Getting Oriented
The Fairy-Tale Road begins 20 minutes east of Frankfurt in the city of Hanau, and follows the Fulda and Weser rivers as it heads north 700 km (about 430 miles) to the North Sea port of Bremerhaven. Traversing through the states of Hesse and Lower Saxony, the road cuts through countryside as beguiling as any other in northern Europe. It may not have the glamour of the Romantic Road, but it doesn't have the crowds and commercialism either.
- Hesse. Though well-populated in the south of the state, with cities like Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, the northern part of Hesse is a place of forests and castles, which inspired the tales recorded by the Grimm brothers.
- Lower Saxony. Germany's second-largest state after Bavaria, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) has a diverse landscape, including the Weser River, which forms a picturesque part of the Fairy-Tale Road, and the Lüneburg Heath. Its capital and largest city is Hannover.
