The city of Augsburg can trace its history way back beyond the medieval heyday of its neighbours on the Romantic Road.
It is one of the oldest German cities - the oldest one in Bavaria - and visitors can find landmarks from the different eras as they explore the city centre.
The original settlement before the period of Roman control was dubbed Augusta Vindelicorum when the Roman Empire came to power in the region and built the trade route stretching between northern Italy and their new powerbase in southern Germany.
Augsburg is about halfway down the Romantic Road and makes a good stopping point for visitors who are planning to split their trip into a northern and southern section.
It has an interesting old town with the Augsburg cathedral just outside the main centre dating from the 11th century and an impressive Renaissance town hall in the central square.
The city is located around 80 kilometres northeast of Munich. It is the capital of Swabia, a region in the eastern part of Bavaria.
The name originates from the original Roman settlement on the site: Augusta Vindelicorum. 'Burg' refers to a small town or a fortress.
The proper pronunciation starts with an 'ow', as in 'ow, that hurt!'. Not an 'aw', as in 'awful', which is a common mistake made by foreigners.
Augsburg is the oldest city in Bavaria, but it is probably most famous for the Fuggerei - a social housing estate in the city centre built by the Fugger family of bankers which dates back to the Middle Ages.
The city is located on the Lech river. which joins the Wertach before it flows into the Danube near Donauwörth to the north of the city.
Although Augsburg is the only location on the whole of the Romantic Road which can boast its own airport - a few kilometres to the north of the city centre - the airport no longer has scheduled flights. Augsburg has some of the best alternative options, though, with the massive choice of Munich Airport or the low-cost base of Memmingen both being close at hand.
Distance to Munich
Airport: 85km
Distance to Memmingen
Airport: 86km
Distance to Stuttgart Airport: 150km
Distance to Nuremberg
Airport: 162km
The main Augsburg railway station is located to the east of the city centre. Augsburg is a major rail connection for southern Germany and connects easily into main national and international routes, as well as to other locations on the Romantic Road.
There is a regular regional rail service between the main stations in both cities, with the journey taking around three quarters of an hour.
Augsburg and Munich are connected by the A8 motorway. Driving time is just under an hour.
Augsburg is just about the half-way point along the Romantic Road and the size of the town, the places to see and the choice of hotel accommodation make it a good point to pause a while rather than rushing from one place to another on the road south.
The city set in a relatively flat area on the river Lech and the accommodation is mostly within the circular area formed by the bounds of the motorways around the suburbs and the river to the east. There are plenty of hotels in the centre of Augsburg for those who like to be in the thick of things.
If you know when you are planning to go but haven't decided on accommodation, then use the map below to get an idea of which properties are available and to compare prices during the period you wish to travel.
Enter your proposed dates and use the '+' to zoom in on a location and reveal more properties. Click on the price above a property to see more information.
(Please note that this selection will also include some guesthouses, pensions and self-catering apartments for those who are interested in that form of accommodation!)
If you know when you are planning to go but haven't decided on accommodation, then use the searchbox below to get an idea of which properties are available and to compare prices during the period you wish to travel.
Augsburg revels in its title of the oldest city in Bavaria - one up on its larger, noisier and more fashionable neighbour to the east Munich.
(In fact the founding of Munich can be traced back to negotiations in the Diet of Augsburg in what is known as "the Augsburg decision".)
Be that as it may, Augusta Vindelicorum was originally a Roman town, built in a strategic position which allowed control of the access to river crossings (the Lech and the Danube). Although it was named after the Emperor at the time, Augustus, it was actually built by his stepson, the Roman general Drusus.
The original Roman settlement was destroyed during the fall of the Roman empire, but people continued to live there and it became the seat of the powerful Augsburg Prince-Bishops.
Like other towns along the Romantic Road it was one of the free Imperial cities and in its heyday in the 16th century was one of the most important trading and cultural centres in the world. The importance of the city at that time is shown in the fact that it was the seat of the Imperial Diet (council) and for one of the important peace conferences during the turbulence of the Reformation.
As Augsburg moved into the more modern period it moved away from being a city of trade and culture to being an important industrial centre - with much of the industry being based around the old trade of weaving but using tools to mechanise production.
In Augsburg the Fugger family is represented by their famous medieval social housing project - the Fuggerei - and the Town Palace that they left behind.
But what are possibly Augsburg's most famous and influential family had an incredible effect on European history and the rise and fall of nations through their financial wheelings and dealings.
Originally a family involved in weaving, the forefathers of the most influential generation moved to Augsburg in the 14th century. Within a century they were listed in city revenue lists as the seventh richest family and changed their guild from weaving to trade.
Essentially an import-export business, the Fuggers became more and more powerful as they started to put their profits to work in buying concessions to mine valuable ores (for example, the largest silver works in the world in Schwaz in the Austrian Tyrol) and most importantly to advance credit to rulers of states who were in debt due to ruinous wars or extravagance.
Within 20 years, the first mention was made of the Fugger "bank" and they became the financial advisors (and creditors) of the Pope, the Hapsburg Emperors and Henry VIII of England.
In the 16th century the family was raised to the nobility and started work on their most famous Augsburg legacy. The Fuggerei consisted of 110 units of housing for poor families who did not want to rely on charity. The rent was 1 guilder a year, a nominal sum, and residents were expected to pray daily for the Fuggers. Spouses of inhabitants who died were allowed to remain in the tenancied apartments.
At the peak of their prosperity and influence, the Fuggers left a rich architectural and artistic legacy all over Europe but the Thirty Years War and its effect on Germany changed the role of the family business. They withdrew from trade and became a more private but still very wealthy family "organisation".
The Fuggerei social housing was very badly damaged by aerial bombing
in the Second World War but the influential Fugger family council took
the decision to rebuild the quarter in 1944 and the work was finished
by 1948. It
was renovated in the 60s and 70s, the last major work on the project.
Website: www.fugger.de
The Augsburg Tourist Office is located in the centre of the
town in the square in front of the Town Hall. It is open all
week in the summer and from Monday-Saturday in the winter. In the summer
months guided city tours are available every day.
Website: www.augsburg.de