12 Day Frankfurt Roundtrip Itinerary Thru Bavaria Recommendations

while in Rothenburg for 3 days take a day trip to Nuremburg,

Personally, I would rather stay in Nuremberg for three days and take a day trip to Rothenburg, because there is much more to do in Nuremberg.

BTW, if you don't absolutely want to rent a car - you can reach all these destinations comfortably and cheaply by train.

I would do this with trains and buses. Since you are about our age (mid-70s), you'd find the train much more pleasant. No traffic tickets!! You can drink wine on the train!!

You don't really say what you prefer doing. Hiking? Museums? Hitting all the bars? All those locations are maybe too many for 12 days.

I lived in Frankfurt as a kid, and Ms Jo is a resident who comments a lot. In Frankfurt, the preferred drink is hard cider, and the specialty is "gruener sauze" a green sauce of 7 herbs on potatoes.

I'd do 3 night Frankfurt (1 at start, 2 at the end), 3 nights Munich, and 3 in Nuremberg. Schwartzwald is a good addition as well.

What order are you planning on going? Rothenburg - Munich - Baden-Baden/Heidleburg? Or the other way around? This would help me point out some good in-between places to land for the night.

When we are in Germany we do rent a car and drive. For us it is about getting outside of the big cities and getting off the beaten path. While driving isn't a problem, parking is a whole other story. In fact, most of our stories come from parking misadventures. I don't say the following to scare you, but so you don't make the same mistakes that we have.

Make sure when looking at hotels that parking is on-site or at least nearby. (If you are using Booking.com there is a parking filter. Or if you call directly to make the reservations, ask about parking). Some hotels have parking garages. (Some will charge you to park in them as well) We have stayed in hotels where the parking garage is super tight. We still have nightmares about the parking garage in Bremen. (Super tight, and super steep ramp with a sharp curve and a drop-off at the bottom. Trying to get out was not fun. I will leave it at that)

I also want to point out that having a car in Munich isn't an advantage. Parking was super expensive and Munich is a walkable city with great public transportation. Maybe stay someplace south of Munich so your day trips to Salzburg and Fussen are easier and you don't get caught up in the morning/evening rush hour. Then take the train to Munich for your days there.

I kinda have the same thoughts about Frankfurt as I do Munich. Plus Baden-Baden is two hours from Frankfurt and you have to go through Heidelburg to get there. So maybe stay at a place in between those two?

We got a parking ticket in Rothenburg. What looks like a free parking lot (by US standards) was not. So that was a fun ticket to pay on top of the rental car company's convenience fee. Make sure to use the clock placard that you find in the pocket of the door of your car to indicate what time you parked. Sometimes there is a ticket kiosk for these wide open spaces lots.

And while we are at it here are some other driving tips. Make sure to pay your parking ticket to leave the garage at the kiosk before trying to leave, otherwise, you will have angry Germans honking at you as you scramble to find the kiosk. The left lane is the passing lane on the Autobahn. Look three times before you move over (Porsches going over 200kmph will pass you from out of nowhere). Once finished passing move back to the right lane. It is illegal to pass in the right lane. Turning right on red isn't legal either. Oh and ask your rental car company to put the GPS/Sat Nav into English for you :)

I agree with Nuremberg as a travel base. You could in fact spend half your nights there and do multiple day trips to several interesting places. Bamberg... Würzburg... Bad Windsheim... Bayreuth... Rothenburg...

I don't think Munich makes a very good day trip base for either Salzburg or Füssen. Salzburg is worth more than a single day, but you will be spending 3.5 hours of your single day just traveling there and back. The disproportionate amount of travel time is even worse for Munich - Füssen - Munich if by Füssen you mean Neuschwanstein, which will cost you about 5 hours of transport time.

Any thoughts suggestions are welcome including any other sites that we
should be taking in. Thanks

Other sights/places: Some guidance from you would be helpful. Do you have an interest in the wine harvest festivals that take place within a certain radius of Frankfurt during September? What do you think you would enjoy seeing or doing on a celebratory vacation like this one? Is there something special you'd like to do? What motivated you to come up with this far-ranging itinerary iin the first place? The more we know about you, the more likely we might be useful.

Since you are going to be in the area all around it, consider a stop in Wurzburg. The Prince Bishop's Residence will really make the stop worthwhile.

Having a car for daytrips from Frankfurt consider a day in Hessenpark and Saalburg Roman Fort in the Taunus Hills 30 min north of the city. Remote spot

Hessenpark
https://www.hessenpark.de/en/

Saalburg
https://www.saalburgmuseum.de/en/

These two places are 10 min from each other by car

Can also be reached by public transport
https://www.rome2rio.com/de/map/Frankfurt-am-Main/Hessenpark

Another daytrip from Frankfurt is the Rheingau area near Rüdesheim ca.1hr west

Towns like

Rüdesheim
https://ruedesheim.de/en/home-english/

Eltville
https://www.eltville.de/freizeit-tourismus/

and a boattrip on the Rhine river
https://www.k-d.com/en/

Thanks to everyone for replying. Here is some more information:
Travel Route is: Frankfurt Airport to the Rothenburg/Nuremburg - down to Munich_- then over to the Baden-Baden/Heidelburg Area and end up at Frankfurt. Using scenic routes.

We are looking to See Cultural Areas, some guided day tours, relax and enjoy the areas. Are we cramming in too much. The reason we choose this was to avoid bus tours of getting up everyday on schedule to take a bus at 8 or so and not take the time to really enjoy the area.

Priority wise we definitely want to do Munich and the Black Forest Area at the top. And yes to the doing the Wine Harvest Festival

TRAVEL – Car vs. Train - We are open to Trains however when pricing the tickets I keep finding tickets for the 10 days on Eurorail Germany at approx $700 per person senior rate. Am I going to the wrong site? Or perhaps pricing incorrectly. Should I price individually per trip or for a 10 day pass?

Should I price individually per trip or for a 10 day pass?

There are 84 million Germans who do not have access to the Eurailpass, an invention that simplifies travel for foreigners but is very expensive. Germans buy point-to-point tickets, advance-sale tickets at discounts day tickets, month-long subscriptions for transport, etc. and tourists can travel the same way they do, but it is somewhat complex requires some education - which we can help you with.

You should post the journeys you know you want to make and the dates you want to make them, then we can provide tips for ticketing those journeys.

Travel Route is: Frankfurt Airport to the Rothenburg/Nuremburg - down to Munich_- then over to the Baden-Baden/Heidelburg Area and end up at Frankfurt. Using scenic routes.

OK. This is doable in 2 weeks, and doable by train.

Are we cramming in too much.

Yes. Independent trips should not mimic bus-tour trips. I am seeing similar feedback on your post with the Tripadvisor forum. You need to cut back a little. There are things to see and do in/near these places which require a little more time than going to ALL those destinations that you originally ticked off will allow for.

Priority wise we definitely want to do Munich and the Black Forest Area at the top. And yes to the doing the Wine Harvest Festival

This is good information! More of the same would be helpful if we are to help you build a doable itinerary.

Using local transportation is cheap, especially when you hub somewhere and make day trips. If you are in Frankfurt, you can use www.rmv.de for a group day ticket to Mainz, Eltville, Büdingen, Rüdesheim, Limburg, Idstein, Seligenstadt or Marburg. The most this will cost you per day is about 38€ and is valid for both of you all day long on all forms of transportation.
In Bavaria use a Bayern Ticket and ride the Regional trains.

All of the towns I mentioned are lovely, old towns, with beautiful old churches and lots of half-timbered houses. If you are looking for a spa, you do not need to go to Baden-baden, they have similar spas in Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg, or Bad Neuheim.

You may wish to look at our host's free Travel Tips, blue menu top left. Among them are "multi-city" plane tickets, so you don't have to fly round-trip with a long return to a place you've already been. He also discusses point-to-point rail tickets, although his travel business does sell Railpasses.

You haven't made clear if Oktoberfest is part of your planning. I personally would avoid it, and I also (very much MY opinion) think Munich is over-rated. But certainly Salzburg is not over-rated. On a a 12-day (count nights also, and "placement" to get to the flight home) trip I would not try to cover "all of Germany", which you are not succeeding in, anyway. Have you already been on Google Maps or Michelin to get some VERY APPROXIMATE travel distances and times? You should not make an itinerary without doing so, after adding 15% for traffic, meals, and navigation errors. I've been lucky enough to go to Germany several times, and we did Austria on a two-week vacation by itself (although we did sleep in Munich on the way to Vienna. BTW, we flew Austrian Air, which delivered us to Innsbruck right after our flight from Newark, NJ, and we trained in a continuous eastern direction for the two weeks. The second flight cost virtually nothing.

You need to understand that your hotels may not have their own parking, and you may be spending a lot of time driving to paid indoor garages, with narrow aisles and tiny stalls for each car. I see a, sort-of, confusion by your talking about organized full-day bus trips and also the freedom of the open road in my car. Which is it you want? Germany has superb coverage by trains. We have used some full day bus tours, despite being mainly "independent" travelers. Those were from cities where we wanted to cover three or four major [EDIT-ed:] attractions in one day, without fussing about car rental or navigation. It is true that we made a conscious decision to cheerfully accept "This is your 45 minutes free time in X place." In fact, we skipped a group meal once, to increase our walking-around time, while snarfing pre-made sandwiches from a stand.

Thanks and I will go to those Tips.

We have already purchased R/T to Frankfurt on a Singapore Air Deal out of JFK
We will not be Oktoberfest as we will be 9/12 – 9/23. There are few festivals found in the Travel tips while in the areas and will try to fit them in.
We have already mapped out the distances and most are an approx hour or so away (by car) except for Munich which is 3 plus.
If we can figure the train scheduling then that may be our preference using a 3 or so multi day hotels/BnB stay with parking, if using a car and avoid the car hassle that a lot of responses have indicated. I believe there may be some locations on our list like Rothenburg that may need a car to get to.
Yes , we are looking at using a few of those Day trips to from the Multi Day locations and still have most days to self plan and relax winging it.

Plan your parking. I live here and do it. It determines where I stay in some cases. I would suggest a good navigation device that you are familiar with. Program it for your trip organizing your favorites in an orderly fashion. Familiarize yourself with German road signs and traffic rules. Search ahead of time and plan your destinations. Be prepared for road construction, stop and go traffic and Stau worst case on the Autobahns. Be ready for high fuel costs. Look into Park and Ride (P&R) at some or your planed day trip destinations. I use alternate routes and avoid high traffic areas like around/thru Munich. Take some breaks. It's not that hard just be ready for it and use caution.

And yes to the doing the Wine Harvest Festival

Germany's wine fest of wine fests - the Wurstmarkt - is happening at the beginning part of your stay where it always happens, in Bad Dürkheim. So I will suggest reversing your loop so that Heidelberg is your first stop after landing at FRA. From Heidelberg the train trip to Bad Dürkheim is pretty simple: 08:17 - 09:25, with one change of train in Neustadt on Sept. 13, for example.

It looks like you have 12 days on the ground rather than 2 weeks - correct? Without explaining all my reasoning, I will lay out below how I would attempt to fit things in if I wanted to go where you want to go. The places you wanted originally that do not appear have been dropped. (This is not an ideal itinerary IMHO but it might be close to what you want.) Trains I would choose under the circumstances have been noted.

I have added a stay in the Rhine Valley at the end because it's close enough to FRA for your trip home and because of your interest in festivals... the Rhine in Flames is on the 21st in St. Goar.

ARRIVE 9/12 FRA, time unknown. Possible fatigue, jet-lag, etc. train to Heidelberg sometime.

9/12-14 in Heidelberg with day trip to Bad Dürkheim

9/15-16 Black Forest (train to Gengenbach 9:07 - 11:05) with day trip to BF towns

9/17-18 Munich (train to Munich 7:11 - 10:49 = fastest possible trip)

9/19-20 Nuremberg (train to Nuremberg 9:04 - 10:50) with day trip to Rothenburg. OR... train to Rothenburg (longer) with day trip to somewhere else (Nuremberg? Bad Windsheim?)

9/21-23: Rhine in Flames event on 9/21 + castles + Rhine cruise (train to Bingen 7:57 - 12:11) From a Bingen base, outings to towns like Bacharach, Oberwesel, and Rüdesheim take just a few minutes. Consider the NH Bingen hotel, on the river walk near the docks. Nice views.

https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-o/06/1a/df/01/nh-bingen.jpg?w=900&h=-1&s=1
https://media-cdn.holidaycheck.com/w_1280,h_720,c_fit,q_80/ugc/images/49ae7b3e-32a5-3d2a-8987-6a0c2650c5d2

9/24: Direct Train to FRA (5:47? 7:47? 9:47? No idea what time your flight is. Roughly 45 minutes to FRA

We have taken the train many times in Germany. There is always an information booth in the train station. The staff speak English - many in Germany speak English. They are very helpful, and can answer your questions to tell you where to go to get on the train, etc. The train stations are often interesting buildings themselves. In many cases, the stations are close to the downtown.

Rick emphasizes the idea of being "a temporary local". In Germany, to me, that means doing what Germans do.

We did not find it difficult to travel to Rothenburg ob de Tauber by train from Munich. As is the case with Bath Spa in England, I think there is another Rothenburg so be sure to choose the correct train.

TRAVEL – Car vs. Train - We are open to Trains however when pricing
the tickets I keep finding tickets for the 10 days on Eurorail Germany
at approx $700 per person senior rate. Am I going to the wrong site?
Or perhaps pricing incorrectly. Should I price individually per trip
or for a 10 day pass?

Price individually on Deutchbahn site. Using Frankfurt to Nuremburg ICE as an example, advance purchase tickets (6 months ahead of travel) are around $30. They rise to $70 if you go "tomorrow". Additionally, you have naps, wi-fi, restrooms, food, drinks, no traffic or directions or parking fees in city centers on the train.

If you are going to do multiple day trips on local trains (not ICE) you can consider the Deutchban ticket. Unlimited travel on Bus, S-Bahn, U-Bahn and local trains. Just 49 Euro for a month, per person. I will be trying it in February. Lots of post about this ticket on multiple threads on this site.

We did a similar itinerary in 2023. Flew into and out of Frankfurt. From there we went to Heidelburg, Stuttgart ( for car museums), Munich, Nuremburg and then Rothenburg odT. We traveled solely by train and loved it.
I can’t say if what we did was the cheapest option, but it certainly was the least complicated. We purchased point to point train tickets on RailEurope. Our total cost for 2 persons was just shy of $400. We purchased the train tickets about 3 months out.
Here is my photobook;
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AZZyB3c5DeNuNrMo7

It looks like we leaning to stay at 3 locations for 3-4 day each and the last night at the Hilton Airport Property in Frankfurt. Any thoughts on type of properties your experiences? Hotels, Air BnB apts/entire home.

Thanks to everyone is helping us work thru on itinerary..