Memmingen is often treated as the airport town for the Allgau, which is unfair. The old imperial city has one of southern Germany's better-preserved historic centres, with gates, towers, water channels, painted facades and a market square that still feels like the civic heart of the place.
Its deeper story is political as much as picturesque. In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, the Twelve Articles were drawn up in Memmingen, a radical statement of rights and grievances that the city now remembers in its "town of human rights" identity. That gives the pretty streets a sharper edge than you might expect.
Memmingen is compact and easy on foot. You can see the Market Square, St Martin's Church, the city walls, and the old monasteries in a relaxed half-day, or use it as a quieter base between Ulm, Augsburg, the Allgau and Lake Constance.