Top savings are available on brand-name fashion and sports clothes at the McArthur Glen Outlet shopping mall in Troyes in the Aube en Champagne region in France.

Cheap brand-name fashion and discounted sports and casual clothing is available from the McArthur Glen factory outlet shopping mall outside Troyes in the French Aube en Champagne region. International fashion brands such as Burberry, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Timberland, and Tommy Hilfiger has shops here while popular French and European brands such as Escada, Lacoste, and Petit Bateau also have discount shops here. Nike, Reebok, and Samsonite have outlets here. Terre de Bulles is the only shop in the McArthur Glen Outlet Mall that sells champagne.

Troyes is a lovely town with one of the most beautiful medieval old towns in France. Very impressive half-timbered buildings and splendid stained-glass windows can be seen in Troyes. Troyes is located in between Reims and Dijon on the main highways and a great place to stop over and save while shopping when traveling between Calais, or Paris, and Lyon and the south of France.

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The largest number of historical working windmills in the Netherlands can be seen at Kinderdijk near Rotterdam and Dordrecht in South Holland. Admission is free.

photo credit: Zhenzation

Kinderdijk near Rotterdam and Dordrecht in South Holland has the largest collection of historical working windmills in the Netherlands. The 19 windmills (windmolen) at Kinderdijk are on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list and a very popular day-trip destination from Rotterdam and even Amsterdam. Public transportation is available but most visitors find bus tours and minibus excursions more convenient, especially when traveling from Amsterdam or seeing Kinderdijk en route to Belgium.

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Ansbach, Colmburg (castle hotel), and Bad Windsheim have good hotels and restaurants to compete with more famous Romantic Franken (Romantische Franken) towns in Bavaria.

Colmberg Burghof (Photo Die Burgenstraße)

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Bad Windsheim in Franken, Bavaria has the interesting Franconian Open-Air Museum, a mostly Baroque old town, and a modern spa with mineral salt baths.

Bad Windsheim Fränkisches Freilandmuseum (Photo Janericloebe / Wikimedia Commons)

Bad Windsheim, at the edge of the Steigerwald, has an interesting old town and modern spa facilities but the main attraction is the Franconian Open Air Museum (Fränkisches Freilandmuseum), one of the largest and most interesting in Europe.

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Colmberg is a romantic town in Franconia, Bavaria with a famous Staufen-era castle – now a hotel and restaurant – and a pleasant old town with half-timbered houses.

Burg Colmberg Catsle Hotel (Photo Die Burgenstraße)

Colmberg is a typical romantic Franken town with numerous half-timbered houses. The main reason to visit can be seen from afar – Burg Colmberg that towers over the town from a hill around 50m/160 ft higher than the surrounding countryside. This Staufen castle is open to visitors and has a reasonably priced hotel and restaurant.

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Heilsbronn in Franken, Bavaria is mostly visited to see the Romanesque Klosterkirche (Monastery Church) with altars, art, and the tombs of Hohenzollern rulers.

© Wolfgang Sauber / Wikimedia Commons

Heilsbronn’s history goes back to 1132 when the bishop of Bamberg founded a monastery here at the conjunction of the territories of the Bishoprics of Bamberg, Würzburg, and Eichstätt. The monastery was once one of the richest in Franken but following secularization in the 16th century, the area lost in importance. The community surrounding the former monastery in Heilsbronn only received town rights in 1932.

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Ansbach in Bavaria has major cultural festivals including the Rokoko (Rococo) and Kaspar Hauser Festspiele (festivals) and the Bachwoche (Bach Week). The strange case of Kaspar Hauser has intrigued Germany for generations.

Cultural Festivals in Ansbach

Ansbach Rokoko Festspiele (Die Burgenstraße)

The annual Rokoko-Festspiele (Rococo Festival) is held the first week of July in Ansbach. The Rococo Festival recalls the courtly glamour of the 18th century and involves concerts, parties, and parades in period costume. A series of guitar concerts is scheduled each year.

The Bachwoche Ansbach (Bach Week), Postfach 1224, 91503 Ansbach, tel 0981-15-037, is the region’s premier cultural event. It is held in uneven years end July, early August and draws world-class artists to perform over 30 Johann Sebastian Bach-related concerts.

Ansbach keeps the legend of Kasper Hauser alive, not only with museums and monuments but also with a bi-annual Kaspar Hauser Festspiele (Festival). The Kaspar Hauser Festival is held in Ansbach early August in even years and involves a series of plays, musicals, and films on themes related to Hauser.

CSI: Kaspar Hauser, Prince of Baden?

It is hard to avoid Kaspar Hauser when visiting Ansbach. Kaspar Hauser appeared on the streets of nearby Nürnberg in 1828 as a confused, unintelligible youth. It soon transpired that he was not mentally ill but rather had been in captivity for 16 years, chained in a small, dark cell without any human contact. He proofed quite intelligent and could read and write within months.

After an assassination attempt on the boy, he was moved to Ansbach where the town’s judge Feuerbach advanced the proposition that Kaspar Hauser was actually the prince of Baden, who purportedly died at birth. Feuerbach died soon after and in 1833, Kaspar Hauser was stabbed to death by unknown assailants in the Hofgarten in Ansbach.

Ever since there have been speculations over the true identity of Hauser – a huge number of books and articles were written on the subject and at least two films made. In 1996, a major German magazine did DNA tests of the blood on Hauser’s underwear to proof that he was not related to the House of Baden.

The case did not end: there was no proof that the tested blood or clothes were really Hauser’s.  A further test in 2002 of the sweatband of Hauser’s hat, showed some resemblance, but no conclusive proof to the genetic code of the House of Baden-Zähringen. The case will probably remain open until permission is obtained, and it is very difficult in Germany, to open Hauser’s grave and test his remains.

More on Romantic Franconia:

• Romantic Franconia Overview
• Ansbach’s Baroque Residence and the Hohenzollern Connection
• Ansbach’s Old Town Sights
• Romanesque Church in Heilsbronn
• Colmberg Castle with Cheap Hotel & Restaurant
• Bad Windsheim – Open Air Museum, Spa, and Model Trains
• Open-Air Adventures in Romantic Franconia
• Hotels and Restaurants in Romantische Franken Towns

Top sights in Ansbach other than the Baroque Residenz palace include the St Gumbertus church with its Schwanenritterkapelle and the Lichtenau Fortress

Lichtenau (Photo Die Burgenstraße)

The top sight in Ansbach is the Markgräfliches Residenz (Margrave Palace) with the Hofgarten (Court Garden) but it is rewarding to stroll through the romantic old town with its faux-Baroque buildings. A brief walk through the old town is rewarding.

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Ansbach is a romantic town in Franken with a Baroque palace (Markgräfliche Residenz) and Hofgarten that remind of the links with the Hohenzollern-Brandenburg dynasty.

Ansbach Orangerie (Photo: Die Burgenstraße)

Ansbach in Romantic Franconia (Romantische Franken) is typified by Baroque palaces rather than medieval fortifications and half-timbered houses that dominate in other old town in the region.  The main sights in Ansbach are the Baroque Markgräfliche Residenz (Margrave Residence Palace) and Hofgarten (Court Gardens), which are linked to the Hohenzollern family that ruled as kings of Prussia and emperors of the German Empire.

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Romantic Franconian sights include Baroque Ansbach, Colmberg castle, Klosterkirche Minster in Heilsbronn, and Bad Windsheim with a spa and open-air museum.

photo credit: maha-online

Romantische Franken (Romantic Franconia) is in the northwestern parts of Bavaria in Germany. The most popular sights in Romantische Franken are those along the Romantic Road (Romantische Straße) between Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelsbühl, however, the region has more to offer including:

• Ansbach, a romantic town with a Baroque palace & cultural festivals
• Colmberg with a very romantic, authentic castle (with hotel and restaurant)
• Heilsbronn where the Klosterkirche (Minster) have the Hohenzollern tombs
• Bad Windsheim with one of the best open-air museums in Germany and a modern spa
• Outdoor adventures – cycling and hiking are especially popular

Romantic Franconia Tourist Office

Tourist-Information Romantisches Franken, Gemeinschaftszentrum Frankenhöhe, Am Kirchberg 4, 91598 Colmberg, tel 09803-94-141.

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Transportation in Romantic Franconia in Bavaria, Germany

Ansbach has frequent, long-distance rail connections to Nürnberg and Würzburg. Heilsbronn and Bad Windsheim can be reached on frequent local train connections.

Local railways are part of the Nürnberg network with details available at www.vgn.de. The Bavarian Ticket is a good deal for travelers in Romantic Franconia as most rail transportation here is on local trains only.

Other towns can be reached by bus but double check return times as schedules are often limited, especially outside school terms. A private car or bicycles make traveling much easier in this area.

More on Romantic Franconia:

• Ansbach’s Baroque Residence and the Hohenzollern Connection
• Ansbach’s Old Town Sights
• Cultural Events in Ansbach & Kaspar Hauser
• Romanesque Church in Heilsbronn
• Colmberg Castle with Cheap Hotel & Restaurant
• Bad Windsheim – Open Air Museum, Spa, and Model Trains
• Open-Air Adventures in Romantic Franconia
• Hotels and Restaurants in Romantische Franken Towns