Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a German town in northern Bavaria known for its medieval architecture. It is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. On a sunny summer day I enjoyed walking around visiting the toy stores and other locations taking lots of photos. The timbered houses and cobblestone streets take me back to medieval times. I love the gate houses and woodcarving especially in the church. It's a very clean city. I really love this northern area in Germany. One or two days is plenty of time for a visit. Don't forget to buy a souvenir. I still have mine on my dresser where I see it every day. It's a small wooden box that holds my rings.

This is the town that probably most often comes to mind, when you think of medieval Germany. You don't know the name of it, but you recognize the walled city, as well as the clocktower with the small tunnel in it that allows for just one car to pass through at a time. It is quaint, even when full of tourists. There really isn't much vehicle traffic; it's mostly foot, because inside the wall is so walkable, that's what you do! Every hour, on the hour, from 10 am to 10 pm, tourists gather in the square outside a building known as the Ratstrinkstube and watch as two doors open up, one on either side of a clock, and proceed to show a gentleman downing a glass of wine. The story reenacts how the mayor drank nearly a gallon of wine to save the town. The rest of the town has shops, restaurants and hotels, but the buildings are all done up in the half timbered style, and you might think every one of them is a home! Most of the wall is walkable and affords nice views out the arrowslits. You can see a bit of the modern town, or the beautiful forests all around. At one point, there is an opening in the wall that you can walk through to get to the modern parts of town, but I was content to stay inside the walls....as an 18 year old exchange student back in 1992, I was enthralled with "ancient" Germany! Definitely worth a stayover of one or two nights, I hope to travel here with my husband one day; he'll totally dig it. :) 24/2021

It's an enchanting largely preserved medieval walled city in Central Franconia (in Ansbach District in Northern Bavaria ). Walls with it's roof/side coverings surround this city, and you can still walk on some parts around the city. It's fun to imagine being a medieval archer patrolling along the wall aiming your arrows through slits... This town mostly escaped destructions and are still standing as it were in 13th century. However, due to some damages received during WWII, some main buildings were restored to its original state. There are many architectural monuments and cultural assets including very impressive churches and some museums. Another large attraction in this town is the World Headquarters of the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store. It all started here. This city became one of the highlights on the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse), Germany's first themed route. If you are visiting Germany, especially in Bavaria, this is a must stop.

A must see stop along the romantic road. Be sure to know that businesses close really early and most everything is closed on Sunday. It's a tourist destination destination so be prepared for higher prices etc. I'm know a fan of the snowball pastry things. Park outside the City walls and walk in. Be sure to walk along the cat walk of the medieval wall for a good view.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a quaint medieval town by the Tauber River in Southern Bavaria, Germany. The fortressed city walls still remain and one could walk up narrow, winding stairs up to the wall. There are multiple entrances and one could walk the perimeter of the fortified city. There are two prominent towers that are original to the town and I was told it would take an hour or so, depending on how quickly or slowly you walk the entire perimeter of the city. From the high vantage points on the wall, you could see Gothic cathedrals and many gabled houses that appear unchanged. The half timbered buildings, town square (big one and the "little square" that is probably more popular of the two) are excellent places to visit. We were here in October 2017 and were not lucky enough to experience the Christmas Market that is so common and popular for the region. Even though we were too early for the Christmas Market we were still able to pick up a few hand painted Christmas ornaments from stores that celebrate Christmas year round. This is perhaps one of the prettiest, quaintest stop on the Romantic Road in Germany. Cafe's line the tiny streets and there are people everywhere. I can't imagine how crowded this place gets during peak tourist season. I'd skip the heeled shoes and opt for good 'ole sneakers or sturdy bottom shoes for the streets are cobbled and uneven. We enjoyed taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of this medival town. Highly recommend to anyone visiting Germany on the Romantic Road.

The summer of 2018 has been an amazing adventure for my family. We've been to Rome, Prague, Austria and to many Bavarian cities. All awesome, by the way, but this quaint little medieval town seriously rocks when you're considering the bang to buck ratio. Historically speaking it's so worth your time and attention. During WWII, when other German cities were being bombarded and the war was slowly being won, the US knew the historical value of this city. So, they sent a small group of men carrying white flags to negotiate with the Germans. They convinced the Germans that they'd spare the city of continuous bombardment if they'd surrender the city. Against Hitlers orders, the German garrison commander did exactly that, he pulled his troops out, resulting in the city still reflecting its 1,000 year old glory to this day. Covered walls surround the city and can be walked on to this day. It's so cool! And it's totally free! Just park, find an access point, climb some stairs and walk for miles along the top of the wall. Some cannons are still there, plenty of old access doors, and defensive positions where you imagine guards posted so many years ago. The city has so much history; once touted as one of the Roman Empire's 20 largest cities, it endured so many changes. However, most of that charm is still there, to include a year-round Christmas Market. Add this city to your Bavarian list, it's only 45 minutes to an hour away from Nuremberg and a very peaceful country drive. I'll return, and I'm sure you would as well. Cheers!

Our favorite city in Germany. We come here every time we get a chance to get away. Enjoy this walled city with its unique charm. See it during Christmas Market season w/snow on the ground. It is truly like being in a Snow globe.

Rothenburg is one of my favorite places in Germany. Even when I didn't like traveling or Germany, I liked going here. It's a beautiful little town and well worth the trip. The old historic area has a medieval city wall all the way around it, and you can get up on it and walk all the way around the town, getting nice views of the town along the way. Back down on the ground, it's nice just walking around, seeing the stores, the old gates and towers, and the old architecture. This most recent trip, I saw a stork in a nest up on top of a building. There's a number of restaurants and bakeries and places to get food. I always like visiting Käthe Wohlfahrt's, a great store where it's Christmas all year round. Speaking of Christmas, if you happen to visit in December, Rothenburg has a nice Christmas market (Christkindlmarkt). There's ample parking just past the city walls. All in all, this is a great place to visit and I highly recommend it.

We went here as part of a tour along with Schloss Harburg/Castle Harburg. Gorgeous town with a very medieval feel. I'd probably skip any of the restaurants right in the square (like everywhere else) and that Christmas Market is grossly overpriced even compared to the ones around holiday season in NYC. We had a really good meal here, in fact one of the best of the trip, at Gasthof Sonne.

This place is bigger than it looks. We thought an hour or so would be sufficient, but realized that we needed 3 or 4 hours at least. We found parking at the top of the city, near the gates. Following the cobblestone road, the windows of the shops beckon you to peek inside. The bakeries display these "Snowballs" which can be found all over the village, and its hard to decide if you want one at this place or the next. Once the sun goes down, the place pretty much rolls up. Get there early if you can, and walk the wall as the guards did once a long time ago. Its a picture postcard village!

The main reason we traveled to Europe during Christmas was to experience the Christmas markets in all the different countries. We visited many in Finland, Amsterdam and a lot in Germany. Visiting the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and experiencing their Christmas market was definitely the best one. We drove 2 and a half hours to visit and it was well worth the travel. The moment we pulled into the town my sister and I got so excited. It looks like something out of Pinnochio, like exactly like Pinnochio (apparently Walt Disney was inspired by the town when making Pinnochio, makes sense.) The colors of the buildings and the cobbled streets are so perfect! There are many shops along the streets and places to grab a bite. The Christmas market was huge and full of many vendors, Father Christmas even paid a visit. There was a choir singing songs all day long and Christmas was in the air. I had the best Spatzel of my whole trip here, it was unreal! Mulled wine can be found everywhere. Explore the town and visit the shops, it's a beautiful place. There is a Christmas museum you can visit also! The old historic tower is a must! You climb up endless flights of stairs and the corners are tight, it felt like I went back in time. Once you get to the top you have the most incredible 360 view of the whole town, it's simply stunning. We had a wonderful time on our visit out here, we wished we got a hotel to stay the night. It was something out of a fairytale being here. I felt like I was picked up and placed inside my Grandma's Christmas village out on display.

Having read about this place a bit it was high time we visited here ;-)) So we came with friends from HK to check it out ;-)) It's a spectacular medieval city with totally intact city wall. It is one of three cites in Germany with intact medieval city walls, Nördlingen and Dinklebühl being the other two (all about 40kms from each other). It seems this area was spared during the war and maintains its amazing period characteristics. It's touristy and there is nothing you can do about that. Come during non peak periods to enjoy the place. Lots of nice shops, restaurants and cafes here. Try the "Schneeball" a big round biscuit ball filled with different toppings, lovely ;-)) Read other reviews for more info about this place or best check Wikipedia ;-))

One of my favorite places in Germany, a beautiful Medieval town with plenty of museums and historic structures to see. If you go towsrds the end of the yearn you absolutely HAVE to visit the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas store and the Christmas museum within it. It's an incredible exprerience even if you don't buy anything. I also highly recommend taking a walk through the castle gardens and a visit to St. Jakobskirche, as well as a trip to the Rothenburg Museum.

We decided to stay in a hotel on a whim with plans to go to Nuremberg the following day . To our Surprise this great little town kept us captive and we enjoyed it's so much that we cancelled our original plants for Nuremberg. This great traditional antique town was amazing yet filled with tourists. Many of the store owners speak English but our favourite and most reasonable shop was the Annalise gift shop just to the right of the Central Square next to the restaurant with orange tablecloths. They had everything that we had previously bought for SEVERAL euro less than what we paid at the chain stores. The shop owner has a connection to both USA and Canada speaks English and is a family run business started by his mother in 1927. Great place and very affordable souvenirs

The best preserved medieval town in Germany. Well, I guess it really isn't since it actually just caters to tourists these days. But to my knowledge, it has the oldest in place town wall surrounding an entire city. The city within the walls, if you are just speaking architecturally, is preserved very well to the time period as well. In the spirit of Christmas, I will say that Kathe Wolfhart is very well known for her Christmas stores here. You can find Christmas year round here with a bajillion beautiful ornaments and Christmas items to fit your every whim and fancy. You can find just about any type of souvenir you would want from Bavaria in this town. You can also climb the exterior walls for some great views. I highly recommend the Crime and Punishment Museum to see some crazy inhumane punishment techniques medieval style. Worth the time if you are in the area but you would benefit to drive off the beaten path to find some more authentic towns less touched by commercialism.

Charming medieval town with tons of shops, history, and good stories. The coffee shop located in the city centre is crazy overpriced, nor that good. The nightsman watch tour is something I'd highly recommend. It's seven euro PP (adults) and lasts an hour. Our guide was really informative, and funny. The tour was very entertaining and not in a cheesy vegas way, more like "Hey this has happened in history so let's make a little fun of people's decisions that may have been silly". The navigation to this town is confusing. GPS directed us to turn right, into what appeared to just be a gray blob on the GPS. However, we realized after circling the entire city walls, it was in fact trying to get us to turn into the old, cobblestone street and drive under the archway to our hotel. Walking the wall is something I'd also recommend, which takes about an hour. Great views of the city tops from there, and it's free. The city overall is great, and oozes some crazy points of history that I didn't think were found here. Pleasantly surprised and glad I stopped in but I don't think it needs more than a full day.

This is truly the medieval town of our childhood fairy tales. Rothenberg is large with many charming streets to explore. Tip: if you want to avoid hoardes of tourists ,visit during the shoulder season if possible. Our enjoyment of this lovely town was marred by the tour bus loads of tourists running around with their long selfie sticks.

Stopped by this city last year once 2018 on a road trip. It's really gorgeous!!!!!!!! I'm going to come visit Rothenberg again when I travel back to Germany for sure!!!!!!! Super colorful, vibrant, and lots to do!!!!!!!! This Deutsch city is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Based on my own experience. The Good...Rothenburg is beautiful-yes sure, old world-yes sure. Everything from the roads, the bricks, the stone structures, the old churches, the gorgeous designed houses, the cute cafes and bakeries, everything in German instead of English, kept as it was not assimilated in globalization. That beauty of preservation is what brings in the tourist. You'll see many Japanese tourist and I mean groups of them walking around town. I bet the attraction of tourists helps fund quite a bit of the town to preserve it's beautiful old world style. It a beautiful town to explore even if one is not into shopping at the little shops. We did. The Bad and the Ugly...However, in it lays a dark side behind the old world that everyone wants to come and check out. I am being a bit overly dramatic but being truthful. What tourist doesn't like taking photos? Be warned in many shops you will be asked not to take photos inside the stores. I had three experiences of this. And everyone around town is not the most friendly. I think if you see your town has a slight reputation for bringing in tourist to help with your economy and you understand this, then as a shop owner you should be more friendly and less rude to tourist taking photos. A smile helps too if you're being asked directions. It's what tourist do. I don't mean everyone in town, as a matter of fact, our hotel hostess was the most friendly person one could meet but there were many shopkeepers that were not nice at all, so this is an experience one should look out for in Rothenburg. We got there at night and didn't know the area too well. We couldn't find the parking lot, so we parked next to the hotel. The next morning we got a parking ticket left on the windshield wipers, which we fount the local office and paid, so watch for stuff like that also. In terms of activities, everything is as stated, old world...little shops, old churches, but awesomely scenic. Based on experience, I would recommend visiting Rothenburg, yes but be careful and notice how people are. In any culture you are judged by how you behave and treat others. It sets the stereotype.

Wonderful town. Medieval wall is still there and kept up. You can take a tour guided by a gentleman dressed up as a night watchman, complete with lantern and halberd. The Crime and punishment museum is a highlight with all the torture devices on display from the middle ages. If you go during the Christmas season the Weinachtsmarkt takes over the entire city within the wall with seemingly endless vendors and activities. Even during the non-Christmas season there is a giant Kathy Wolfahrt store which also runs the Christmas museum in town. The tourism office (located right off the main square) is super helpful, if you call they will assist you (in English) in locating hotel accommodations and will give you a map is you visit them.

Wonderful well preserved medieval fortified German city. Best times to visit are Fall and Spring though can get a bit crowded. This said, one of my favourite visits was in the heart of winter where it was very cold which made the very full and fluffy down comforters in the small hotel where I stayed become a lasting memory of deliciously warm moments in the early morning hours.