Castle Road
A roughly 1,200 km castle-themed scenic route running from Mannheim through Heidelberg, the Neckar Valley, Rothenburg, Nuremberg and Bayreuth to Prague.
The Castle Road was founded in 1954. It originally ran from Mannheim to Nuremberg, and was extended into the Czech Republic in 1994 to end in Prague. The full route is about 1,200 km and passes more than 60 castles, palaces and fortresses. The western section follows the Neckar Valley. After Mannheim Palace comes Heidelberg Castle, followed by the Four Castles of Neckarsteinach, Dilsberg, Bad Wimpfen and other castles in the valley. The route then passes Heilbronn and Schwäbisch Hall before entering Franconia. The middle section meets the Romantic Road at Rothenburg, continues through Ansbach to Nuremberg Imperial Castle, and then heads north to the UNESCO World Heritage old town of Bamberg, the Plassenburg in Kulmbach, and Bayreuth, the city of Wagner. The eastern section crosses the border into western Bohemia in the Czech Republic and passes Cheb Castle, Loket Castle and the spa town of Karlovy Vary before reaching Prague. The road is mainly national and country roads in good condition. The full route takes seven to ten days, and the German section alone takes about five days. Popular castles such as Heidelberg, Nuremberg and Prague Castle get crowded in summer, so arrive early in the morning. If you plan to drive across the border into the Czech Republic, inform the car rental company in advance and buy a Czech motorway electronic toll sticker.