This is a guide for walkers and cyclists to the Romantische Strasse, or Romantic Road, Germany's oldest and most popular touring route. Hitherto, almost exclusively known as a motoring itinerary, a new waymarked route makes it suitable for cycling or walking. Nevertheless, descriptions of the towns and scenery along the way will be useful to motorists too. Starting at the charming Alpine town of Fussen, the Romantic Road travels to the famous royal castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, through the pre-Alpine landscape of the Pfaffenwinkel with its ornate pilgrimage churches, to Landsberg am Lech. From there, it goes down the Lech valley to the great Renaissance city of Augsburg. It continues on to Donauworth on the Danube, along the Wornitz valley to castle-crowned Harburg, then through the moon-like Ries crater to the walled medieval town of Nordlingen. Two more walled towns, Dinkelsbuhl and Rothenburg, are the highlights of the next part of the route. From the latter, it proceeds along the gentle Tauber valley via the former princely capital of Weikersheim and the plush spa of Bad Mergentheim. The Romantic Road terminates in Wurzburg, a city equally renowned for culture and gastronomy.
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