City tours

If you’re walking through the alleyways in Rothenburg’s old town quarter, you can find something interesting from the past at every corner – and actually on every house. Plaques about German kings and emperors who once spent the night here. Or signs of the residents who lived here hundreds of years ago. All these stories come to life when you stroll through the alleyways with one of the Rothenburg city guides. While the Night Watchman tour is on many visitors’ to-do list, much more is offered every day in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We’ll give you an overview and show which exclusive tours are also worth checking out in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

The traditional city tour gives you useful information about the city history, the legends and stories around Rothenburg ob der Tauber. In 90 minutes, you’ll see the old quarter’s most beautiful locations. You’ll find out the story behind the Meistertrunk and the former function of the plague mask on the castle gate. The classic city tour in Rothenburg ob der Tauber takes place twice a day in the summer season and the Advent period: It starts at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. from the Marktplatz. The English city tour starts from the Marktplatz each day at 2 p.m. On Wednesday and Saturday, there is also a Spanish tour at 2 p.m. and, in the summer months, an Italian one at 11 a.m.

There are fantastic ways to spend an evening in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and learn something on the side: The Night Watchman, the Craftsman’s Widow Walburga and the Executioner start their entertaining as well as informative city tours from the Marktplatz. In addition to the Night Watchman, the Craftsman’s Widow and Executioner with his ghostly tour have become popular with visitors. The tour with the Widow includes the old Rothenburg Craftsman’s House, a historic building which is also run as a private museum. Here Walburga explains how people once took care of their household in the Middle Ages. The Executioner recounts gruesome experiences from his work – of course this kind of profession will involve some bloodshed. Nonetheless, just like the Night Watchman and Widow, his tour is also suitable for children.

The history of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is very colorful. Too colorful to cover all aspects with their details in a general tour. The city guides thus offer many special tours that can be booked or are also given as public tours on certain seasonal occasions. One example is the tour “Reiterle, Christ Child and more”: Around the Advent period, it shares Christmas stories relating to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and explains the mythical figure of the Reiterle, which gives the Rothenburg Christmas market its name. Tours around the Easter weekend highlight the festively decorated fountains. Visitors learn about the meaning of the fountains in medieval Rothenburg and the tradition for Easter. Both tours can also be booked as group tours. Additional tours with special aspects of the city’s history cover the quarter walls, the towers or the patrician houses on Herrngasse as well as rich Jewish heritage in Rothenburg. Not only these but also other special themed tours offer views behind the façades of the old quarter. For the culturally themed year “Picturesque – Rothenburg as Landscape Gardens”, two guest guides host tours through the “Picturesque Rothenburg”. Special tours of Rothenburg ob der Tauber are also offered for school classes.

The Gästeführer (tour guides) in Rothenburg ob der Tauber speak not only German, English, Spanish and Italian, they also offer a variety of other languages for guests from all over the world: Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanse, French, Croatian, Lithuanian and Czech tours are also available. On request, you can also get a city tour in sign language.