Romantic Franconia: Towns, Trails and Regional Cuisine

Historic towns along the Romantic Road

The Romantic Road runs through Romantic Franconia, passing, among other places, through Rothenburg, Schillingsfürst, Feuchtwangen and Dinkelsbühl. Rothenburg is characterised by a thick town wall topped with towers, winding lanes and old half-timbered houses. Dinkelsbühl showcases medieval architecture with towers, gates and walls. The two townscapes have different qualities: in Rothenburg, lanes, half-timbered houses and the town wall shape the historic impression; in Dinkelsbühl, the towers, gates and walls stand out. If historic architecture is of particular interest, you can take these differences into account when choosing destinations.

State rooms and Roman traces

In Ansbach, visitors can see, among other things, the double-height banqueting hall with its ceiling fresco by Carlo Carlone on guided tours of the state rooms in the residence. The tour also includes the apartments of the Margrave and Margravine, as well as the guest apartments. The visit therefore takes in both the banqueting hall and rooms associated with the residence’s former occupants and guests. The Ruffenhofen Roman Park offers a different historical perspective: you can walk across the grounds and along former Roman roads. This combines exploring history with outdoor activity, though the two experiences do not cover the same historical subject.

Hiking and cycling routes in the Frankenhöhe

The European Watershed Trail runs from Ansbach to Schnelldorf along the European watershed through the Frankenhöhe Nature Park. The trail is 97 kilometres long and has been awarded the “Wanderbares Deutschland” quality trail designation. Ansbach and Schnelldorf, the route’s start and end points, are directly connected by rail, making it easy to travel to and from the trail. If you include the route in your trip, you can take this connection into account when planning your journey there and back. For recreational cyclists, Romantic Franconia has a network of uniformly signposted cycling routes covering around 1,500 kilometres. This offers two different ways to explore actively: a specifically named hiking trail and an extensive cycling route network. The Frankenhöhe app adds audio tours under the title “Ganz Ohr unterwegs” (“All Ears on the Go”), as well as discovery tours for children and young people in the Frankenhöhe Nature Park.

Nature park and landscape

The Frankenhöhe Nature Park covers a large part of the Romantic Franconia holiday region. In the wider regional area, the nature park covers approximately 1,100 km² and is the source of many rivers. This places the natural landscape on a broader scale than the towns and individual experiences along the Romantic Road. If nature and trails are a priority, you can make the nature park a focus of your trip in its own right, alongside the historic towns.

Regional cuisine and seasonal specialities

During the Frankenhöhe Lamb Action Weeks, which begin in spring, local shepherds supply lambs from the herb-rich slopes of the Frankenhöhe to country inns, where they are prepared as specialities. The Regional Buffet labels dishes from participating inns with a quality seal when the ingredients used come from Regional Buffet direct marketers. In Feuchtwangen, restaurants serve culinary specialities made with the ancient grain emmer during the Emmer-Schlemmer summer festival; an emmer field walk with a tasting is also offered. In the wider regional area, the “Schlemmereien aus Landgasthöfen” (“Country Inn Delicacies”) take place every autumn in the Northern Frankenhöhe. The different culinary themes thus range from lamb and locally produced ingredients to the ancient grain emmer.

More destinations

More destinations: Coburg, Chiemgau, Kronach, Neu-Ulm, Upper Bavaria, Erding, Hof and Rhön-Grabfeld.

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