On the eastern bank of the river Iller, just outside the modern city centre, lies one of the most important open-air Roman sites in southern Germany. The Archaeological Park Cambodunum preserves the remains of the city of Cambodunum, founded by the Romans under Emperor Augustus around the turn of the era and developed into the first administrative centre of the province of Raetia before that role later passed to Augsburg. The park is divided into three areas that visitors can explore in sequence: the Gallo-Roman Temple District, with reconstructed altars, temples, and a double hall; the Small Thermal Baths, originally the private bathhouse of the Roman governor, now sheltered inside a protective building with an accompanying exhibition; and the Forum and Basilica, the open civic centre where markets, public meetings, and law courts once gathered. Open since 1983 after more than a century of archaeological work, the park has become the largest Roman archaeological park in southern Germany and uses an interactive app, virtual reality stations, and live history days to bring the city of Cambodunum back to life across the year.

A short walk east of the Residence lies the other historic centre of Kempten, the medieval Town Hall (Rathaus) and its surrounding square. The town hall is a richly decorated building with a stepped gable, painted facade, and the figure of an imperial eagle as a reminder that this part of Kempten was once a free imperial city, answering directly to the emperor rather than to the prince-abbot. The square in front of it has been the civic heart of the imperial city for centuries and still hosts markets, festivals, and open-air events throughout the year. The streets around the square are lined with merchant houses, narrow alleys, and quiet inner courtyards, and a short walk away the late-Gothic Church of St Magnus rises with its sixty-six-metre tower, the former parish church of the Protestant imperial city. Together, the Rathaus square and the surrounding old town form a complete civic ensemble that stands in deliberate contrast to the ecclesiastical grandeur of the Residence on the opposite side of the centre, a layout that still tells the story of Kempten as a city of two histories.

The River Iller rises in the high Allgäu Alps and flows north through Kempten on its way toward the Danube, which it eventually joins near Ulm. The river divides the historic city in two, with the Baroque Residence and the imperial old town on the western bank and the Archaeological Park Cambodunum and quieter residential districts on the eastern side. A long riverside path follows the Iller through the centre of the city, offering one of the most pleasant short walks in Kempten and giving a clear sense of why the Romans chose this site in the first place: a navigable river, easy access to the Alpine passes, and a natural crossroads of trade routes between Italy, the Rhine, and the Danube. Today the riverbanks are lined with parks, footbridges, and shaded benches, and a network of well-marked cycle paths extends both upstream into the alpine foothills and downstream toward the Danube valley, giving travellers a chance to combine an afternoon in the old town with a peaceful walk or short bike ride along the water.

On the western side of the old town stands one of the most important Baroque ensembles in southern Germany, built by the prince-abbots of Kempten in the years after the Thirty Years’ War. The Basilica of St Lorenz is a twin-towered Baroque church begun in 1652 under Prince-Abbot Roman Giel von Gielsberg, designed by the Vorarlberg master builder Michael Beer and finished from 1670 onwards by Johann Serro of Graubünden. It was one of the first large churches built in Germany after the war and was conceived from the beginning as a double church, with a domed central choir for the monastic community and a long nave for the parish, an unusual layout that reflects its dual role as a monastery and town church. Attached to the basilica is the Prince-Abbot’s Residence (Fürstäbtliche Residenz), a double-courtyard palace begun in 1651 and given its full Baroque interior splendour in the eighteenth century. The State Rooms of the Residence (Prunkräume) can be visited today, with painted ceilings, stucco, and gilded woodwork that recall the wealth and authority of the prince-abbots who once ruled the Catholic half of the city as a small ecclesiastical state within the Holy Roman Empire.

Kempten’s main railway station sits a short ride from the centre of the old town, with the Rathaus, the Basilica of St Lorenz, the Prince-Abbot’s Residence, and the Archaeological Park Cambodunum all reachable on foot or by bike in under fifteen minutes along flat, well-signposted streets. Cycling infrastructure in and around the city is good, and the riverside paths along the Iller offer an easy way to move between the historic centre and the Roman park without crossing busy roads. Bike racks and bike parking are available at the station for shorter or longer stops. For onward travel, the same line connects back toward Ulm and the wider Danube region, so Kempten works equally well as a one-day excursion or as an overnight detour from the EuroVelo 6.