Ravensburg: Museums, Towers and Landscapes

Ravensburg combines urban history, museum culture and a variety of landscapes. Its attractions range from a late medieval residential quarter and several museums to historic buildings, a castle and designated hiking areas. When planning your trip, it is worth looking beyond Ravensburg’s sights to explore the destination’s other cultural and natural attractions as well.

Museums and History in Ravensburg

The Humpis Quarter Museum opened in July 2009. Its permanent exhibition spans five buildings in a late medieval residential quarter. Regular public tours and individually bookable programs are available for school classes, children and adults. If you are planning a tour, check the current booking details in advance.

The museum district in Ravensburg’s Upper Town comprises four venues: the Humpis Quarter Museum, the Art Museum, the Ravensburger Museum and the Economic Museum. Together, they offer exhibitions covering a wide range of topics. The Ravensburg Art Museum opened in 2013 and is the world’s first certified museum built to the passive house standard. This means that urban history and a range of museum visits offer distinct cultural points of interest.

Climbing two towers is another way to see Ravensburg from a different perspective: Blaserturm is in the historic center, while Mehlsack is another vantage point overlooking the city. Check the current opening times for tower visits before your visit.

Historic Sites and Achberg Castle

The Allgäu-Oberschwaben Farmhouse Museum in Wolfegg preserves 28 historic buildings, some of them several centuries old. The museum illustrates how people’s ancestors in the region used to work, live and make their homes. It is easily accessible via numerous cycling and hiking trails. A visit can therefore combine exploring historic ways of life with getting there by bike or on foot.

Achberg Castle is the Ravensburg district’s cultural center. It sits high above the Argental Valley and showcases Baroque architecture. The castle is open to all visitors and offers educational activities for children. Circular hiking trails starting there pass through a variety of landscapes: across gentle, rolling meadows on the high riverbank and down to steep slopes with ravines on the valley side of the Argental. On weekends, the castle café serves regional specialties and homemade cakes; check before your visit whether these are currently available.

Hikes and Landscapes

The Pfrunger-Burgweiler Ried covers almost 2,600 hectares and is the second-largest contiguous moorland area in southwestern Germany. Another hiking option is the Schmalegger Tobel nature reserve in Schmalegg, a district of Ravensburg about 8 km from the center. There are several hiking routes there; on the Tannsberg circular trail, you can choose between a short and a long loop to suit your needs. This choice of loop length is a practical difference to consider when planning your hike.

Planning Your Stay

Ravensburg is part of the bodo public transport network, which offers bus and train connections within the city and across the region; check the latest timetables when planning your trip. If you are looking for a hotel, your priorities can help determine where to stay: do you mainly want to visit museums and towers, or also include the castle and scenic destinations?

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Wangen im Allgäu, Waldburg, Kißlegg, Isny im Allgäu, Horgenzell, Schlier, Eichstegen, Argenbühl, Aulendorf, Bad Waldsee, Ravensburg, Wilhelmsdorf, Wolfegg, Berg bei Ravensburg, Schwarzenbach, Achberg, Hoßkirch, Amtzell, Leutkirch im Allgäu, Bad Wurzach, Vogt, Fronreute, Wolpertswende, Altshausen and Bergatreute.

To the regional travel overview: Baden-Württemberg.