Mobility with tradition and progress:

Bavaria's famous holiday roads

Bavaria has an extremely modern and up-to-date traffic network on land, water and in the air - as befits one of Europe's major regions of economic and tourist activity. For guests from all over the world there are specially signposted tourist roads and travel routes which combine tradition and progress in a most appropriate way: Bavaria’s famous holiday roads. The most important are presented here as examples, but there are others that are certainly no less interesting: the Castles Route, the Route of the Emperors, the Romantic Road, the Glass Road, the Porcelain Road and the German Alpine Road.

The Castles Route (Burgenstrasse)

The Castles Route is one of the most distinctive holiday roads in Europe, and rich in tradition. This historic "Travel Route to the Romantic Age" that crosses the border with the Czech Republic and runs between Mannheim and Prague in a west-east direction is now fully signposted throughout its length of 975 kilometres. Impressive testimonies to the past - medieval towns, historic buildings and cultural treasures, for instance over 70 castles and palaces and more than 100 museums - are to be found along the way. The Castles Route traverses attractive, varied landscapes and at the same time visits well-known international tourist centres such as Heidelberg and, in Bavaria, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Ansbach, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Coburg, Kulmbach and Bayreuth.

The past comes alive when you stay in well-appointed, hospitable castle and palace hotels. To assist you in finding your way round, a new hotel guide has been published with a general overview of the different kinds of accommodation available, including special hotel recommendations and a table listing all sources of accommodation in approximately 60 member towns and cities on the Castles Route between Mannheim and Prague.

The Route of the Emperors

This exciting route runs along the rivers Main and Danube from west to east. Its name tells us that it played an important part in the history of sovereign power in Germany from the Early Middle Ages up to our times. 800 kilometres long, and connecting Frankfurt (Germany) with Vienna (Austria), it is still of the greatest importance as a European trade and travel route. A 350-km stretch crosses Bavaria from Aschaffenburg to Passau, through the towns of Würzburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg and Regensburg.

In 2000, jubilees associated with European history and the names of great emperors will be celebrated along this historically important route (see also the press release entitled "Event Highlights and Annual Topics in Bavaria 1999/2000").

The Romantic Road

Germany's oldest and most famous tourist route, the Romantic Road between the River Main and the Alps opens up two UNESCO World Heritage sites on Bavarian soil to the traveller, the Würzburg Residence and the Wies Church. From the terraced landscape of Franconia and Swabia up to the Alps, a journey along this road conveys the unforgettable diversity and beauty of its scenery. Bishops' palaces, Franconian-Swabian Imperial towns, princely courts, proud merchants' towns and Bavarian fairy-tale palaces offer fascinating holiday impressions and reveal a wealth of Western history, art and culture to the tourist. Away from the motorways, the visitor enjoys the peace and calm of a romantic journey from Würzburg to Füssen over a distance of some 380 kilometres.

For almost 50 years the threefold appeal of nature, culture and hospitality has characterised the landscape of the Romantic Road. The name expresses the feeling that overwhelms the majority of the German and foreign guests when visiting medieval towns and cities, not to mention King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle: the fascination exerted by the world of dreams and fairytales.

The Glass Road

The Glass Road in Eastern Bavaria has, since 1997, connected the numerous glass-producing towns along the Bavarian-Bohemian border. Here the art of glass making has a tradition that goes back centuries. From Neustadt a.d. Waldnaab, where lead-crystal glass is made, to Passau, where three rivers converge, you can experience a fairy-tale realm of glass over a distance of 250 kilometres: rare and precious objects in glass museums and galleries, glass articles produced in modern factories, individual artists in glass and even oddities such as the "Glass Barn". Events and projects fill this new holiday route with life. In many glassworks there are open evenings on the programme, and numerous towns offer their guests special holiday packages. Active holidaymakers can, for example, discover the relaxing landscape of the Upper Palatinate Forest on the Glass Cutters Way, which runs past former glass cutting workshops, some of which can still be visited.

In 1999, the tourist year in East Bavaria revolves around the 750-year-old glass-making tradition. East Bavaria is celebrating this jubilee with the First European Glass Festival along the Glass Road in September 1999. Glass artists and groups will be playing on glass instruments and will transport the visitor away into a fascinating world of sounds in churches or the sites of former glassworks.

The Porcelain Road

Nowhere else is there so much to discover about porcelain as in North-east Bavaria. The "Porcelain Road" takes the visitor through the European porcelain centre between Coburg in Upper Franconia and Weiden in the Upper Palatinate. The headquarters of numerous renowned porcelain manufacturers are situated here. On the Porcelain Road there is ample opportunity to get to know the fascinating world of this "white gold": by visiting factories and museums, attending porcelain painting courses and seminars, or examining the products in factory shops and showrooms. Almost all manufacturers offer their goods for sale at reasonable prices. But the Porcelain Road is not only a treat for porcelain lovers. It runs through one of the most beautiful hill country in Europe, that has been settled since time immemorial and offers unique attractions in terms of culture and urban architecture. It is also known for its high standard of hospitality - and for the emphasis it places on outstanding catering in its quiet inns and excellent hotels.

The German Alpine Road

The Alpine Road, more than 400 kilometres long, on the northern edge of the Alpine chain between Lindau and Berchtesgaden, is one of the oldest and most beautiful German tourist routes passing through Bavaria. Guests from all parts of the world are richly rewarded with scenic beauty and a wealth of culture - alternating between Alpine foothills and high mountains along the border of the Allgäu and Bavarian Alps, from Lake Constance to the Königssee Lake. Every year millions of tourists choose to spend their holidays here and experience the Alpine world by car or as hikers, as skiers in winter or observers of nature, as spa guests or art lovers.

The German Alpine Road begins in Lindau on Lake Constance. It runs to the internationally famous Schroth spa of Oberstaufen and from there via Immenstadt and Sonthofen to Hindelang, one of the leading holiday resorts practising eco-tourism in Bavaria. By way of the Jochstrasse, one of Germany's most attractive mountain passes, it reaches Füssen, which is also the ideal starting point for a three-country trip through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Quite close by is Neuschwanstein, the fairy-tale castle built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Such culturally interesting places as Steingaden and Oberammergau, with Linderhof Palace nearby, are located on the road to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is at once a spa, an Olympic Games venue and a winter sports resort of international fame - with Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, towering up almost 3,000 metres high behind it. The peak of the Zugspitze can easily be reached on the leisurely rack railway from Garmisch-Partenkirchen or by taking the faster cable-car from the station at Eibsee. When visitors arrive at the top, the "Panorama of 1000 Mountain Peaks" in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland awaits them. Germany's highest art exhibition, a video room, museum and restaurant round off the range of attractions. On the Zugspitzplatt you will find Bavaria's only glacier, which guarantees snow and ice even in the summer, (the skiing season on the Zugspitze runs from November to May).

Continuing along the German Alpine Road, the Achenpass mountain road is reached, and below it the Tegernsee Valley with the Tegernsee Lake opens up, one of the most popular holiday areas in southern Germany. Via Reit im Winkl and Ruhpolding you arrive at Inzell, with its internationally renowned ice racing rink. Then on to Bad Reichenhall, one of the best-known brine spas in Bavaria. From there it is not far to the popular holiday resort of Berchtesgaden with the world-famous panorama of the Watzmann mountain range and the fjord-like Königssee; at the end of its journey the German Alpine Road displays its impressive Alpine character.

For further Information:

Bavarian Tourist Board
Bayern Tourismus Markting GmbH
Prinzregentenstrasse 18
80535 München, Germany
Phone: (++49)89/212397-30,
Fax (++49)89/293582
e-mail: tourismus@bayern.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/bayern 

Tourist Board Allgäu/Bavarian Swabia
Fuggerstr. 9, 86150 Augsburg, Germany
Phone:(++49)821/33335,Fax: (++49)821/38331
e-mail: tourismus@allgaeu-bayerisch-schwaben.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/allgaeu-bayerisch-schwaben 

Tourist Board Franconia
Fürther Strasse 21, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany
Phone: (++49)911/264202,
Fax: (++49)911/270547
e-mail: tourismus@franken.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/franken 

Tourist Board Munich/Upper Bavaria
Bodenseestrasse 113, 81243 München, Germany
Phone: (++49)89/829218-0,
Fax: (++49)89/829218-28
e-mail: tourismus@oberbayern.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/oberbayern 

Tourist Board Eastern Bavaria
Luitpoldstrasse 20, 93047 Regensburg, Germany
Phone: (++49)941/58539-0,
Fax: (++49)941/5853939
e-mail: tourismus@ostbayern.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/ostbayern 

Offices of the Holiday Roads:

For the "Castles Route":
Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Die Burgenstrasse",
Rathaus, 74072 Heilbronn, Germany
Phone: (++49)7131-56-2271,
Fax: (++49)7131-56-3140

For the "Romantic Road":
Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Romantische Strasse"
Marktplatz, 91550 Dinkelsbühl, Germany
Phone: (++49)9851-90271,
Fax: (++49)9851-90279
Tourismus@romantischestrasse.btl.de 
http://www.btl.de/romantischestrasse 
http://www.romantischestrasse.de 

For the "Route of the Emperors":
Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Kaiser und Könige"
c/o Tourismusverband Ostbayern,
Luitpoldstr. 20,
D-93047 Regensburg, Germany
Phone: (++49)941-585 39-0,
Fax: (++49)941 5853939

For the "Glass Road":
Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Die Glasstrasse"
Im Tourismusverband Ostbayern e.V.
Geschäftsstelle Regen
Poschetsrieder Strasse 16,
D-94209 Regen, Germany
Phone: (++49)9921-601360
Fax: (++49)9921-97002332
glassstrasse@lra.landkreis-regen.de 
www.btl.de/glasstrasse 

For the "Porcelain Road":
Geschäftsstelle des Vereins Porzellanstrasse
c/o Rathaus der Stadt Selb
Ludwigstr. 6, D-95100 Selb, Germany
Phone: (++49) 9287-883191,
Fax: (++49) 9287-883190