Romantic Franconia: Half-timbered houses, the European Watershed Trail and regional cuisine

Romantic Franconia combines Frankenhöhe Nature Park with the area along the Romantic Road. The road runs through the region, passing, among other places, Rothenburg, Schillingsfürst, Feuchtwangen and Dinkelsbühl. This gives you a choice of different themes for planning your trip: historic townscapes, trails through the nature park and seasonal cuisine. Deciding which of these you would like to shape your stay is a helpful starting point for choosing a destination within the region.

Townscapes and State Rooms

Rothenburg offers a historic townscape with a thick, tower-studded town wall, winding lanes and old half-timbered houses. Dinkelsbühl showcases medieval architecture with towers, gates and walls. Rothenburg’s lanes and half-timbered houses thus differ from the towers, gates and walls associated with Dinkelsbühl’s architecture.

Another cultural experience awaits at Ansbach Residence. On guided tours of the state rooms, you can see, among other things, the two-storey banqueting hall with its ceiling fresco by Carlo Carlone, the apartments of the margrave and margravine, and the guest apartments. Check the current tour arrangements before your visit.

Hiking and Cycling

The European Watershed Trail runs from Ansbach to Schnelldorf along the European Watershed through Frankenhöhe Nature Park. It is 97 kilometres long and has been awarded the “Wanderbares Deutschland” quality trail certification. Its total length gives your hiking plans a clear framework. Ansbach and Schnelldorf, the trail’s start and end points, are connected directly by rail, making it easy to travel to and from the route. Check the connections before your trip.

For leisure cyclists, Romantic Franconia has a network of uniformly signposted cycle routes covering around 1,500 kilometres. The two options therefore differ in form: the Watershed Trail is a specifically named hiking route with fixed endpoints, while the cycle routes form a regional network. The approximate total length and uniform signposting provide an initial guide for planning a cycling trip.

Seasonal Cuisine and Regional Produce

The Frankenhöhe Lamb Promotion Weeks begin in spring. Local shepherds supply lambs from the herb-rich slopes of Frankenhöhe to country inns, which prepare them as specialities. As dates and participating inns may vary, check the details for your travel dates.

Under the Regional Buffet scheme, dishes at inns are marked with a quality seal when the ingredients used come from Regional Buffet direct marketers. In Feuchtwangen, restaurants serve specialities made with Emmer, an ancient grain, during the Emmer-Schlemmer Summer. The programme also includes a guided walk through an Emmer field with a tasting. For this seasonal offering, too, it is advisable to check the dates and participating establishments for your planned travel period.

Whether you are interested in medieval architecture, a hike along the watershed, cycling routes or regional specialities, these different themes can help you decide what to focus on and choose suitable stops in Romantic Franconia.

Discover more destinations: Chiemgau, Amberg, Miltenberg, Dingolfing-Landau, Erding, Upper Bavaria, Dillingen an der Donau, Franconian Jura.

Return to the overview of destinations: Bavaria.