It’s no secret that Europe has some of the prettiest small towns that have a medieval feel to them and visiting one would take you back to memories of fairy tales you would have read as a child. We visited one such town recently – Rothenburg ob der Tauber and it turned out to be something even more special! Read on to find out Why 🙂

 

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we arrived in Rothenburg! In my case, it is exactly how I imagined a fairytale town to be – cobbled streets, a city centre adorned with half timber houses, a town hall tower with a spiral staircase… it was as though the pages of a story book had come alive in front of my eyes! Not just that, this wonderful little town also has a garden from where the entire city is visible, a church that dates back centuries and above all a city wall with several towers which surround the entire town.

 

 

 

I think that by now you will have gauged that I fell in love with Rothenburg…so without further ado let me give you a sneak peak into how we spent the most magical 24 hours of our lives in Rothenburg ob der Tauber 🙂

 

 

We took a long and strenuous journey to reach here from Frankfurt and as soon as we checked in at our hotel, the first thing we did was to come to the city centre and ordered ourselves some hearty Bavarian treats alongside coffee and a mug of draught beer at Ratsstube. We highly recommend this restaurant; the food was delicious and the view is equally amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

With our stomachs full and hearts content we decided to burn some calories and started our summit to the town hall tower which turned out to be no less than an adventure as the staircase kept on getting narrower and narrower as we approached to the top of the building. We have climbed a lot of towers and light houses, but this one was one hell of a climb, not because it has too many stairs (only 220 steps to be precise), but for the fact that how tight the space gets towards the end. Even the viewing platform is so narrow that they allow only small batches of people to ascend the stairs at a time (only 20 people are allowed on the viewing platform at a time). But once you are at the top on the viewing platform, the views are absolutely majestic.

 

Here’s a few other details like Timings and Pricing:

 

Opening Hours (Daily) 

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

 

Pricing 

Adults:  € 2.50          

Children:  €1

Groups from 10 persons:  € 2 per person

Handicapped:  € 2 per person

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as we descended back we discovered a vintage market below the town hall tower (I’m not sure if it’s permanent or not) but it was a great place to explore, they had some really cool vintage stuff from Beer steins to retro coats.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the Christmas museum which I know for a fact is a permanent feature – Imagine you can visit in April and still get Christmas vibes 🙂

 

 

 

Post that we wandered around the city centre and marvelled at the beautiful architecture and then ventured towards the Burggarten from where we got a glorious panoramic view of the entire town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending a good hour at the Burggarten and clicking thousands of pictures we came back towards the city centre and explored one of the most photographed corner of this beautiful little town, the Plönlein.

 

 

 

Well, to the naked eye, the first glimpse of the Plönlein didn’t excite me much, perhaps because the whole town is so gorgeous that you start to wonder what’s so special about this place but as soon as I saw it with the viewfinder of my camera, I realised it indeed is very photogenic. Maybe it is the two parallel lanes that create a surreal depth or the blue building on the left which breaks the monotony of an otherwise earthy tone heavy frame.

 

 

 

While we were still clicking pictures at Plönlein we realised it was almost 8 in the evening and it was time for the much exciting and raved about walking tour – the Night Watchman tour. The Night Watchman tour is world famous and comes in highly recommended from all the travel enthusiasts …and it sure does live up to its reputation! We highly recommend taking this walking tour if you’re ever in Rothenburg 🙂 It costs €8 per person and it’s worth every penny!

 

 

 

After the walking tour, we were a tad bit hungry and headed to the Rothen Burger to have some Chicken burgers for dinner. Again, great food and it’s a stone throw away from Plonein.

 

 

 

The next morning, we started the day with an amazing walk of the City walls – this was such a unique experience. You get the feel of a medieval town in its almost complete originality. The views from the wall are breath-taking as you get to see the entire town with a bird’s eye view. We particularly enjoyed marvelling at the colourful houses with red roofs. Although we didn’t cover the entire loop because we were bit short on time but we did manage to cross at least 5-6 towers. The walk has several entry and exit points and you can start and leave from wherever you want. Also, the best part is that the city walls are always open and there is no fee to experience this unique experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking the walls, we wandered around in charming alleys without even looking at the maps and were completely swept away by the beautiful architecture. We stopped at Brot and Zeit for breakfast and then visited St. Jacob’s church. Just before going back to the hotel we stopped at Plönlein once again to capture its beauty in daylight 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Our next and final stop was at a sweet shop and tried the local sweet called Schneeball which translates to Snow Ball and boy it was so yummy! Definitely try it out if you ever visit Rothenburg 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

How to Get There?

 

By Public Transport

Well, getting here on public transport by itself is not very easy and requires a few changes. On the day we arrived there were some disruptions in the train schedule and we had to take some alternate routes suggested by German rail networks official website – good thing is, we knew about this disruption months in advance and we came prepared.

 

We arrived in Frankfurt at around 8 AM in the morning and bought a QDL ticket – usually the suggested route is to take a regional train from the airport to Wurzburg → then make a change at Wurzburg and take a train to Steinach and finally make one more change at Steinach and reach Rothenburg ob der Tauber. But as mentioned earlier there we some disruptions on the date we arrived because of some maintenance work and we had to take a short bus ride (included in QDL Ticket, its rail replacement bus service) to Frankfurt south station and from there on we followed the usual route.

 

It is no doubt a bit strenuous and hence we would really recommend staying at Rothenburg for a night instead of covering it as a part of a day trip.

 

You can plan your travel and buy tickets using official German rail network website HERE.

 

By Road

If you are comfortable driving on the right side of the road I think hiring a car from Frankfurt airport would the best option – it provides complete freedom and you would also be saving a lot of time.

 

 

 

Where to Stay?

There are many old school guest houses and hotels in Rothenburg and since it is a small town everything can be covered by foot. We stayed at Hotel Rothenburger Hof which is right opposite the train station since didn’t want to drag our heavy suitcases.

 

The hotel was great, we got a lovely room with an amazing view. We shall write a detail review later and when we do we shall share the link here.

 

 

For further information on how to plan and book various activities do check out the official website of Rothenburg Tourism.

 

 

We had such a memorable and magical time in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and would say you must visit it too! Also, we would like to say a big Thank You to Rothenburg Tourism for supporting our stay 🙂

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ANKITA (@beautyandthebeing_ofc)

 

 

If you liked this post, don’t forget to like and leave us a comment! Also, if you would like to see more pictures and travel stories, please do follow me on Instagram to stay up to date with our travels 🙂

 

 

** Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in partnership with Rothenburg Tourism. However, all thoughts, opinions and experiences stated are genuine and honest. As always, we only recommend what we absolutely LOVE and think you will too! ❤️