Other guidebooks for Germany that cover more than RS

The Lonely Planet book : "Germany", 6th Edition, or later. Written by Andrea Schulte-Peevers, Kerry Christiani, Marc Di Duca, Anthony Haywood, ... "Rough Guide to Germany".
The book "Frommers Germany" has descriptions of very many places in Germany. I do not recommend reading the Best ... at the beginning of that book or any Frommers book. And, as you may know, the Frommers travel guide books are not helpful as travel guide books. The Frommers books are encyclopedias.

Earl Steinbicker's "Daytrips Germany" and "Daytrips in Germany's Rhineland" have LOTS of hands-on tips and information and practical sightseeing suggestions; his "Daytrips Bavaria" wisely includes non-RR towns near Rothenburg like Bamberg and Nuremberg as well.

The Michelin Green guide and the Eyewitness Travel Guide for Germany are probably the two most comprehensive surveys of the country. Unlike Mr. Steves, they don't try to guide you by hand, so don't expect the level of detail you would find in a Blue Book. On the other hand, if they mention places like Beilstein, or Reutte, they won't try to convince you that towns like these are particularly unique. In my opinion, that is the biggest fault of Mr. Steves' book- not necessarily that he has made editorial choices to leave out large sections of the country (a minus, yes, but an understandable one, given his writing approach). But that he elevates several towns of secondary interest into "prime status", without mentioning the inumerable comparable options, many of which are far more convenient to reach. The two guides I listed above will list many of the interesting options and let you decide on your own which ones most merit your attention. If you're driving, Frommer's 25 Great Drives in Germany mentions some worthwhile towns that no other book covers. However, it isn't intended as a general survey of the country.

Kelly, You might have a look at the DK Eyewitness Germany as that may cover the areas you're interested in. You may find it interesting to have a look at This Article concerning Guidebooks. That may help you to find the one that works best for the areas you want to visit. I suspect that the lack of coverage of some parts of Germany is not so much that he's "closed minded", but more a matter of practicality. As the RS books are revised every year, if new cities are added it becomes increasingly difficult and costly to visit each one every year to get uppdate information. Happy travels!

To supplement any guide books you have, you might want to check out some other travel forums that will offer you information about cities, towns and regions that are missing from the RS books. The travel forums on Trip Advisor and Fodors are the most active, and offer up to date information for pretty much anyplace in the world you are traveling to. Trip Advisor is my favorite as it has sections for each and every city, with forum questions, Things to Do, tours, restaurants, hotels, and destination experts to answer any and all questions about the places you are interested in seeing. Fodors is a bit more upscale, but still has a lively forum for each country, where you can ask all your questions.

Also, you probably won't find these available in the US, but there are many guides sold here intended for specific interests. For hiking, I find the Rother Wanderfürher series invaluable. ADAC publishes very detailed driving itineraries. There are also guides devoted to biking, winter sports, climbing, castles, churches, etc. And of course, the Michelin Red Book is probably your best source for meal recommendations, even if you're not looking for the high end "star" restaurants. It also contains recommendations for more modest fare in almost any decent sized town. Finally... I often use a combination of Google maps and Wikipedia. With the photo and street view options enabled, you can get a rough idea of the highlights of virtually any town in the country. Wikipedia articles also contain a surprisingly large amount of information on all but the smallest towns.

DK Eyewitness has started a new series called "Back Roads." The one for Germany (Back Roads Germany) has 24 drives, including a few in the area you are looking at. Each gives a short description of what to see and do in the towns along the way.

For me Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, and Michelin Green Guides are pretty good. There are a ton of choices and it helps to read them and decide which works for you. I recommend visiting your library, check out every travel book for, in this case, Germany, then decide which one works best for you and buy the current edition for your trip. As far as I know libraries don't carry the Michelin Green Guides. If I'm wrong, maybe someone can chime in - they may be in reference rather than the travel section.