Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [290]
Gasthof Goldenes Lamm ( 2267; www.goldenes.de; Lange Gasse 26-28; s €38-54, d €64-86) This stress-free family-run oasis has pleasant rooms at the top of a creaky staircase, and a funky rooftop garden deck with plump sofas. The attached restaurant plates up Franconian-Swabian specialities, including a vegie selection.
Dinkelsbühler Kunststuben ( 6750; www.kunst-stuben.de; Segringer Strasse 52; s €50, d €55-80; ) Personal attention and charm by the bucketload make this one of the best guesthouses on the entire Romantic Road. Furniture (including the four-posters) is all handmade by Voglauer, there’s a pretty breakfast room and the cosy library is perfect for curling up in with a good read. The artisan owner will show his Asia travel films if enough guests are interested.
Deutsches Haus ( 6058; www.deutsches-haus-dkb.de; Weinmarkt 3; s €79-90, d €129; ) This historic building plays games with visitors, thanks to an illusion created by its 13th-century architects: it looks straight but is actually off-kilter. Inside, rooms are superbly equipped with a baroque flourish, and the formal restaurant serves game and fish prepared according to age-old recipes.
Haus Appelberg ( 582 838; Nördlinger Strasse 40; dishes €5-10; 6pm-midnight Tue-Sat) At Dinkelsbühl’s best-kept dining secret, owners double up as cooks to keep tables supplied with traditional dishes such as local carp, Franconian sausages and Maultaschen (pork and spinach ravioli). On warm days swap the rustic interior for the secluded terrace, a fine spot for some evening idling over a local Hauf beer or a Franconian white.
Weib’s Brauhaus ( 579 490; Untere Schmiedgasse 13; dishes €5-12; closed Tue) A female brew master presides over the copper vats at this lively restaurant-pub. The traditional menu includes the popular Weib’s Töpfle (woman’s pot) of pork and deep-fried mashed potatoes and, of course, the house brew.
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Getting There & Away
Despite a railway line cutting through the town, Dinkelsbühl is not served by passenger trains. Regional buses to and from Nördlingen (€6.30, 45 minutes) stop at the Busbahnhof. Reaching Rothenburg (€8.90, two hours) is a real test of patience without your own car. Change from bus 805 to a train in Ansbach, then change trains in Steinach. The Europabus stops right in the Altstadt at Schweinemarkt.
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NÖRDLINGEN
09081 / pop 20,100
Charmingly medieval, Nördlingen sees fewer tourists than its better known neighbours and manages to retain an air of authenticity, which is a relief after some of the Romantic Road’s worst excesses. The town lies within the Ries Basin, a massive impact crater gouged out by a meteorite more than 15 million years ago. The crater – some 25km in diameter – is one of the best preserved on earth, and has been declared a special ‘geopark’. Nördlingen’s 14th-century walls, all original, mimic the crater’s rim and are almost perfectly circular.
Incidentally, if you’ve seen the 1970s film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, you’ve already looked down upon Nördlingen from a glass lift.
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Orientation & Information
Imagine Nördlingen as a cartwheel, with the St Georgskirche as the hub, five main roads radiating out as the spokes, and the ring of covered walls, including 12 completely intact gates, as the wheel’s rim. You can circumnavigate the entire town in around an hour by taking the sentry walk (free) on top of the walls all the way. The Hauptbahnhof and main post office are outside the walls to the southeast.
Geopark Ries Information Centre ( 273 8200; www.geopark-ries.de; Vordere Gerbergasse 3; 10am-4.30pm Tue-Sun) Has a free exhibition on the crater.
Tourist office ( 841 16; www.noerdlingen.de; Marktplatz 2; 10am-6pm Mon-Thu, 10am-4.30pm Fri, 10am-2pm Sat Easter-early Nov, 10am-2pm Sun May-Sep, Mon-Fri only mid-Nov–Easter) Has an out-of-hours foyer with web access and brochures.
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Sights
ST GEORGSKIRCHE
The massive late-Gothic St Georgskirche is one of the largest churches