Dinkelsbuhl
Our next stop along the Romantic Road was the beautiful walled town of Dinkelsbühl, located approximately 30 miles south of Rothenburg. Again, what makes it special is its extraordinary fairy-tale visions of the numerous colourful and historic half-timbered buildings and massive churches. The two World Wars did not damage the town, so the medieval buildings remain.
Dinkelsbuhl High Street
DinkelsbuhlRestaurant
Unlike Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl was significantly quieter, without the hordes of tourists. It is a little gem and worth a visit to this Bavarian town, which dates back over 400 years. Worth visiting here is the Minster of Saint George, a beautiful church built in the mid-15th century. The inside architecture is impressive.
Dinkelsbuhl Horse & Cart
We parked up at a Stellplatz just across the road from the town’s entrance, which made it easy to go in and visit. The weather was a bit chilly with heavy clouds, but it was still pleasant to walk around, admiring the pretty buildings and churches, and enjoying a cup of coffee and a piece of cake at a local café. I bought a pair of shoes in one of the shops too, although the next day I saw them 15 euros cheaper in another town, so I wasn’t so happy.
Dinkelsbuhl Town
DinkelsbuhlCourtyard
Dinkelsbuhl High Street
Camping Details:
Stellplatz: N49˚4’41” E10˚19’45”
Nordlingen
Another attractive town we visited in the central part of the Romantic Road was Nordlingen. Again, a walled medieval town and even less crowded than Rothenburg and Dinkelsbuhl. The town is situated in the crater of a meteorite impact, and its impressive tower is constructed from the rock formed by the impact. The town has a Railway Museum, which houses steam, diesel, and electric locomotives (although it didn’t interest us enough to see). You can climb the steps to the top of St George’s Tower for a stunning view of the town and miles and miles beyond.
Pigs must have some significance to the town, as there were models of them outside many of the shops, each one was painted to reflect the business of the shop.
We didn’t stay too long in this town, just spent half a day looking around before heading to the next town.
Hairdressers in Nordlingen
Great name for a hairdresser – “Hairkiller”
Camping Details:
Stellplatz sat nav co-ordinates: N48˚51’19” E10˚29’1”
Donauworth
Donauworth High Street
Donauworth High Street
On the same day we visited Nordlingen, we travelled a bit further down the road to Donauwörth. It was early afternoon, so we thought we would park up in a Stellplatz near the town. It wasn’t until we had locked up and started to walk away from our motorhome that we noticed the types of units parked in the stellplatz part of the car park. Among the motorhomes were caravans and vans, and their owners were cleaning their vehicles. It didn’t take us long to work out that there were more gipsies parked up there than motorhomers like ourselves.
Donauworth High Street
We decided to continue into the town, but I didn’t feel at all comfortable and was worried the whole time we were walking around. So much so that we took just a few photos and came straight back, without even stopping for our regular coffee and leisurely people-watching. All was well when we returned to the motorhome, but instead of staying the night, we retrieved the books again and found a Stellplatz in Augsburg, our next planned destination.
Donauworth High Street
Donauwörth is small but impressive with colourful houses and flower pots. It’s a lovely little town, but perhaps the least beautiful of the villages and towns we have seen so far on the Romantic Road. Two rivers, the Danube and the Varnitsa, flow together to meet here. The centre of Donauwörth is reached through one of what was originally four massive town entrances – the Rieder Tor. The town centre is filled with historic buildings.
We arrived at the Stellplatz in Augsburg on a lovely sunny day, so we enjoyed sitting outside, taking in the sun, and chatting with an Australian family that pulled in just after us. It was interesting talking to them, especially as they were taking a year to tour Europe with their two young children, whom they were homeschooling. We swapped blog addresses and have enjoyed reading about their travels. It’s so brave to be doing something like this with children, but in a way, I wish we could have done it when ours were young – what a great way to learn.
Although the Stellplatz was by a lovely river, we were parked up a little way from it behind a bush and trees, the other side of which was a busy main road. The traffic was quite noisy, so it wasn’t the ideal overnight stop.
The following morning, we cycled in the direction of Augsburg along the river. We got a little lost and didn’t find the part of Augsburg that everyone talks about. By this time, we were feeling that we didn’t want to visit any more big towns; it was cloudy, misty, and damp, so we turned back to go to the next place. Perhaps if we ever pass through the Romantic Road in the future, we may go back to see what we missed.
