This was the last leg of my trip on the Romantic Road. I took the train into Weikersheim, where I toured the palace. It's OK, but nothing special. The most noteworthy thing was the wing which had quarters for the Duke and Dutchess. Their bedrooms were separated, at either end of a long hall; no wonder they only had one child. Unfortunately he died young, before he could produce and heir, and the line died with him.
To see the interior of the castle, you must take a guided tour, but the gardens can be freely browsed (with the admission fee, of course).
After seeing the castle, I walked around the old town until I found a restaurant. The board outside advertised �Neuer Wein� (new wine). Inside on the menu they also had �Zwiebelkuchen�, the onion tort traditionally served with Neuer Wein, so that was my lunch. Neuer Wein is slightly cloudy and has a sweet taste more reminiscent of apple cider than of wine.
From Weikersheim, it was a short bus ride to Bad Mergentheim. There I saw the Deutchordensmuseum, in the former castle of the Teutonic Nights, before they were disbanded by Napoleon in the early 19th century.
After several hour touring the museum in Bad Mergentheim, I boarded the train for the last leg to W�rzburg.
I guess this day should also be considered a part of trip, since W�rzburg is considered a part of the Romantic Road. This morning I bought a day ticket for the W�rzburg transit (�4,10) and went off to see the Marienberg. Marienberg is a fortress on the hill across the river from W�rzburg. It is very impressive.
After Marienberg, I took the special bus down to the Residenz. I was not particularly impress with the Residenz. It does have an enormous room containing a huge staircase to the second floor, but else wise it was just overly gaudy rooms in the living area. I wouldn�t call the Residenz a must-see. Thus concludes my tour of the Romantic Road.
The road itself is not worth traveling. It�s a little two-lane highway clogged with truck and farm traffic. It is no more worth seeing than many other roads in Germany. A little bit would be OK, but 5 hours? There are, however, a few worthwhile sites along the way. Rothenburg and F�ssen are definitely worth seeing. Between Rothenburg and F�ssen, the only place worth stopping is N�rdlingen, and it can be argued that, if you also see Rothenburg, N�rdlingen is only repetition.
F�ssen
N�rdlingen
Rothenburg
W�rzburg Marienburg
Landsberg am Lech
Donauw�rth
Harburg
Feuchtwangen
Weikersheim
Wieskirche
Schongau
Dinkelsb�hl
W�rzburg Residenz
Drive vs. Public Transportation
A lot of people will tell you you can't see the Romantic Road without driving. Well, I just proved you don't need a car. I saw everything on the Road that was worth seeing (and some things that turned out not to be worth seeing, but I had to try it to know). And you will save a lot of money by not renting a car.
For Munich airport to Oberammergau, round trip to Linderhof, then up the Romantic Road to W�rzberg my total expenses for transportation (Bus and Bahn) were �89,60 (about $126) . My best car rental quote was from Gemut for $272, Munich to W�rzburg. Michelin�s fuel cost estimate for a compact car was $75. So a car would have cost me $347. I saved $221 by not having a car for that part of the trip. With two people, bus fares and some train fares would have been twice, but I could have used full Bayern Tickets for �27 (�13,50 per person vs. �19 per person for Bayern Single Tickets). So, for 2 people it would have cost about $200 for public transportation - still a savings of about $150.