Looks alright to me.

Nuremberg: not sure which of the many offerings here interest you. Rick Steves tends to emphasize the WW II era stuff, but there's much, much more to see and do here. I could easily spend 2 days there without bothering with the Nazi Doc Center, the Nuremberg Trials, or the NSDP rally grounds. So with a day trip, I'd say 3 nights minimum.

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/discover/places-of-interest/
https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/discover/museums/

Most people on this forum will likely send you to Rothenburg instead of Bamberg, but I think that's because most people on THIS forum follow Rick's advice - not that Rick doesn't like Bamberg, but truth is, he doesn't even mention it, or the fact that it's one of Germany's best-preserved medieval cities (with UNESCO World Heritage status in fact.) So most of Rick's followers have never been there - only to Rothenburg. But Bamberg is the sort of place I prefer - a living, breathing city populated by Germans from all walks of life, a university town with lots to see and do and plenty of history to uncover, and some terrific brewery-restaurants with a distinct Franconian flair; it is possibly the one place within the cultural region of Franconia that shouts "Franconia" the loudest. Rothenburg OTOH promotes itself heavily and has carved out a niche for itself that is best described as "for tourists only." It's a very attractive town; its very cutesy storybook appearance can be attributed to the post-war rebuild that took place after 40% of the town was destroyed by allied bombs. Today it has an old-town-turned-theme-park vibe. The small Germany population that lives there is employed in the tourism industry - catering to the tourist with all the usual touristy stuff. On an average day, tour buses, cars and trains bring around 5,000+ visitors into town - if they didn't cater to all these folks, they'd be overwhelmed, I suppose.

So I guess your choice depends on what you are looking for. But you don't really have to choose. It is POSSIBLE to see both places with half a day in each if you feel energetic and if you have just a few specific things to see/do well in focus.

Some will surely say that you MUST spend a night in Rothenburg, the idea being to see it late at night or early in the morning when the tourist crowds have thinned. But there are some changes of train getting between Nuremberg and Rothenburg which are a little more doable without luggage. And Rothenburg is close enough to Nuremberg that those early/late options are possible by day trip as well. And... when you travel to Boppard, it will be simplest for you to make that trip from NUREMBERG rather than Rothenburg (which will again trigger additional changes of train with bags.)

1) Sample morning day trip to Rothenburg:

Nuremberg > Rothenburg 8:37 - 9:51
(3.5 hours in Rothenburg)
Rothenburg > Nuremberg 13:09 - 14:55

2) Sample morning day trip to Bamberg:

Nuremberg > Bamberg 8:40 - 9:20 (direct)
(4.2 hours in Bamberg)
Bamberg > Nuremberg 13:39 - 14:19 (direct)

(Going in the morning always allows you the flexibility to stay longer in town, should you feel compelled to do so.)

Tickets: The Tagesticket Plus (€25.50 for 2 adults) is a day pass that covers any/all regional trains all day long within the VGN zone. Both daytrips I mentioned are possible with this day pass. Note that if you buy the pass for Saturday, it is valid on Sunday too. On other days of the week, you will need a pass for each day.

Boppard: yes, the hotel should get you your Guest Card automatically, but request it if that doesn't happen.

Just wanted to agree with Russ’s opinion of Bamberg vs. Rothenburg. Rothenburg is cute but it is plagued by tourists. If you want to see a beautiful Bavarian city, definitely go to Bamberg.

I am not a fan of Rothenburg odT because this mostly tourist village plays a role for commercial purposes which is imo not fully authentic. If you look for medieval looking villages I would prefer Bad Wimpfen as a stop on the journey.

Rothenburg odT had 40-50% damages in WWII, so what you there see is partly rebuilt. 83% of RodT citizens voted for Nazis in 1933 but this is not part of their tourist story. Of course also Bamberg and county around had negative contributions to raise of Nazism but the support in these elections was much lower.

My uncle lived in Bamberg, so been there a few times. The old town has imo a less artificial style. Compared to RodT it is a town with some central functions and the necessary representative buildings.

Have a good journey.

Do 2 nights in Nuremberg.
Munich 3 nights is good, why skip Berchtesdagen and Salzburg? Also, why skip Garmish/Fussen.
I loved The Romantic Road, from Fussen to Wurzburg, that includes medieval walled villages like Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Bamberg is great as well, why not skip Boppard and Amsterdam and do Bavaria properly as well as Salzburg?

Thank you all for your input! We decided we will do a day trip to bamberg! Also shout out to Russ, you have been such a great help on here planning our trip!

Also for the day passes, can we purchase those day of? Instead of having to buy in advance?

To answer geovagriffiths response, we are dedicating a whole separate trip to Austria! We didn’t want to feel like we have to just squeeze it into this itinerary.

Also for the day passes, can we purchase those day of?

Yes. They are available by app or at ticket machines at the station. They are sold at varying "price levels" depending on the distance of your day trip within the VGN zone. But both day trips you are considering are longer and will require the highest level/price of €25.50 (a price which may go up a little bit before your trip... normal price increases, in other words.)

When using regional trains (RE, RB, S, etc.) only, tickets are ALWAYS available last minute. Advance purchase, when allowed, should be avoided. Why? The local-area tickets are the same price whether you buy early or buy late; also, they are non-refundable and do not promise you a seat anyway. If on Friday you buy a pass for Saturday's date, and you can't travel for some reason, tough luck. So basically there is no advantage, only a downside to pre-purchase.

It is only those journeys which include the long-distance (high-speed) trains like ICEs which are heavily discounted with advance purchase. With regional trains, you get discounts in other ways (like this VGN day pass.)

One more thing...The VGN day pass is not just for trains. You can use it also on buses, trams and subways within Nuremberg and Bamberg on the same day. If you need a bus ride to the station in Nuremberg from your hotel, for example, your pass covers that. And to get from the train station to the cool part of Bamberg, you do not have to walk if you don't wish to - there are buses covered by the day pass that will shuttle you into the old town at no charge with this pass. If your day begins with a bus ride, you can board the bus and buy this day pass directly from the bus driver... I believe the page I linked to mentions this and other options for purchase. Then just keep it handy for inspection when you ride the trains that day.

I like Rothenburg (3 times) but I wouldn't consider it a preferred stop. It's pretty, but the whole old town can be walked across in 15 minutes. The wall around town is the only thing I found interesting, other than the usual shops and restaurants.

I did a similar trip last year (but in reverse) and debated between Nuremberg/Bamberg/Rothenburg. I chose Rothenburg because I was intent on doing the Night Watchman tour and didn't want to deal with a 90 minute drive back to the hotel at night down roads I was not familiar with. Plus my stay was less than 2 days.

Are you travelling with children? Because Rothenburg ob der Tauber might be more enjoyable for kids/teenagers than Bamberg. The Medieval Crime Museum is pretty cool. Walking the wall is fun.

Are you into beer? Bamberg is ground zero for rauchbier (smoked beer) which I don't recall seeing anywhere else around Germany. There are hiking trails that will take you to multiple breweries.

People like to poo-poo RodT because it's too touristy, but it didn't bother me. I never felt like it was swamped. I will concur that it can be done in a day trip but it was quite magical on the Market Platzl at sunset with the thinner crowds.

"I did a similar trip last year (but in reverse) and debated between Nuremberg/Bamberg/Rothenburg. I chose Rothenburg..."

The region around Nuremberg (Franconia) is packed with interesting places like the ones you mention. It's a shame that most itineraries either skip this area entirely or dedicate only minor time to it. The Rick Steves "Best of Germany" tour does make Rothenburg a 1-night stop. But it ignores the rest of the area, including Nuremberg, in favor of a very lengthy bus trip that circumnavigates the country. Rick's travel planning advice for Germany mentions Rothenburg of course. Nuremberg too, but only if you have 2 weeks for Germany; if it's 3 weeks, he suggests a stop in Würzburg.

To me, it's a terrible pity to set foot in Franconia for just 24 hours, and only to see Rothenburg. With a longer stay - preferrably in Nuremberg, which puts MANY great destinations at convenient day-trip distance - you don't have to pit Rothenburg against Nuremberg against Bamberg against Würzburg. And you might have time also for Bad Windsheim (Mark's excellent suggestion.)

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attractions-g198421-Activities-oa0-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

Or time for these other fine day-trip options from Nuremberg...

Bayreuth

Iphofen

Regensburg

Confession: I like Disneyworld.
We spent one night in Rothenburg and 2in Fussen and I loved both. I would never have gone to Fussen if my daughter hadn't wanted to see the castle,which I thought was a waste of time, but I loved Fussen.

I’m in early stages of planning a 3-4 week circular trip of Germany mostly in June. This post and comments have been very helpful, specially Russ. Thank you! Once I have done some more research, I’ll post a draft itinerary for feedback. One quick question, does the Deutcheland pass work for all places in Germany? Is it inclusive of all regional, suburban trains AND local public transport? Thank you

I'd vote for Bamberg. The smokey beer is worth the trip alone. Was in Rothenberg too last year. As many mentioned it was touristy. We were able to do both towns last year, but if I had to choose--Bamberg. It was more interesting in many respects.

Nuremberg-- 3 nights. As another poster mentioned-- do the WW2 tour. I think the Documentation Center is now in its new and larger digs. This tour was a highlight for us, culminating in courtoom 600. We were there for the Christmas market.

We were just in Amsterdam in June, and frankly, I think it's lost a step since our last visit there in 2018. Trash everywhere. 2 nights should be sufficient. I love the Indonesian food there- and the 9 x 9 area was very nice. We haven't done the museums there, though I would go back to see a couple of them.

Munich is fun, but 3 nights may be 1 night too many.

We don't know what time of year you are going and interests or must do's. Those of course will impact your days due to timing and arrivals, etc. So there may be a good reason to have to spend 3 nights in Munich and Amsterdam.

I'm in the minority and choose Rothenburg. It's way too touristy, has way too many stores, way too many restaurants, and is way too attractive.

"The smokey beer is worth the trip alone." - I've enjoyed a small number of smoked beers, all in North America. Bamberg rauchbier is available in Canada and is known as Buckely's Original Mixture.

Bamberg rauchbier is available in Canada and is known as Buckely's Original Mixture

Ha. Rauchbier is indeed an acquired taste. I'm a big fan but has seen many a squishface from folks, what you see when a person who doesn't like hoppy beers tries an IPA. Schlenkerla can be found stateside. Maybe sample before you go.

Either RodT or Bamberg would be good options though, for the reasons Russ explained, I would choose Bamberg. I have spent a lot of time in Franconia and second the observation that it doesn't get enough love from travel writers. At the risk of throwing a wrench in things, I suggest skipping both RodT and Bamberg and driving another 30 minutes to the smallish city of Coburg. It's far more historically significant than the other two, boasts impressive sites like one of the finest restored medieval castles in Germany, beautiful centuries old half-timbered buildings, a palace, and few tourists (except during a single festival week in July). Coburg's tourism website: https://www.coburgmarketing.de/

Putting this here as a Bamberg hotel resource if you end up staying the night. All of these hotels are within an easy walk of the train station. This list was provided to me by the Merz family of the Brauerei Spezial, and I hope to encourage folks to consider visiting their brewery and/or guest house while in Bamberg given their kindness and hospitality to me.

I'm glad to hear Franconia mentioned, as well as Coburg. Veste Coburg is an amazing castle. Self guided tour. Really cool place.

As for Boppard, my wife and I are doing Hotel Garni Gunther later this year and are hopeful for a good experience.

Places to stay in Bamberg within short walk of train station:

1: Brauerei Spezial, Homepage: www.brauerei-spezial.de

Brauereigasthof "Fässla", Obere Königsstraße 19, 96052 Bamberg, Tel. 0951/26516, https://www.faessla.de
Hotel National, Luitpoldstraße 37, 96052 Bamberg,Tel.:0951 50998-0, https://www.hotel-national-bamberg.de
Hotel Europa, Untere Königsstraße 6,96052 Bamberg, Tel.: 0951 309302-0, https://www.hotel-europa-bamberg.de
Best Western Hotel, Luitpoldstraße 7, 96052 Bamberg, 0951 510900, https://www.hotel-bamberg.bestwestern.de
Stadthotel Andres, Heiliggrabstrasse 1, 96052 Bamberg, 0951 980260, https://www.andres-hotel.de