Rothenburg ob der Tauber

ake sure if you are googling or scheduling a train on the Eurorail app, that you type out the whole name: Rothenburg ob der Tauber!

There is another Rothenburg in Germany so if you don’t spell it out exactly, you might arrive in the wrong Rothenburg, where you’ll find few English-speaking residents, and no accommodations.

Your only hope in that case would be that you get lucky and find an English-speaking tour guide who just happened to be on the train and is willing to interpret to the train conductor as to where you actually need to go.

When you finally, arrive at in the darkest of night, at the closest train stop, you’ll again be fortunate enough to find the most wonderful people willing to share a taxi ($$$) at midnight to the nearest town and hotel 50 minutes away (also $$$)….just saying, it’s been known to happen.

Learning [experience] the expensive way.

The next morning we were on our way, finally arriving after another 4 hour train ride.

Welcome to the most well preserved medieval town in Germany.

It was certainly worth the trip. Walking through the cobblestone streets of this traditional village felt like we were part of a fairy tale. Take the trip up the narrow steep stairs to a magical view of the town. Charming half timber buildings, art gallery, medieval crime museums, christmas shops, cafes, hotels and restaurants. One can breeze right through in a day, or spend a long weekend exploring every nook and cranny of this enchanting town. You can spend a full day just shopping, browsing the ornaments or the many craftsmans’ shops. Most will even ship purchases worldwide, making it easy to bring the delightful art of this town at home when there is no more room in your luggage.

I had my first German beer in many years, delicious. We ate in the village, and enjoyed the quaint, traditional and reasonably priced meals. My son tried the rabbit and it was, apparently amazing; he never came up for air. A very relaxed and cozy atmosphere all around.

Reichsküchenmeister Restaurant and Restaurant Alter Keller are two highlights you have to hit on your trip, and a third that is NOT to be missed, rain or shine, is the Night Watchman’s Walking Tour. This gentleman told the story of the town with engaging history and delightful comedic timing. A MUST DO.

This [experience] has reinforced the magic of the
universe. A story of the right people being in the right place at the right time. The world is fortunate to still have this gem of a town.

Languages: German, though 56% speak English as well so I never felt stuck.
Currency: Euro