The Fairy-Tale Road: Places to Explore

Popular with holidaymakers in mobile homes and caravans, who park up on the banks of the Weser directly across from its historic center, Bad Karlshafen's a pretty little spa town whose baroque architecture... Read more

The charming Weser town of Bodenwerder is the home of the Lügenbaron (Lying Baron) von Münchhausen (1720-97), who was known as a teller of whoppers and whose fantastical tales included a story... Read more

Germany's smallest city-state, Bremen, is also Germany's oldest and second-largest port (only Hamburg is larger). Together with Hamburg and Lübeck, Bremen was an early member of the merchant-run Hanseatic... Read more

This busy port city, where the Weser empties into the North Sea, is part of Bremen, about an hour to the south. You can take in the enormity of the port from a promenade, which runs its length. In addition... Read more

The Episcopal city of Fulda is well worth a detour off the Fairy-Tale Road. There are two distinct parts to its downtown area. One is a stunning display of baroque architecture, replete with cathedral... Read more

Perched elegantly on the side of a hill above the Kinzig River, Gelnhausen's picturesque Altstadt (Old Town) offers the first taste of the half-timber houses and cobblestone streets that lie in abundance... Read more

Distinguished by its famous university, where the Brothers Grimm served as professors and librarians between 1830 and 1837, the fetching town of Göttingen's streets buzz with student life. Young people... Read more

Given their relationship with one of the most famous fairy-tale characters of all time, it's unsurprising, but perhaps a little risky if legend is to be believed, that Hameln's townsfolk continue to take... Read more

The Fairy-Tale Road begins in once-upon-a-time fashion at Hanau, the town where the Brothers Grimm were born. Although Grimm fans will want to start their pilgrimage here, Hanau is now a traffic-congested... Read more

A little off the Fairy-Tale Road, and probably better known internationally as a trade-fair center than a tourist destination, the Lower Saxon capital's attractive mix of culture, arts, and nature justifies... Read more

This delightful town, seemingly untouched by the modern age, shouldn't be missed. You'll have to travel a long way through Germany to find a grouping of half-timber houses (700 of them) as harmonious as... Read more

Overshadowed by Sababurg's claim to Sleeping Beauty's castle and Bodenwerder's Baron von Münchhausen, Höxter's connection to a fairy tale is limited to a small Hansel and Gretel fountain in the... Read more

The Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel, their mother's hometown, as teenagers, and also worked there as librarians at the court of the king of Westphalia, Jerome Bonaparte (Napoléon's youngest brother)... Read more

"I think there are more steps in the streets than in the houses." That is how Jacob Grimm described the half-timber hillside town of Marburg, which rises steeply from the Lahn River to the spectacular... Read more

The little town of Steinau—full name Steinau an der Strasse (Steinau "on the road," referring to an old trade route between Frankfurt and Leipzig)—had a formative influence on the Brothers Grimm... Read more