Roaming in Rothenburg: A Day of Traveling Through Germany

Road to Rothenburg: Traveling Through Germany

A Quick and Easy guide for a day trip from Munich to the Village of Rothenburg, Bavaria, Germany in Europe.

You are traveling through Europe and find yourself in Munich. After several fun nights of massive beer-drinking and schnitzel-eating at the world famous Hofbrahaus you want to venture outside the boundaries of the city. You are in luck! There is an absolutely charming place nearby--Rothenburg. This village is breathtaking! I guarantee you won't regret this delightful day trip.

For traveling methods you have two options- drive a car or ride a train. When I traveled there, we drove our rental car and it took us less than 2 and half hours to get there. By train it should take approximately 4 hours each way. It really just depends which way would be less of a hassle to plan for you and your group. Take the A8/E52 West from Munich, to the A7/E43 intersection, and then get on the A7 North to Rothenburg. This all is about 225km, or 140 miles. Use www.mapquest.com to get a precise route.

Rothenburg is a refreshingly car-free zone, therefore there are public parking lots conveniently located just outside the city's walls. You enter the city through an old stone wall and bridge that surrounds the town. This itself is an attraction! You can walk the mile-long distance and cover the entire bridge's walls and towers. Whether you enjoy it for a few minutes or a few hours this is a must-do!

Rothenburg is like stepping back in time for a day. Visit the gothic town hall and climb the Medieval Tower, or take in the beautiful scenic gardens and classic churches. However, you absolutely MUST VISIT the German Christmas Museum! Learn all about antique Christmas ornaments and shop for literally thousands of ornaments in the largest Kathe Wohlfahrt store you will ever step into! To this day my favorite ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree first are the ones I purchased from my day trip to Rothenburg. My mom, aunt and I spent several hours shopping and looking at all the different captivating Christmas décor. The other amazing thing is they offer cheap shipping and handling to your residence back in the USA or wherever you may be traveling home to, so you don't have to worry about occupying what little luggage space you already have available.

Before you go, grab a famous Rothenburg snowball pastry. Go into basically any café you see on the streets and look for a "schneeball". We tried ours at the Snowball Bakery, located by a gorgeous stone water well and flower beds. Snowballs are short-cake pastry balls,
deep-fried in butter-fat. They can be chocolate, powdered, or dipped in cinnamon, just to name a few delicious flavors. They are sinfully tasty! They must be, having been around and still rockin' since the year 1719!

For more ideas and things to plan while you're in Rothenburg, this link was very helpful for my family's vacation: