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Aerial view of Weikersheim Palace and its Baroque garden, with the old town behind

Things to see

Things to see in and around Weikersheim

The Renaissance palace and its Knights’ Hall, one of Germany’s finest Baroque gardens, the old town and the Tauber valley, with Bad Mergentheim, Creglingen, Rothenburg and Würzburg a short trip away. Here are the places worth your time.

Weikersheim

The old town of Weikersheim curves around its market square, which opens straight into the palace forecourt. Behind the palace, the Baroque garden runs towards the Tauber, and vineyards climb the hills around the town.

The Renaissance garden front of Weikersheim Palace with its red roof and stepped gables behind a garden avenue and a statue Palace

Weikersheim Palace

The Hohenlohe residence

The Renaissance palace of the Counts of Hohenlohe, with its spectacular Knights’ Hall, full of life-size animals, and princely rooms furnished in the 17th and 18th centuries.

A Baroque statue in the foreground of the Weikersheim palace garden, with lawns, flower beds and the palace beyond Garden

The Palace Garden

A Baroque garden, almost unchanged

One of the best-preserved Baroque gardens in Germany, with the Hercules Fountain, statues of gods and seasons, a gallery of stone dwarfs and the orangery overlooking the Tauber valley.

The market square of Weikersheim with café umbrellas, old houses and the church tower Old town

Market Square and Town Church

The palace forecourt

A curved Baroque square that leads to the palace gate, with the late Gothic town church of St George, cafés, wine taverns and the Tauberländer Dorfmuseum of rural life.

The pale stone Bergkirche at Laudenbach with its small onion-domed tower among trees Church

Bergkirche, Laudenbach

A pilgrimage church in the hills

A late Gothic pilgrimage church on the hillside above Laudenbach, a village of Weikersheim, with the grand tomb of Melchior von Hatzfeldt, an imperial field marshal of the Thirty Years’ War.

The Tauber valley

The Tauber winds from Rothenburg to the Main through a gentle valley of vineyards, meadows and small towns. Bad Mergentheim lies downstream, Röttingen and Creglingen upstream, and a cycle path follows the river all the way.

The white palace of the Teutonic Order in Bad Mergentheim with its tall tower above a square Spa town

Bad Mergentheim

Teutonic Knights and spa gardens

A spa town 15 minutes downstream, with the palace of the Teutonic Order and its museum, a lovely spa park, thermal baths and a wildlife park in the woods.

The carved limewood Altar of the Virgin by Tilman Riemenschneider in the Herrgottskirche at Creglingen Church

Herrgottskirche, Creglingen

Riemenschneider’s masterpiece

A small church in a quiet side valley near Creglingen, home to the Altar of the Virgin, one of the masterpieces of the woodcarver Tilman Riemenschneider.

Brattenstein Castle in Röttingen, a stone building with a half-timbered upper floor and a red roof Town

Röttingen

Summer theatre and sundials

A little walled Franconian town 10 minutes upstream, with Brattenstein Castle, where a summer theatre festival is held, and dozens of sundials on its houses.

A quiet paved cycle path running between a meadow and wooded slopes in the Tauber valley Cycling

Tauber Valley Cycle Path

About 100 km of easy riding

A popular cycle path that follows the Tauber for about 100 km from Rothenburg to Wertheim on the Main, mostly flat or gently downhill, right through Weikersheim.

Further afield

Weikersheim sits on the Romantic Road between Würzburg and Rothenburg. With a car, Nuremberg and the half-timbered town of Schwäbisch Hall make good longer day trips.

The Plönlein in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a yellow half-timbered house between two gate towers Town

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Medieval Germany at its best

A walled medieval town above the Tauber, about 35 minutes away, with half-timbered houses, a walk along the town walls, the night watchman and a famous Christmas market.

Würzburg seen from above, with the Old Main Bridge, the river, church towers and vineyards on the hills City

Würzburg

Palaces, bridges and wine

A lively university city on the Main, under an hour north, with the Residence, Marienberg Fortress, the Old Main Bridge and the wine cellars of Franconia.

Nuremberg Castle on its sandstone hill above the old town rooftops City

Nuremberg

Castle, Dürer and history

A big city with a medieval old town and Imperial Castle, Albrecht Dürer’s house, a famous Christmas market and the sobering Nazi Party Rally Grounds, about 1½ hours away.

The sloping market square of Schwäbisch Hall with its town hall and half-timbered houses Town

Schwäbisch Hall

Half-timbering on the Kocher

A handsome old salt town about an hour south, with a sloping market square, the great steps of St Michael’s church, half-timbered houses on the river and an art museum.

Planning your route

In Weikersheim itself, the palace, the garden and the old town fill a relaxed day. The rest of the valley is close: Bad Mergentheim downstream, Röttingen, Creglingen and Rothenburg upstream, and Würzburg to the north.

In town

  1. Start on the market square, with a coffee in front of the palace gate.
  2. Join a guided tour of Weikersheim Palace to see the Knights’ Hall.
  3. Spend an hour in the palace garden, down to the orangery and back.
  4. Visit the town church and the Tauberländer Dorfmuseum, then end the day in a wine tavern.

Up and down the valley

Bad Mergentheim has the palace of the Teutonic Order and a lovely spa park. Upstream, see Riemenschneider’s altar in the Herrgottskirche on the way to Rothenburg.

Day trips

Würzburg is under an hour away, and Nuremberg and Schwäbisch Hall make longer days out by car.

Good to know

Many museums in Germany close on Mondays, and some sights have shorter hours in winter. Check before you travel, and read our one-day itinerary.

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Plan your Tauber valley trip

A Renaissance palace, a Baroque garden and Rothenburg next door

Walk through the Knights’ Hall and the palace garden, cycle the Tauber valley, follow the night watchman through Rothenburg or taste Franconian wine in Würzburg. Compare tours and book in a couple of taps.

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