ROMANTIC ROAD

The Romantic Road (German:Romantische Straße) is the term for a theme route coined by travel agents in the 1950s to describe the 350 kilometres (220 mi) of highway in southernGermany (in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), between Würzburgand Füssen. In medieval times it used to be a trade route, connecting the center of Germany with the South. Today this region is thought by many international travellers to possess "quintessentially" German scenery and culture, specifically in towns and cities such as Nördlingen,Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The route is also known for passing a lot of castles, such as Burg Harburg and the famousNeuschwanstein Castle. The Romantic Road is marked with brown signs along the road.

Based (very) loosely on the old Roman route between the participating towns and adding in some stunning medieval locations to the north, the concept of the Romantic Road is a little bit like the British "ploughman's lunch" - a marketing idea which appears to be based on history and tradition but which is actually a much more modern invention.

In the case of the Romantic Road, Germany was desperate to rebuild a tourism industry in the post-war times and the idea of the formal "route" was created in 1950 (not long after the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany and the end of the military-administered occupation).

The first visitors were friends and families of the American soldiers stationed in the large bases in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg but the idea of the trail from Würzburg toFüssen soon became wildly popular.