Rothenburg ob der Tauber brings together diverse cultural and historical themes with several hiking options. Two questions can help with planning your trip: How much time would you like to set aside for a walk, and which aspects of the city’s history are you most interested in? The routes differ in length, duration and scenery; museums, lanes and the town wall offer other focal points. This makes it easy to tailor your stay to your interests.
Hiking trails by time and scenery
Thirteen combinable circular hiking trails start and finish at Rothenburg’s Market Square. Together, they cover more than 170 kilometres; the trails are signposted outside the historic old town. For a single loop, the Rothenburg Tower Trail offers a different route: it runs around the old town on a route of about four kilometres and takes around two and a half hours.
At 4.1 kilometres, the Little Tauber Valley Hike is slightly longer than the approximately four-kilometre Tower Trail, but its stated duration of about one and a half hours is shorter than the Tower Trail’s roughly two and a half hours. It passes through hidden lanes in the old town into the Tauber Valley and runs between the Double Bridge and Toppler Castle. This lets you compare two similarly long routes by duration and itinerary. Check the latest route information before setting out.
Another route option is the W4 circular trail, “Along the Nature Trail”: it is 5.3 to 7.6 kilometres long and passes through shady mixed woodland above the Tauber and Schandtauber rivers. The Rothenburg Tauber Mill Trail leads from the historic old town through the Tauber and Schandtauber valleys to Detwang, passing a total of 15 mills.
Town wall, views and Tauber scenery
Large sections of the town wall can be walked on at any time of day. Access arrangements may change for maintenance or safety reasons, so check the latest conditions before your visit. There are 220 steps to the viewing point in the Town Hall Tower. The small castle garden, high above the Tauber River, adds a scenic touch. The town wall, tower and park offer different ways to plan a day between the historic townscape and the surrounding landscape.
History and collections
The RothenburgMuseum presents the city’s collections spanning eight centuries across more than 2,500 square metres. Its Judaica department showcases evidence of Jewish culture in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Judengasse offers another perspective on the history of Jewish life: it has borne its name since 1371, is characterised by traditional half-timbered houses and is considered Europe’s only surviving late-medieval Jewish lane. Jews and Christians lived side by side here. Judengasse 10 is an exceptional cultural monument, with a historic mikveh in the cellar.
Buildings and museums also offer their own historical perspectives. The former Franciscan church is the city’s oldest church and houses Tilman Riemenschneider’s St Francis Altar. The former Johannite commandery, built in 1396, houses the Medieval Crime Museum, a museum of legal history regarded as the most significant of its kind in Germany. The German Christmas Museum presents the history of Christmas across more than 250 square metres. Together, these places offer different ways to explore the city: civic collections, religious and Jewish history, legal history and the development of a festive celebration.
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For the main travel overview: Ansbach.
