What is the Rothenburg self-guided walking tour?
The Rothenburg self-guided walking tour is an audio walk through the walled old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, narrated on your phone, so you can do without a guide. Allow about 3 hours: just 21 minutes of that is spent walking, the route is 1.6 km long, and most of the time goes to the 10 stops, where you stand and listen. You set off on whatever day suits you.
Beside the Klingentor, the narration explains why St Wolfgang's has gun loops in its walls and why the gate's name has nothing to do with a blade. At St James's Church you hear about Tilman Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar and the two towers of unequal height. The market square brings the Meistertrunk legend, in which a mayor is said to have saved the town in 1631 by emptying a huge tankard of wine, and at the Baumeisterhaus you pick out the seven virtues and seven vices on the gable.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 21 min · 1.6 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
At each stop the audio covers the history of the place, its legends and the details that are easy to miss. Prefer reading? The same text is on your screen.
Stroll on
Between stops, Google Maps points the way: 21 minutes on foot across 1.6 km, at any speed you like.
Take a break
Sit down for coffee and cake or spend an hour in a museum, then carry on later that day or another day.
Eat and browse
The stops come with tips for food and local shops near the route, and the app lets you change the first stop and the order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk links the walls, the churches and the half-timbered corners of the old town and tells you what each of them is.
Anyone who avoids groups
No umbrella to follow and no meeting point: stay where something catches your eye and move on when you are ready.
Slow sightseers
With only 21 minutes of walking, most of the time goes to looking: at the Plönlein, the gable of the Gerlachschmiede and the statues on the Baumeisterhaus.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: Klingentor, St James's Church, market square, Plönlein
10 stops · about 21 min walking · start: St Wolfgang's Church · finish: Baumeisterhaus
The walk opens at St Wolfgang's Church, built into the town wall next to the Klingentor. From there you head into town to St James's Church and the bronze apostle in front of it, and then to the market square, where the Town Hall and St George's Fountain stand side by side. Burggasse takes you past the Medieval Crime Museum to the Plönlein, after which the route swings east to the Gerlachschmiede at the Röder Gate and comes back to the Baumeisterhaus, just off the market square, for the last stop. The app lets you choose another first stop or order, and no stop asks for a ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1St Wolfgang's ChurchStart
Built into the town wall next to the Klingentor in the late 15th century, St Wolfgang's is a fortified church: its outer wall is part of the defences, with gun loops and casemates. It was the church of Rothenburg's shepherds, and their traditional shepherds' dance is still performed in the town.
2Klingentor
This gate tower in the town wall takes its name from the Klinge, the steep little valley below it, not from a blade. Together with St Wolfgang's Church it forms a small fortress on the edge of the old town, and from here the medieval wall with its covered walkway runs on around Rothenburg.
3St James's Church
The Lutheran church of St Jakob was built between 1311 and 1484, and its west choir bridges a street on a vaulted passage. Inside is Tilman Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar, carved between 1500 and 1505. Look up at the two towers: they are not the same height, at about 55 and 58 metres.
Read the full story →
4Bronze Statue of St James
This bronze in front of St James's Church shows the apostle James the Greater, to whom the church is dedicated. It recalls that Rothenburg lay on a medieval pilgrims' route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where James is said to be buried. The scallop shell is the symbol of these pilgrims.
Read the full story →
5Town Hall
Rothenburg's town hall has two parts: a Gothic wing from the 13th century with a tower about 60 metres high, and a Renaissance wing on the market square begun in 1572. Next door, the clock of the former Councillors' Tavern recalls the Meistertrunk legend, in which a mayor is said to have saved the town in 1631 by draining a huge tankard of wine.
6St George's Fountain
The fountain on the market square was first built in 1446 and received its Renaissance form in 1608, with St George fighting the dragon on top of its column. It is one of the largest fountains in Rothenburg and was an important water supply for the town.
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7Medieval Crime Museum
Housed in the former commandery of the Knights of St John on Burggasse, the Medieval Crime Museum is one of the main museums of legal history in Germany. It shows how justice worked over a thousand years, with shame masks, instruments of punishment and old legal documents.
8Plönlein
The Plönlein, a small triangular square where the street forks, is one of the most photographed corners in Germany. A narrow half-timbered house stands between two towers: the Siebers Tower on the higher street to the left and the Kobolzell Gate on the lane down to the Tauber valley.
Read the full story →
9Gerlachschmiede
The Gerlachschmiede, a former blacksmith's workshop beside the Röder Gate, is known for its tall, richly decorated half-timbered gable. The eastern part of the old town was hit by bombs in March 1945, and the smithy was among the buildings rebuilt in the old style afterwards.
10BaumeisterhausFinish
The town architect Leonhard Weidmann built this Renaissance house in 1596, just off the market square. Its stepped gable facade is decorated with fourteen statues: the seven virtues and the seven vices.
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Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Muchas Gracias
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Turkey –
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John– Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great coverage of the city of Rothenburg and it’s beautiful, historic surroundings.
Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Fantastic!
Colombia –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Es completa, faltaron algunos sitios de iteres pero en general esta muy bien.
Emma– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Fabulous- didn’t manage to fit all stages in as short of time but loved what we did see