Weekend in Bavaria, Germany - Travel Itinerary for a Weekend in Bavaria

Today I want to share my travel itinerary for a weekend in Bavaria with you. Germany has amazing cities, countryside, castles, and festivals, and I love traveling there. As such, when a friend who was staying with relatives in Bavaria invited me to visit her for a weekend, I readily accepted.

Weekend in Bavaria

My weekend in Bavaria started when I flew to Frankfurt. From there I hopped on a train to Ansbach, changing at Wurzburg en route. When I arrived, my friend, her brother, and her aunt were waiting for me at the station.

Ansbach

The four of us got in their car for the short ride to the historic city center, where we spent a sunny afternoon exploring.

The first thing that struck me when walking around Ansbach was the prevalence of American English. For a city so far off the tourist trail, I was surprised to hear so many familiar accents.

Then my friend explained there was an American military base in the city. It made sense.

The second thing that struck me was Ansbach’s resemblance to some of the towns I’d seen on the Romantic Road.

Again my friend came to the rescue, telling me we were a mere 40 minutes from Dinkelsbuhl, a storybook town on the Romantic Road in Bavaria.

Questions answered, I focused on Ansbach itself. It had a beautiful city square with a pretty church, sprawling cafes in front of pastel buildings, and classic hotels.

Down a pedestrianized street was a cafe called Rialto that her aunt considered the best in the city center.

We continued our weekend in Bavaria by walking to it, passing by shops selling everything from books to fashion accessories along the way.

Once we reached the cafe, we sat down for coffee and ice cream. When our giant sundaes arrived, I learned that spending summer afternoons eating ice cream outdoors is a German tradition.

After eating our ice cream, we continued our weekend in Bavaria by walking around the pedestrianized streets, passing fountains, a historic castle, hotels, and a park with a giant piece of the Berlin Wall in it.

From there we made our way to a modern shopping mall that used to be part of the American military base in Ansbach.

There we visited a shop called Nordsee, which my friend and her brother claimed sold some of the freshest fish sandwiches they’d ever had. If I hadn’t been so full of ice cream, I would have eaten one with them.

Bechhofen

Instead I waited until we got back to their family’s house in Bechhofen, where we were staying during our weekend in Bavaria.

A 20-minute drive from Ansbach, the small town had pretty churches, a quiet steam, and all the traditional Bavarian architecture one would expect from a place so close to the Romantic Road.

There I had a hearty meal of Maultaschensuppe, a soup made with meat dumplings. Alongside it were slices of brown bread, meats, liver pate, and cheeses. It was a great first meal in Germany, and it felt very Bavarian.

What didn’t feel very Bavarian were the camels. Yes, camels. After dinner my friend and I took a walk around the town, happening upon an enclosure full of camels.

My friend laughed as she explained they weren’t native to Bavaria. We never got to the bottom of what exactly they were there for, but it was fun to see such an unexpected sight in the middle of Germany.

After saying hello to the camels, we passed by the brush museum in Bechhofen (the city is famous for its brush factory, which used to produce everything from paint brushes to MAC Cosmetics brushes), rural fields, and carp ponds.

The next morning our weekend in Bavaria continued with a breakfast of fresh pretzel bread, croissants, fluffy rolls, salami, ham, and cheese.

Afterwards we took a walk up to a hill on the outskirts of Bechhofen. There we saw the Israelitisch Friedhof, a beautiful historic Jewish cemetery that I learned was the second largest of its kind in Germany.

It stood quietly among the fields, shaded by the tall trees of the surrounding forest.

Back at the house, our weekend in Bavaria continued with a traditional Bavarian lunch of Schweinebraten and Bayerische Knodel, or roast pork and regional dumplings.

It was delicious, but filling, and I was glad to have an opportunity to work off some of the calories on a bike ride afterwards.

My friend and her brother took me all through the town, past the camels, and out to a lake called Krummweiher.

The wide cycle paths and bright sunshine made it a perfect place for biking in Germany, and I could have stayed outside for the rest of my weekend in Bavaria.

But cake called. My friend’s aunt is an excellent baker, and back at the house coffee and two kinds of cake waited for us.

One was Mohnkopftorte, which was made with special cream, marshmallows, and chocolate. The other was Obstkuchen, which was a pretty peach tart.

After agonizing over which to try, I indulged my indecision and had a slice of each. They were as good as they looked.

Ansbach

After dessert our weekend in Bavaria took us back into Ansbach for one last walk. We made our way to the beautiful Hofgarten, a large green space in front of the castle.

Long lawns lined with trees gave way to flower beds and an orangery. To one side of the building was a small garden full of manicured hedges inside of which were planted all kinds of herbs.

After exploring the grounds, we stopped by the cafe at the orangery for Aperolspritz cocktails, which my friend’s aunt told us were the drink to have there.

Given they weren’t on the menu, we felt very much in-the-know as we ordered them.