Castle Road: Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Bamberg

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Rothenburg ob der Tauber

   Rothenburg ob der Tauber looks like a film set because, for a long time, it had no choice. The medieval town stands on a ridge above the Tauber valley in Franconia, enclosed by an almost complete ring of walls with towers and gates, and its timber houses, steep roofs and cobbled lanes have survived because the town lost its wealth after the Thirty Years War and could not afford to rebuild. It was too poor to modernise, and so it stayed old. Today it draws visitors in large numbers, and the main streets can be packed with tour groups by mid-morning.

   Read the complete Rothenburg ob der Tauber write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Rothenburg ob der Tauber is where the day begins. Next is Nuremberg.

2. 2. Nuremberg

   Nuremberg wears its history heavily and with some honesty. The old town sits inside a ring of walls on both banks of the Pegnitz, crowned by the Kaiserburg, the imperial castle on its sandstone ridge, where the Holy Roman emperors held court. In the late Middle Ages the city was one of the richest in Germany, a centre of trade, craft and invention, and the home of the painter Albrecht Dürer, whose house you can still visit, as well as of the toy-makers, gingerbread bakers and instrument makers who made it famous.

   Read the complete Nuremberg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nuremberg comes up about 106 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bamberg.

3. 3. Bamberg

   Bamberg is one of those German cities that came through the twentieth century almost undamaged, so its old centre feels more like a seventeenth-century drawing than a place that has been repaired. It was listed by UNESCO in 1993, and it is easy to see why: it stretches across seven hills, like Rome, with the cathedral and the old bishop's residence on the highest, the Regnitz river looping through the middle, and rows of half-timbered houses and fishermen's cottages along the water. The little town hall sits on an artificial island in the river, reached by bridges, and has frescoes that seem to spill out over the walls.

   Read the complete Bamberg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 167 km.