Experience the best of Rothenburg

Rothenburg ob der Tauber stands on a ridge above the Tauber valley in Franconia, and its town walls, with gates and towers, still circle the old centre; a covered wall walk can be followed for much of the circuit. The town was a free imperial city in the Middle Ages, and the Markt square, with its Gothic and Renaissance town hall, shows the wealth of that era. The Plönlein, where two lanes meet beneath a tall tower, is its favourite photograph.

In St Jakob's church the carved Holy Blood altarpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider rises in the gallery, dating from the years around 1500. The Burggarten, a park on the site of the old imperial castle, looks over the river, and the Romantic Road touring route from Würzburg to Füssen passes through the town. A valley path leads to the village of Detwang, and the walled town of Dinkelsbühl lies to the south.

Schneeballen, crisp pastry balls dusted with sugar, are the local sweet, and roast pork shoulder with dumplings, bratwurst and the white wines of the Tauber valley fill out a Franconian table. A legend says that in 1631 the mayor saved the town by draining an enormous tankard of wine, and a Whitsun pageant retells it.