Romantische Straße by bike

The weir on the River Lech at Landsberg am Lech

Photo: Greymouser, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
about 500 km (310 miles)
Country
Germany
Difficulty
Easy
Type of trip
Cycling route

The Radweg Romantische Straße follows one of Germany's oldest holiday routes, set up in 1950, from Würzburg on the Main to Füssen at the foot of the Alps. It isn't the road itself. The cycle route runs alongside on quiet back roads, lanes between villages, farm tracks and forest tracks, and has its own green signs. It's about 500 km, and the Romantic Road association splits it into 10 stages of 36 to 71 km. Wikivoyage suggests 10 days to two weeks, or a week if you're quicker and put some of the short stages together. You sleep in the towns along the way. Bett+Bike lists cyclist-friendly places that take one-night bookings and have somewhere safe for the bike, and there are campsites too. Almost every town has charging points for e-bikes.

In Germany's national network it's the southern part of D-Route 9, which comes down from the Weser. Most people will find it easy. The route association says the climbs only get longer in the Pfaffenwinkel near the end, and even there they're hardly steeper, and that the total rise from Würzburg to Füssen is about 600 m. There are short steep bits, though. Leaving Würzburg you climb from about 180 m to the Zeller Waldspitze at about 320 m within the first 5 km, and Wikivoyage mentions steep pulls up to Rothenburg from Detwang and up to Schillingsfürst. The route goes out of its way to take in the sights, so it's longer than the road. ICE trains stop at Würzburg, Donauwörth and Augsburg, and most stage towns have a station, Füssen included.

Highlights along the way

  1. The Tauber valley and Weikersheim: From Wertheim the route shares the Liebliches Taubertal cycle path up the Tauber, which Wikivoyage says is mostly flat and all tarmac. At Weikersheim the Renaissance castle has a grand Knights' Hall and a baroque garden.
  2. Rothenburg ob der Tauber: After Creglingen you follow the Tauber upstream to Detwang, then climb, short and steep, into Rothenburg's medieval old town.
  3. Nördlingen and the Ries: Nördlingen sits in the Ries, a crater left by a meteorite about 15 million years ago. Its town wall is the only one in Germany that's complete and walkable all the way round, 2.7 km, and you can climb the church tower, the Daniel, for the view over the crater.
  4. Landsberg am Lech: The old town lies between the Lech and its steep bank, round a wide main square with the Schmalzturm and a town hall with a stucco front by Dominikus Zimmermann. Wikivoyage says it's known as the Rothenburg of Upper Bavaria.
  5. The Wieskirche and Neuschwanstein: The western variant of the last stage passes the Wieskirche near Steingaden, a rococo pilgrimage church built from 1746 to 1757 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just before Füssen comes Neuschwanstein, the castle of Ludwig II.

Distance

About 500 km (310 miles) in all from Würzburg to Füssen, by the Romantic Road association's count, in 10 stages. They're Würzburg to Wertheim 51 km, Wertheim to Bad Mergentheim 47 km, Bad Mergentheim to Rothenburg 50 km, Rothenburg to Dinkelsbühl 59 km, Dinkelsbühl to Nördlingen 38 km, Nördlingen to Donauwörth 40 km, Donauwörth to Augsburg 71 km, Augsburg to Landsberg 56 km and Landsberg to Schongau 36 km. The last stage, Schongau to Füssen, is 52 km by either the western variant through Steingaden or the eastern one through Wildsteig. Wikivoyage gives about 430 km for the route, so treat the totals as rough. The road itself is about 460 km.

Best time to go

The route association suggests riding north to south, as you're more likely to have the wind behind you. Wikivoyage says there's no set direction and that, given the lie of the land, starting in Schwangau also makes sense. On a hot day with luggage, don't underestimate the first climb out of Würzburg. The official tip is to take Würzburg's bus line 470 from the main station to Waldbüttelbrunn, which carries bikes if you buy a child's ticket for them. At the far end, tickets for Neuschwanstein are sold online at hohenschwangau.de, and only same-day tickets are left on the spot. In winter the Marienbrücke over the Pöllat gorge may close in bad weather, according to the castle's site in November 2026.

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