Munich and other towns on the Romantic Road

Driving the autobahn is thrilling, it makes going from Point A to Point B a lot faster and the Germans are wonderful drivers. Hotels and even the humblest guesthouses are clinically clean and provide amenities such as hearty breakfast, very modern bathrooms, and goosedown pillows and comforters.

The Royal Palace (Residenz) and especially the Neuschwanstein are unbelievable. The medieval walled towns of Rothenburg and Dinskelbuhl are breathtaking.

Quick Tips:

Stores are closed on Saturday afternoons and all-day on Sundays so plan ahead.

Best Way To Get Around:

Munich's Aldstadt where most of the attractions are, is about 1km square and is mostly pedestrian. Driving and parking in the urban streets of Munich are a nightmare.

To visit the other towns and sample the Castle and Romantic Roads, we used a mixture of rental car and trains. There is also a bus serving the Romantic Road.

Hotel Kraft was located 4 blocks from the train station, on the quiet portion of Schillerstr near a hospital. It was within very easy walking distance of the Marienplatz and pedestrian shopping area.

The hotel only had 30+ rooms dispersed in 3 or 4 floors so the tiny 2-person elevator was very much appreciated by us. The parking in front of the hotel was very limited. Our double room had 2 twin beds pushed together with goosedown pillows and comforters, and very crisp pink (!) linen. There was also a sitting area with a sofa and 2 armchairs.

The breakfast which was served in a nice room on the main floor was very lavish. Food was bountiful and real silverware were used.

The man manning the reception desk was very nice and helpful. He helped us locate our cousin through numerous phone calls because we did not speak German. In the middle of the night, he slipped a 22-page fax from my "thoughtful" coworker in the States underneath our door and did not charge us for it.

After cancelling our reservation made from the States at another hotel on Schillerstr, across Bayerstr from the train station because the area was very seedy, we were 2 very desperate women in a strange city, at 6pm, without a place to spend the night. We were very glad to find Hotel Kraft and it completely exceeded our expectations.

Even though Rothenburg can be easily visited on a day trip, this medieval town is best experienced on an overnight stay, preferrably at a hotel inside the city wall, after most of the tourists have left. A nice place to stay in Rothenburg is Hotel Gerberhaus, a half-timbered 16th-century building located inside the city wall, not too far from the towers gate.

The building was charming and very well maintained. Open stairways covered with earthtone Mexican tiles led to guest rooms on the upper floors. Our double room, which was on the top floor, in the front of the building, was small but full of character. The room which had dormers, gave the quaint feeling of being in someone''s attic. The beds were small twins with down comforters and pillows. We really liked the bathroom which was very modern and extremely clean. Toilet tissue was like all other hotels in Germany, rolls of thin rough brownish recycled paper!

The cafe which also served as breakfast room is on the main floor. Breakfast which was included in the rate was plentiful. And there were several bottles of beer on the breakfast buffet!

We were there at the end of May and the hotel garden was covered with beautiful lavender-colored flowers named wisteria. If the weather permits, breakfast could be served back here. The garden backed against the old city wall.

Car could be parked along Spitalgasse at night but had to be moved before 9:00am.

Hotel Gerberhaus, which we found based on Rick Steve''s recommendation, was a very good hotel at excellent price (Doubles for DM100-145).

The pictures shown are taken from the hotel website.

Marienplatz is the first stop for all tourists to Munich. The Neus Rathaus (new city hall) is here, housed in a magnificent neo-Gothic building with flowers pouring over balconies and the strangest gargoyles reaching over the roof lines. Its main tower stretches almost 300 feet to the sky. You can climb the steps to the top of the tower to see Munich from above. The old Ratskeller Beer Hall is in the basement of the City Hall and offers great Bavarian food and beer.

Hundreds of people gather at Marienplatz at 11am every day, and also at noon and 5pm between May and October, in front of the Glockenspiel to watch the elaborate mechanism with colorful dressed figurines move to traditional Bavarian folk dances.

In the Middle Ages, the Marienplatz was known to be the center for business and commerce. Today it is brimmed with Munchners, tourists and numerous street performers, from man lying on bed of nails, to dancing clowns and string quartets playing Mozart.

The last four weeks before Christmas, the Marienplatz becomes a huge Christmas market with crafts people dressed in colorful outfits selling tree ornaments and typical German food. The Christmas market here is considered to be second only to Nuremburg.

A few minutes' walk south of the Marienplatz, you will run into Viktualienmarkt, Munich's most prominent food market with hundreds of colorful open-air stalls.

There are stands selling everything from beer and wine to fruits, cheese and meats. There are lots of stuff to taste! A good lunch can also be had from one of the many food stands selling beer, sausages and other foods.

Operating hours are Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 6:00pm and Saturday from 7:30am to 1:00pm. However for the best selection, come very early. The merchants close down whenever their day's inventory is sold out so very few stalls remain open in the afternoon.

Wurzburg is the northernmost town on the Romantic Road. Just an hour down the Main river from Frankfurt, Wurzburg is one of the loveliest Baroque cities in Germany. It offers visitors a continual array of historic art and architecture spanning the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods.

A young and lively town thanks to a large population of students, it is also a center of the Franconian wine region.

Würzburg is called "the town of Madonnas" because of the more than 100 statues of its patron saint that adorn the house fronts. The best known of these statues is the Baroque "Weeping Madonna," which stands along the 15th-century stone bridge, Alte Mainbrücke.

During the Second World War, Würzburg was shattered by a bombing raid. In a miraculous rebuilding program, nearly every major structure has been restored.

The best introduction to the city is to climb up to the medieval fortress, Marienburg, for the view of the Old Town section. Another attraction in Wurzburg is the Residenz which is considered Germany's best example of Baroque architecture.

In the warm weather, the liveliest place in town is the Market. Here street performers entertain and vendors hawk their wares, ranging from fresh fruit to souvenir trinkets. If you are here on Friday or Saturday, you may wish to take a wine tasting and tour of a historic German wine cellar.

The Residenz Palace in Wurzburg is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. Built in the 17th and 18th centuries by a collaboration of German, Viennese and French architect under the leadership of the genius Balthasar Neumann, it is the last and finest of a long line of Baroque castles built in Bavaria.

The Palace has over 300 Baroque and Rococo rooms. At the center of the castle is the masterful Treppenhaus (staircase). The high, curved ceiling above, which was the largest of its time, is decorated with the work of the great Italian artist, Tiepolo, and is reportedly the largest fresco in the world. Among the many beautiful things in this massive palace are the hall of mirrors (echoes of Versailles!).

The Hofkirche Chapel in the South Wing is a small Baroque church that could be a beautiful and intimate setting for weddings. The rectangular room is divided into five oval sections, three with domed ceilings. The side altars have 2 important paintings by Tiepolo: The Fall of the Angels on the left and The Assumption of the Virgin on the right.

Take time to walk through the Hofgarten, a very pleasant garden filled with sculptures.

The Romantic Road consists of 360km of country road that runs the length of the Bavaria, from Wurzburg, in the North, to Fussen, in the South, almost to the German-Austrian borderline.

The Romantic Road has almost 1,000 years of history. A trade route during the Middle Ages, it still retains much of its medieval character. The road often winds through forgotten sections of countryside, connecting walled towns and picturesque villages. Travelers may enter a town through arched gateways like in the case of Rothenburg od Tauber. Inside, you will find gothic cathedrals and half-timbered houses overflown with hanging flower baskets or baroque and Renaissance buildings. Fairytale castles, fountains, gardens, outdoor cafes, authentic restaurants and historic hotels fulls of characters are never far.

You can "do" the Romantic Road in a day by taking the bus that goes the length of it. The bus leaves from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhoft at 8:00am and arrives at Fussen at 8:00pm. Along the way, it makes several stops in towns like Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuehl, Augsburg, etc..

But these enchanting towns really deserve more than a 1 or 2hrs stop and a rental car is your best bet. Spend enough time in Wurzburg to see the Residenz, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage, and the Marienberg Fortress. Stay at least one night in Rothenburg, the best preserved medieval town in Germany. Or, if you do not like places that are swamped with tourists, stop in Dinskenbuhl, a historical old town with gateways, towers, walls, and moats. And of course, do not miss Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II's fairytale castle located in Fussen.

Located just a few blocks North East of Marienplatz, this enormous palace was the official residence of the rulers of Bavaria from 1385 to 1918. The complex is a conglomerate of various styles of architecture ranging from Palladian to German and Florentine Renaissance.

A combined ticket will allow you to see the Museum, Treasury and Cuvilliés Theater. The Residenz Museums has 120 rooms of art and furnishings. We were there in the morning and to our dismay, several of the rooms were roped off and dark. To see all the rooms, you will have to take a morning and an afternoon tours. Impatient to wait for a group to form, we visited the rooms on our own and missed out on the narratives.

The Ancestors' Gallery is designed like a hall of mirrors but where the mirrors would normally be, there are portraits of the members of the royal family.

The Hall of Antiquities is a very large room. Frescoes by 16th and 17th-century artists, cover every inch of its walls and ceilings. Busts of Roman emperors and Greek heroes line the walls. The central attraction is the two-story chimneypiece of red stucco and marble.

The most famous piece in the Treasury is the Renaissance statue of St. George Slaying the Dragon made in gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

The Cuvilliés Theater is a very flashy ensemble of gold and red velvet rococo tiers of boxes. Directly over the huge center box where the royal family sat, is a crest in white and gold topped by a jewel-bedecked crown.

The Residenz looks like an ordinary government building from the outside but the inside is a true baroque work of art. We were disappointed that photography is not allowed inside the building and had to console ourselves with postcards.