The Castle Road – from Prague via Nuremberg and Heidelberg to Frankfurt

The Castle Road (Burgenstraße) is a tourist route of more than 70 castles and fortresses between Mannheim in Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic. Our version runs the other way – from Prague via Nuremberg and Rothenburg to Heidelberg and Frankfurt – and can be done entirely by express coach and train, without a car.

Six-day itinerary

Day 1. Prague – Nuremberg. Take an express coach from Prague to Nuremberg (about 3 h 30 min). The old town in the afternoon – the King’s Gate, the Craftsmen’s Courtyard, and St Lorenz and St Sebaldus churches.

Day 2. Nuremberg. The Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg) above the city, the walls and towers, Albrecht Dürer’s House and the Germanic National Museum.

Day 3. Rothenburg ob der Tauber. By train via Ansbach (about 1 h 30 min). Walk the walls, see the Plönlein and the Market Square. See Rothenburg and the Romantic Road.

Day 4. Heidelberg. Heidelberg Castle – romantic red ruins above the Neckar, home to the world’s largest wine barrel (over 200,000 litres). Then the Old Bridge, the Philosophers’ Walk across the river with its view of the castle, and Heidelberg University, Germany’s oldest (1386).

Day 5. Frankfurt. Römerberg square with its half-timbered houses and town hall, the cathedral, Goethe’s House, St Paul’s Church (Paulskirche), seat of the first German parliament, and the financial district’s skyscrapers, with views from the Main Tower.

Day 6. Fly home from Frankfurt.

More castles along the way

Coburg Fortress – one of the largest castles in Germany.
Bamberg – a UNESCO town with a town hall in the middle of the river, and famous smoked beer (Rauchbier).
The Neckar Valley – dozens of hilltop castles between Heidelberg and Heilbronn.