps, 100 miles to the south. Construction on the cathedral began in the late-Gothic age (1377) and took five centuries; it gave rise to the legend of the sparrow, which was said to have helped the townspeople in their building by inspiring them to pile the wood used in construction lengthwise instead of width-wise on wagons in order to pass through the city gates. Completed in the neo-Gothic years of the late 19th century, the church contains some notable treasures, including late-Gothic choir stalls and a Renaissance altar as well as images of the inspirational sparrow. Ulm itself was heavily bombed during World War II, but the church was spared. Its mighty organ can be heard in special recitals every Sunday at noon from Easter until November.

Augsburg's town hall was Germany's largest when it was built in the early 1600s; it's now regarded as the finest secular Renaissance structure north of the Alps. Its huge and opulent 14-meter (45-feet) tall Goldener Saal (Golden Hall) was finished in 1643. Open to the public (except during official city functions), the tower was given its name because of its rich decoration: 8 pounds of 23k gold is spread over its wall frescoes, carved pillars, and coffered ceiling.

Würzburg's prince-bishops lived in this glorious baroque palace after moving down from the hilltop Festung Marienberg. Construction started in 1719 under the brilliant direction of Balthasar Neumann. Most of the interior decoration was entrusted to the Italian stuccoist Antonio Bossi and the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. It's the spirit of the pleasure-loving Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn, however, that infuses the Residenz. Now considered one of Europe's most sumptuous palaces, this dazzling structure is a 10-minute walk from the train station, along pedestrian-only Kaiserstrasse and then Theaterstrasse.

Tours start in the Vestibule, which was built to accommodate carriages drawn by six horses. The king's guests were swept directly up the Treppenhaus, the largest baroque staircase in the country. Halfway up, the stairway splits and peels away 180 degrees to the left and to the right. Soaring above on the vaulting is Tiepolo's giant fresco The Four Continents, a gorgeous exercise in blue and pink that's larger than the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. Each quarter of the massive fresco depicts the European outlook on the world in 1750—the savage Americas; Africa and its many unusual creatures; cultured Asia, where learning and knowledge originated; and finally the perfection of Europe, with Würzburg as the center of the universe. Take a careful look at the Asian elephant's trunk and find the ostrich in Africa. Tiepolo had never seen these creatures but painted on reports of them; he could only assume that the fastest and largest bird in the world would have big muscular legs. He immortalized himself and Balthasar Neumann as two of the figures—they're not too difficult to spot.

Next, make your way to the Weissersaal (White Room) and then beyond to the grandest of the state rooms, the Kaisersaal (Throne Room). Tiepolo's frescoes show the 12th-century visit of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, when he came to Würzburg to claim his bride. If you take part in the guided tour, you'll also see private chambers of the various former residents (guided tours in English are given daily at 11 and 3). The Spiegelkabinett (Mirror Cabinet) was completely destroyed by Allied bombing but then reconstructed using the techniques of the original rococo artisans.

Finally, visit the expansive formal Hofgarten (Court Gardens), to see its stately gushing fountains and trim ankle-high shrubs that outline geometric flowerbeds and gravel walks.

On weekends, the Hofkeller wine cellar, below the Residenz, runs tours that include wine tasting. Ask at the ticket counter.

At the point where the little Wörnitz River breaks through the Franconian Jura Mountains, 20 km (12 miles) southeast of Nördlingen, you'll find one of southern Germany's best-preserved medieval castles. Schloss Harburg was already old when it passed into the possession of the count of Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1295; before that time it belonged to the Hohenstaufen emperors. The same family still owns the castle. The castle is on B-25, which runs under it through a tunnel in the rock.

Built by the knights of Schwangau in the 12th century, this castle was later updated by the Bavarian crown prince Maximilian, father of King Ludwig II, between 1832 and 1836. Unlike Ludwig's more famous castle across the valley, Neuschwanstein, the mustard-yellow Schloss Hohenschwangau actually feels like a noble home, where comforts would be valued as much as outward splendor. Ludwig spent his childhood summers surrounded by the castle's murals, depicting ancient Germanic legends, including those that inspired the composer Richard Wagner in his Ring cycle of operas. The paintings remain untouched in the dining room, as does the Women's Floor, which looks just as it did at the death of Ludwig's mother, Marie, in 1889.

You can walk up either of two clearly marked paths to the castle or the trip can be done in a small horse-drawn carriage (€4.50 uphill, €2 downhill).

You won't want to miss the walk up to medieval Schloss Miltenberg (c. 1200), if only for stunning views of the town, ramparts, and river. The emblematic castle and grounds benefitted from a total restoration in 2011 and now house the icons museum and a gallery of contemporary art. The gardens are charming, a tranquil spot to rest and take in the scenery.

Bavaria's Fairy-Tale King, Ludwig II, commissioned a stage designer in 1868 to create this over-the-top architectural masterpiece high atop Swan's Rock and overlooking the peaceful waters of the Alpsee lake. Just a stone's throw from his childhood summer home of Hohenschwangau, the five-story castle was to pay tribute to the operas of Richard Wagner, for whom Ludwig was a great patron. While the exterior was constructed in Romanesque style and modeled on the Wartburg castle, the interior contains numerous murals alluding to sagas and legends, such as that of Siegfried forging the mighty sword in the entrance to the Royal Apartments and the so-called "Swan's Corner," a living room dedicated to the Swan Knight Lohengrin. King Ludwig's untimely death at the age of 40 under suspicious circumstances put an end to the 17-year-long process of construction of the castle. Despite being incomplete—the extravagant Throne Room, for example, contains no throne—the castle became—and remains—one of Germany's top tourist destinations after Walt Disney used it as inspiration for his castle in the movie Sleeping Beauty and later for the Disneyland castle itself.

The castle is not easy to reach as it requires a 45-minute steep uphill walk of 1½ km (1 mile) to its entrance. Alternatively, to reach Neuschwanstein from the ticket center, take one of the horse-drawn carriages that leave from Hotel Müller next door (uphill €7, downhill €3.50). A shuttle bus leaves from the center of town (uphill €2.50, downhill €1.50) and takes you halfway up the hill past an outlook called Aussichtspunkt Jugend to a spot just above the castle. Even with these added means of transportation, there is a steep walk the last 500 yards; strollers and wheelchairs cannot be used due to stairs inside the castle itself. Tickets need to be purchased at the ticket center in the village of Hohenschwangau, so be sure to stop there first, and reserve an entry time online in advance at  www.hohenschwangau.de. You'll still have to arrive at least one hour early to pick up your tickets but without a reservation you might wait for hours to get a tour spot. There are also some spectacular walks around the castle. The delicate Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge) is spun like a medieval maiden's hair across a deep, narrow gorge. From this vantage point there are giddy views of the castle and the great Upper Bavarian Plain beyond. Tours almost always sell out, so booking in advance is strongly recommended. Room-by-room renovations, which continued in 2022, will make some unviewable; check ahead if you want to see a particular room. Pöllatschlucht gorge hiking trails are also closed.

Rothenburg's city walls are more than 4 km (2½ miles) long and dotted with 42 red-roofed watchtowers. Due to its age, only about half of the wall can be accessed on foot, but it provides an excellent way of circumnavigating the town from above. Let your imagination take you back 600 years as you explore the low, covered sentries' walkways, which are punctuated by cannons, turrets, and areas where the town guards met. Stairs every 200 or 300 yards provide ready access or departure. Called the Tower Trail, there are superb views of the tangle of pointed and tiled red roofs and of the rolling country beyond through viewpoints, many of which are narrow slits, since this was a protection against invaders.