Füssen Old Town

Füssen sits on the Lech where the Alps begin, at the southern end of the Romantic Road and the northern end of the old Roman Via Claudia Augusta. From the fifteenth century it was a centre of lute and violin making, with a guild founded in 1562, one of the earliest in Europe, and instruments exported widely; a museum in the former St Mang abbey covers the trade. The High Castle, a bishop's residence, has facades painted in illusionistic architecture, windows and stonework rendered flat on the wall in the late Gothic period. The old town below is a grid of pastel lanes.

What you actually see

• The painted castle - illusionistic architecture rendered flat on the walls.
• The lute museum - a craft with one of Europe's earliest guilds.
• The abbey rooms - baroque halls in the former St Mang monastery.
• The pastel lanes - a compact old town below the castle rock.

When to go

May to October; the town is the base for Neuschwanstein and fills with day traffic in summer. Winter brings skiing nearby and a quieter old town.

Honest expectations

The town is dominated by visitors heading to the castles nearby. Museums close Mondays in winter. Parking in the centre is limited.

Nearby

Neuschwanstein lies east; the Wieskirche is north.