Saturday, the start of my actual travel on the Romantic Road. I left Oberammergau by bus in midmorning and went first to Wieskirche. I had an hour to see it but it only takes five minutes. There is some buildup around it, but I can see where it was fairly isolated in the past. After gazing at the incredible ornateness for a few minutes, I retired to a nearby restaurant for an early lunch.
After lunch I boarded a bus to Rottenbuch, where I changed for Schongau.
I noted in my audio log that Schongau was a �bust�. After getting off the bus in front of the Bahnhof, I found that there was a small road from there to the base of the hill, and a footpath up the hill to the town. None of this was shown on the map. The town wall today seems to serve as a gigantic retaining wall, supporting the town from sliding down the hill. I walked up the path, through a modern gate in the wall to the center of town. There is nothing of note about the town itself, no picturesque fachwerk buildings. it has obviously been rebuilt over the years in a more modern style. I walked to the edge of town, to where the map showed that the �Wehrgang� (elevated platform on the inside for defender to stand) was supposedly accessible. It is visible, but not accessible; multiple buildings, built against the wall, block access. I then walked down to one of the remaining gates. It�s there; you can see it from outside, but you can�t go in, or access the adjacent Wehrgang. I concluded there was nothing really worth seeing. I walked down the path and waited at the station for the next train.
Had I better planned this trip, I could have taken an hour long bus ride to my next stop, Landsberg, but this was Saturday and the bus didn�t run. It took two hours and four connecting trains to get to Landsberg. The first two trains took me to Pasing, just outside Munich. Those trains were filled with people in Trachten (traditional dress) headed for the last night of Oktoberfest.
After the disappointment of Schongau, Landsberg was a pleasant surprise. The Stadtbus from the Bahnhof dropped me off at the edge of the Hauptplatz, a large open square in the middle of town. At the edge of the Hauptplatz is a tall, rough rock tower and gate, which the placard says was built in 1260. It�s very tall. The town is built on the flat land next to the river, under a hill. The tall towers were apparently to defend the town from attackers on the hill.
I check into my hotel and then set out immediately to explore the town. I found the slightly newer, northern gate and tower.
I had expected Landsberg to be just an overnight stop; I had not expected so much to see. It might not be worth a special trip just to see, but after the disappointment of Schongau, it was an unexpected bonus.
Sunday, Oktober 7: I left Landsberg first thing in the morning and headed north by train. After changing trains in Augsburg, I arrived in Donauw�rth. I checked my bag in a locker at the station and walked down to the point where the W�rnitz river meets the Donau (Danube). There is a statue there of a young woman labeled �Die Junge Danau� (the young Danube). (Donauw�rth is only a few hundred miles from the headwaters of the Danube, one of the longest rivers in the Europe.)
I quickly located the �Promenade�, a park like path following a stream just outside of the old city walls. Soon I reached the ruins of Mangoldstein, a castle built in Donauw�rth in 900 A.D. I circled around the north side of the town, looking for remnants of the ancient wall. Unfortunately, like Schongau and so many other German cities, private residences have been built against the wall, making it impossible to access. I returned to the town square at 12, noon, as all the church bells in town peeled out the event. I walked down through the town to the river, observing the outside of the old town wall, then returned to the station headed for Harburg. After a quick lunch in the Bahnhof, I hopped the train headed north 15 minutes to Harburg. Because Harburg has no lockers at the Bahnhof, I left my bag in Donauw�rth.
It was about a km (6/10th mile walk from the station to the Harburg town square at the base of the hill on which the castle is built. The town of Harburg is tiny, but picturesque. The walk from there about 4/10th mile up a steep hill to the castle was strenuous.
It�s unfortunate that there is no public transportation from the Bahnhof to the castle. It is definitely worth seeing, but difficult to walk to and just as definitely not worth renting a car to see. I spent several hours at the castle, took the guided tour (in German) then walked back to the Bahnhof, backtracked to Donauw�rth to get my bag, then traveled the short distance to N�rdlingen.
I spent the rest of the day, and overnight, in a pension just outside of the walls of N�rdlingen. N�rdlingen is a lot like Rothenburg in that it has a more or less intact wall almost encircling the town. However it lacks some of the more touristy things (like K�the Wohlfahrt�s Christmas shop) that attracts so many people to Rothenburg.