The Town Hall Tower is the quickest way to understand Rothenburg from above. After a tight climb of roughly 220 steps, the viewing platform opens onto the market square, steep red roofs, church towers, and the line of walls that still defines the old town.
Go early or late if you want a little breathing room, because the platform is small and Rothenburg's day-trip crowds are not. The climb also gives the town hall itself more presence: from below it is a handsome Gothic-and-Renaissance civic building, while from above it becomes the hinge of the whole medieval street plan.