10 reasons to ride the Romantic Road

The Würzburg Residence, a Baroque masterpiece which used to serve as a home to dukes and rulers, is today a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is where the Romantic Road begins. But before heading off, you should take in some of Würzburg's other attractions, such as the beautiful old town center, the banks of the Main river and the vineyards surrounding the city.

This is what tourists imagine an old German town looks like: proud and fortified, idyllic with narrow alleys. Rothenburg ob der Tauber meets all these clichés, making it one of Germany's most visited towns. To complete the full romantic experience, why not visit the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village - which is open throughout the year!

This tourist magnet shop started with a music box, given as a belated Christmas present to a US officer serving in Germany by Wilhelm and Käthe Wohlfahrt. The American soldier liked it so much he wanted to buy more of these Christmas treats - but as it was February the shops no longer stocked anything like it. So the Wohlfahrt family simply opened a store that sold Christmas articles all year.

Nördlingen's city wall is 2.7 kilometers (1.1 miles) long and the only one in Germany on which you can still walk around the entire old town center. It includes five city gates and the town is packed with timber-framed buildings. Beyond all this medieval fun, Nördlingen is also a place for train enthusiasts.

Nördlingen was once the main junction for five railway lines. These days you can still admire some 100 original rail vehicles, among them 25 steam engines, at the Bavarian Railway Museum. Sometimes these veterans of rail travel will go on a nostalgia ride. Train fanatics, be sure to book tickets in advance!

See Bertold Brecht's birth place, watch a Augsburger Puppenkiste puppet show or merely stroll through the town center: Augsburg is always worth a stop. A landmark of the university town is its city hall with its onion-shaped Baroque towers and the Golden Hall.

The Fugger trading and banking family was the most powerful and rich in Augsburg. It financed emperors and wars, but also the Fuggerei, the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. Since 1521, needy citizens of Augsburg have been housed in this enclave. The rent was and is still one Rheinischer Gulden per year, which is equivalent to 0.88 euros ($0.99).

By car, bus or bike: there are many ways to explore the Romantic Road. But hiking paths also snake alongside the route, offering the opportunity to enjoy the landscapes away from road traffic. The further south you go, the higher the mountains and the better the views.

The Pfaffenwinkel region of Bavaria is home to a huge number of beautiful churches. Among them, the Pilgrimage Church of Wies has a cult status: a claim in 1738 that tears were seen on a wooden figure resulted in a pilgrimage rush to see the sculpture. To accommodate these pilgrims, a bigger church was built. It turned out to be a rococo masterpiece, and a UNESCO listed World Heritage site.

For many, this is the ultimate representation of romanticism. Ludwig II of Bavaria had this castle built some 150 years ago. With his design that was to be a romantic interpretation of the Middle Ages, he tuned into the taste of the modern era: now, some 1.5 million people visit Neuschwanstein Castle every year, making it an unforgettable finishing point to the Romantic Road.