Castles on the romantic road part 1: Füssen to Augsburg
The Romantic Road (Romantische Straße) is a picturesque 350 km (~217 mi) long route in south Germany between Füssen and Würzburg. This post covers the castles at the southern end of the romantic road starting from Füssen and going up north to Augsburg, a distance of about 106 km (~66 mi). Each town is briefly mentioned, even if there’s no castle nearby.
Towns at the Romantic Road:
Füssen
The southern beginning of the romantic road has a nice Christmas market in December. The high castle of Füssen is part of the historical old town. If you take a closer look at the ornaments inside the castle, you’ll notice that they are all just painted. But it’s beautiful nontheless.
Schwangau
Two of the most magnificent castles ever built can be found here: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau (follow the link to discover some of the secrets nobody would ever tell you about these two castles). You’ll need a full day to visit both of them. The difficulty is that there are thousands of tourists there every day. Way, way more than the accepted visitors! So how do you get a ticket? Three options:
- Order them online.
- Queue early in the morning:
Be at the ticket center about 30 minutes before the it opens and you’ll have good chances to get tickets. If you arrive at the ticket center at 10 am, the queue will be too long and the tickets for that day will sell out before you even get close to the ticket counter. So better queue early, or consider the next option. - The museum of Bavarian kings:
It is located just a few hundred meters past the official ticket center. They do sell tickets that include the museum and both castles (Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau). So, if you need a last minute ticket, that’s your best bet, but even then, be there before 10:30 am!
Tip of the day: Click on a photo to see details about it.
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Halblech
A rural German village with a population of about 3.500 in a picturesque landscape. But no castle, no ruined castle and no palace.
Steingaden
Wieskirche and St. Johannes Monastery garden and church are worth a visit. Unfortunately no castle there.
Wildsteig
As rural as the Swabian Alb can get… It is a very beautiful landscape though and would be perfect for a cycling vacation. But no castle…
Rottenbuch
The collegiate church in Rottenbuch is worth a visit.
Peiting
A romantic German small town. No castle though.
Schongau
A nice historical old town. Worth a visit. Parts of the medieval city wall are very well preserved, as you can see at this photo.
Hohenfurch
Mostly harmless, as old hitchhikers tend to say. Although, certainly a nice place for big city kids. However, the author (well, that would be me, I guess…) has lived the majority of his life in a village with a population of less than 600 people, so Hohenfurch, with it’s 1.500+ people, does not appear that spectacular to him.
Somebody from the Tokyo metropolitan area, with it’s 38+ million neighbors, will most certainly think differently about Hohenfurch and its environment. You’re privileged to judge by yourself. However, you must go there by yourself to see it, because, well, no castle, no picture…
Landberg am Lech
The biggest town in this list. Mutterturm is the must see site. The historical old town is very much worth a stroll as well.
There’s no castle in Landsberg am Lech, however, there are three in the direct vicinity:
Castle Igling
About 7 km to the west of Landsberg in the center of the Schloss Igling Golf course. Needless to say this one’s private property. The best chance to get inside it is most likely by making the right acquaintances while playing golf. Just a wild guess though…
Hurlach Castle
About 12 km north west of Landsberg. This one’s a dormitory of a catholic missionary school, so, needless to say, that there are no guided tours their neither. Although…, the students are very supportive to stray tourists.
Castle Kaltenberg
Kaltenberg Castle is about 17 km north east of Landsberg am Lech. There’s a one week medieval festival every summer and a Christmas market in December.
Click on any of the pictures to see further details about the place.
Friedberg
Friedberg is a little gem just 13 km (~8 mi) to the east of Augsburg. Three spots are particularly worth mentioning:
- Town wall
There’s a nice walkway along the historical town wall. You can see some very unique peaces of architecture there. Below are a few examples. - Wittelsbacher castle
A renaissance castle that houses a museum about clocks and pottery. - Herrgottsruh
A catholic, late baroque period pilgrimage church. It’s just a 10 minutes walk from Wittelsbacher castle, and very much worth a visit, should you be there.
Augsburg
There are two sites in Augsburg that are a must-see for every tourist:
- Fuggerei
The world’s first social housing project dating back to the year 1521. 150 deserving poor citizens of Augsburg are still living there today. So yes, it’s still in use. If you go there, show some manners and put some money into the donation boxes. - Golden Hall at the Town hall.
The golden Hall is located at the Town Hall of Augsburg. It’s pretty much the opposite of the Fuggerei.
