Entry No. 43: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
Last year, J&I spent a long weekend roadtripping from our small German village to another small German village - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which is pretty well-known for being so little. It's a near-perfectly preserved medieval town with its rampart walls still intact, a bell tower you can climb for a bird's eye view of the town and tons of charming little homes, taverns and restaurants. Hello, magical honeymoon!
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| View of the town square from the top of the bell tower |
I think I most enjoyed just walking around the cobblestone streets and snapping photos of the shuttered windows with overflowing flower baskets and the sweet doorways that looked like they were from the pages of fairy tales. I had visited this little town once before when I was a child with my parents so revisiting with my husband was a fun and surreal experience.
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| "Zur Holl" or "In Hell" ... we totally had lunch here just so we could say we ate lunch "in hell" ;) |
Behold
Schneeballen ... I definitely remembered these from the last time I had visited when I was 8 or 9. The word literally means 'snowball' and they are a regional pastry of fried dough that come in a huge variety of different flavors. I don't remember which I tried last year but I have to say, I only took a bite or two. I love the idea of eating a snowball but mine just wasn't that tasty. :-/ That's okay, though, because I later found a dark beer that was more to my liking. ;)
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| Probably the most famous shot of Rothenburg odT - maybe you recognize it now? ;) |
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| Climbing the bell tower... |
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| Loved the views from the tippy top of the bell tower! |
And here's a glimpse of the crazy creaky old stairs we had to climb to get to the top of the bell tower ... they just kept getting more and more narrow ... and finally, at the very top, you had to climb a little ladder through a little hole - yikes! ... But worth it! ;)
CB's Top Tips for Rothenburg ob der Tauber:-
Where to stay. We booked our hotel at the Hotel Schwarzer Adler but when we arrived we learned that they had overbooked and had already made arrangements to send us to another hotel - which was actually closer to the town center and we received an upgrade to a suite ... which was sweet. ;) So even though I can't say how the Hotel Schwarzer Adler was, I will say their customer service was wonderful and we really enjoyed the Hotel we ended up staying at: Hotel Zum Bären. However, it looks like Zum Bären is no longer open ... which I hope is only temporary because it was a truly wonderful + romantic hotel.
Info: Hotel Zum Bären, Hofbronnengasse 91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber / Hotel Schwarzer Adler: Klingengasse 12, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 91541Germany
Here's a few photos of Hotel Zum Bären and the suite we stayed in:
- Driving + Parking. Personally, I think driving would be the easiest way to reach Rothenburg odT. I'm sure you could take a train to a nearby village, as well, but we really enjoyed having our car with us so I highly recommend getting a rental. There is limited parking inside the walled village but there's an enormous parking lot right outside the town walls and that's where we parked for the few days we were there.
- Schneeballen. As I said in the post, it's the the thing to try here so just get one and give it a try. ;)
- Torture Museum. While this may not be the most romantic outing for a honeymoon, it's a pretty interesting museum and I remember being amazed as a little kid so J&I had to revisit. While there are some atrocious torture devices in the museum, there are also a few silly devices spotlighted that were used for the town gossips, etc. :)
- The Nightwatchman Tour. I think this tour happens every Saturday and Sunday but you might want to double check that. The tour is free {although it's nice to make a donation at the end} and you can join in at any time. Just look for the guy in a cloak with a lantern and people clustered around him. ;)
- Walk the ramparts and/or climb the bell tower. If you can, do both - you'll get a neat perspective on the town buildings and probably some beautiful photos.
- Last but not least, make sure you're headed to the right Rothenburg - there are two in Germany. So if you're using a GPS, make sure you're headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. ;)
If you have any tips, insights, suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear them! Hope you enjoyed the second installment of the European {Honeymoon-Inspired} Travel Journal! Happy Honeymooning!
Did you miss the other entries of CB's Travel Journal? Click here to catch up! ;o)
Images by moi. 
