A few weeks back, my sister and I hopped on a few trains to get to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany.

Even though I’ve lived in Germany for over five years, this was my first time to the town. It’s not quite a day trip from Munich, where I live; the journey there takes over three hours. The event of my sister visiting gave me a good excuse to finally take the trip out to the town.

You might know Rothenburg from the scene below, which graces countless Germany tourist websites and tourism books. It’s a famous view of Plönlein, the iconic timbered house split over two roads.

We visited in November during an overcast day. Thankfully it didn’t rain. But grey skies gave the town and its brightly-colored houses a fantastically moody and mysterious atmosphere. And it seemed to scare off at least a few tourists!

One of the highlights of our visit was to Käthe Wohlfahrt, a labyrinthic Christmas store with a Christmas museum. We visited the entire store and the small museum and emerged two hours later in a daze!

You could find just about any handcrafted Christmas ornament in that store. We bought a few ornaments and then wandered the Christmas market.

In the evening, we took the Nightwatch tour, which is offered by the city for <10 EUR. If you stay overnight (and you should stay overnight), I would recommend the tour. We joined a group of over fifty tourists for the English tour, which was led by a very funny and experienced guide. It was a great way to learn about the town’s long history.

Tip: Visit at the end of November, once the Christmas market has opened. Then return via Nuremberg to visit the huge Christmas market there!