Romantic Road tours

Taking a bus tour of the Romantischestrasse through Southern Germany

Romantic Road towns

Perhaps the easiest way to tour the Romantic Road if you don't have a car is to let others take care of the logistics and transportation—and in some cases provide you with a tour guide—on a bus tour, leaving either from Munich or from Frankfurt.

You have two choices here: The bus, or a guided tour.

Bus or tour?

A tour is by far the best option, since (a) you actually get a bit of time to explore each place, and (b) it costs much, much less. (Also, its the only option in winter, since the bus operates only mid-April to late October.)

One-day tours cost from $61; two-day tours around $255 (including lodging in Rothenburg). Three-day and four-day tours are also available.

With the bus, you do make a lot of stops, but at only a handful of stops can you actually get off the bus to stretch your legs and snap some quick photos. If you want to stay in any one place longer than 15–45 minutes, you'll have to spend the night and catch the next day's bus to continue on your way.

The bus costs €108 ($136) if you go the full ride between Frankfurt and Füssen; €82 ($104) for the abbreviated Frankfurt–Munich itinerary.

Romantic Road tours

Photo from a Romantic Road tour participant on a Viator.com tour You can book a guided tour at a discount via our partners Viator.com.

Again, one-day tours start around $61; two-day tours around $255 (including lodging in Rothenburg).

Day tours

Romantic Road buses

Romantischestrasse coach
(Photo courtesy of Touring.de) You can do the entire Romantic Road in a long day (10–12 hour) on the tour buses of Deutsche Touring/Europabus (tel. +49(0)69/7191-26261; www.romanticroadcoach.de).

The bus departs daily from mid-April to late October. There are four options (two in each direction):

Southbound

Frankfurt (8am) – Füssen (7:55pm)
Frankfurt (8am) – Munich (5:50pm)

Northbound

Füssen (8am) – Frankfurt (7:35pm)
Munich (10:50am) – Frankfurt (7:35pm)

Tickets are €108 ($136) one-way for the full ride between Frankfurt and Füssen; €82 ($104) for the abbreviated Frankfurt–Munich itinerary. Most railpass holders get 20% off.

Where the Romantic Road bus stops

As it says in the intro above, you only actually get time to take a quick spin around two towns (Rothenberg and Dinkelsbühl) with additional quickie 10–20 minute stops in four others.

In other words: you do not really get to enjoy the Romantic Road—just see it out the window—unless you opt to get off the bus in one town and wait 24 hours for the next day's bus to come along. (You have to make this desicion when booking the tickets and buy each leg separately.)

Here are the Romantic Road bus's stopovers en route:

Frankfurt – Füssen or Munich	Füssen or Munich – Frankfurt
Creglingen: 15 min.	* Wieskirche: 20 min.
Rothenberg: 45 min.	Augsburg: 45 min.
Dinkelsbühl: 35 min.	Nördlingen: 15 min.
Nördlingen: 15 min.	Dinkelsbühl: 35 min.
Augsburg: 20 min.	Rothenberg: 40 min.
* Wieskirche: 10 min.