A Fairytale of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Fairytale city I was promised. Fairytale city I got. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is truthfully THE most beautiful place that I have ever visited.

Who needs Disneyland when real places like this exist?!

It would seem that, since entering Germany, we can’t escape the Laws of Physics; According to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” the Answer to Life, The Universe And Everything = 42, and that is how many towers there are on the medieval walls of Rothenburg o d T. We walked the walls and were treated to views of the Tauber valley. It was 27ºC at 9am in the morning, but thankfully, the walls and gardens were beautifully shady.

We had our photo taken with a larger than life wooden toy soldier. “So that is it.” Mark said. “We have clearly reached the Kingdom of ‘Far Far Away’!” It is true that, like in Shrek, we travelled here with a donkey. Albeit our donkey was in sausage form…

If, like Roy Wood and Wizzard, you ‘Wish it could be Christmas Every Day’ then Rothenburg o d T is for you! It boasts the largest Christmas Village in Europe – and it is open all year round! So if sweltering summer temperatures get you all in the mood for bauble buying and pressie purchasing, get down here right now in yer Christmas shorts!

The dogs went down as storm again – mainly with American tourists. “Ain’t they CUTE?! I LOVE their liddle curlicues!” – whatever those might be!

We visited the Plonlein (little square) and Siebers tower at the end of Schmiedgasse. Dating back to 1385, the Siebers tower is part of the ‘new’ fortifications! We found out later that this is apparently one of the world’s most popular photo opportunities.

Rothenburg Recommendations

Philip rocked up to our campsite in an enormous motorhome. “I live just up the road but when it gets over 30ºC I come out in my RV because it has aircon!” he told us. We met because the dogs shot out and chased his little girl, Mara. We apologised profusely and his wife was lovely about it. Far from getting the telling off that you would expect from an English parent, bristling with intolerance and entitlement, she brought Mara over to meet the dogs – and then Philip gave us loads of recommendations of places to visit!

• Dinkelsbuhl – a beautiful city which like Rothenburg o d T is on Germany’s ‘Romantic Road‘
• Sommerhausen – a medieval, walled town from which you can walk to the magnificent city of Wùrtzburg
• Frãnkische Seenplatte – Waldcamping in Pleinfeld is the nicer one (in woods) while Seecamping in Langlau is next to the lake for windsurfing
• Altmühlsee – good for windsurfing
• Vilsalpsee – a good lake for paddleboarding
• Tannheimer Tal – Hiking, voted 3rd best for hiking!
• Ulsenheim – Winery Meier is the best

There is always more to see. I don’t always like to retrace my steps, but I would definitely visit Rothenberg o d T again. I think that we might have to come back – and I think that Rothenberg o d T is a definite a GOB – Get Onyer Bucketlist!

Join us next time for Dog on the Rhine; unlike ‘Fog on the Tyne’ this tale involves castles, wine & a just a couple of disasters…!

I love to hear travellers’ tales and recommendations. I know that many of you lovely people are bloggers yourselves. I follow many of you, but please make yourselves known to everybody else! I would be delighted if you would share the details of your blogs in the comments section so that we can all enjoy each other’s experiences!