Gelnhausen

Perched elegantly on the side of a hill above the Kinzig River, Gelnhausen’s picturesque Altstadt (Old Town) offers the first taste of the half-timber houses and cobblestone streets that lie in abundance farther north. In spring and summer, school children dressed in traditional garb are guided down its winding streets and through lively little squares flanked by ice-cream parlors and outdoor cafés, to listen to tales of Red Beard, and the fate of those poor townswomen suspected of being witches.