June 20, 2023 - Germany
Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Leaving Dachau, we wanted to drive what is called the "Romantic Road"  to the little burg of Rothenburg.   Per Rick Steves:  "The Romantic Road takes you through Bavaria's medieval heartland, a route strewn with picturesque villages, farmhouses, on-domed churches, Baroque palaces, and walled cities.  The countryside between Frankfurt and Munich is Germany's medieval heartland.  Walls and towers ring half-timbered towns, and flowers wpill over the window-sills of well-kept houses.  In the 1950s, towns in this region joined together to work out a scenic driving route for visitors that they called the Romantic Road.

I don't know if we missed it or what but what we drove -- A-8 to 2 to 25  -  was no great shakes.  Just typical flat, German countryside.  It reminded me of the Natchez Trace in the U.S. where the hype didn't match the reality.

But our destination for the night Rothenburg lived up to and surpassed all expectations; one of my favorite places the entire trip.  Maybe the key to the Romantic Road is to just pick one of the walled cities and check it out.\

We arrived in Rothenburg in the late afternnoon and checked into the Burg Hotel.  As you can see, it is as medieval and quaint as it gets.  The innkeeper was a very pleasant, very German older man.  The breakfast was outstanding.  The room, of course, was very nice.  This was probably my favorite lodging of the entire trip.

Per Rick Steves:  "In the Middle Ages, when Berlin and Munich were just wide spots on the road, Rothenburg ob der Tauber was a 'free imperial city' beholden only to the Holy Roman Emperor.  During Rothenburg's heyday, from 1150 to 1400, it was a strategic stop on the trade routes between northern and southern Europe.  Because of its priviledged position, along with the abundant resources of its surrounding countryside (textile-producing sheep and fertile farmlands), Rothenburg thrived.  With a whopping population of 6,000, it was one of Germany's largest towns.  But as with many of Europe's best time-warp towns, Rothenburg's fortunes tumbled suddenly.  )In this case, it was an occupation/ransacking during the Thirty Years' War, and a plague that followed soon after, that did the town in)  With no money to fix up its antiquated, severely leaning buildings, the town was left to languish in this state.  Today, it's the country's best-preserved medieval walled town, enjoying tremendous tourist popularity without losing its charm."

Our hotel was inside the medieval city walls.  Driving to it through the old town was interesting, fortunately there was little traffic!   Lynnette is in front of our rental car: an MG.