From Strasbourg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - where to stop in between?

Try Stuttgart and Esslingen. Nice stops after Strasbourg and beautiful markets.

Heidelberg

It seems like getting from Strasbourg to Rothenburg by train is rather
tricky both in terms of the duration and the amount of changes
required.

DB offers this itinerary to minimize transfers using Dec. 11 as a travel date:

Strasbourg > (transfers in Stuttgart, Dombühl) > Rothenburg - just 2 stopovers - with these departure times:

8:42 - 13:45
10:52 - 15:41
12:42 - 17:31

(The transfer at Dombühl puts you on a shortcut route to Rothenburg by direct bus... thus no transfers at stations in Ansbach and Steinach.)

It is only the "trains-only" journeys which require 3-4 changes of train.

If you get off a train anywhere besides Stuttgart or Dombühl on this route, you are obviously adding a stopover - and you do not save any total travel time.

If you route yourself via Esslingen, you will be taking a detour that results in 4-6 changes of train altogether not counting your hopping off the train in Esslingen! Heidelberg has a similar effect.

You can check all this out yourself at the DB website.

Take Mrs Jo's advance -we did - the Stuttgart and Esslingen markets are fabulous. Esslingen is a Middles Ages theme, with street performers, ( eg fire jugglers ) , parade, live stage entertainment, games of skill (ax throwing, anyone?) magic acts, a special kids section, and an area where the vendors are all in period dress and use wood fires to light the area.
Perhaps stop at the Regensburg markets before/after Rothenburg.
Have a magical time! I'll attach my 2019 Trip Report, perhaps you'll find some helpful info.
Safe travels!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/christmas-markets-switzerland-france-germany-2019

Although it is perfectly convenient to take the TGV from CDG to Strasbourg, you have a lot of long jumps in your list. Do you really mean to cover so much ground, even if you have a list (?) of the ten best Christmas Markets in Europe? Of course, I'm speaking from my own travel style, not yours. I would not want to spend so much of my vacation on the train.

I've never been to a real Christmas market, but I'm not sure Luxembourg is a must-do. Trier is nice enough, but does it have a famous Christmas Market?

Instead of Stuttgart > Nuremberg > Rothenburg, how about Stuttgart > NUREMBERG > Rothenburg?

Stuttgart > Nuremberg: DIRECT trains, 2.2 - 2.3 hours

Nuremberg > Rothenburg: Train to Dombühl, 1 change there to the Dombühl > Rothenburg bus. 1.75 hours.

I would go with Ms. Jo’s suggestions as well. She lives in Frankfurt and has gone to and reviewed so many Christmas markets in Germany and other areas that she is an expert. 😊

To clarify... It was my understanding that your core problem was getting to Rothenburg easily in one day. Now, Stuttgart and Esslingen both have markets which get rave reviews. I see nothing at all wrong with those recommendations, or with using trains only to get there and to Rothenburg afterward, as long as you would stop overnight and be willing to ADD some changes of train to your overall travel schedule to Rothenburg.

If instead your goal is still streamlined travel for Strasbourg > Rothenburg - and you are only asking about a stopover as an effort at "triage" because the train itinerary is too daunting - then an itinerary that includes the bus between Dombühl and Rothenburg accomplishes this and should be considered.

Here is what the schedule for today's date shows for such a journey... just two changes to make:

ICE Train: Strasbourg (8:42) > Stuttgart (10:04)
(53 minutes to change trains - should be easy even if luggage or mobility are issues.)

RE Train: Stuttgart (10:57) > Dombühl (12:34) + Bus 807, direct connecting bus to Rothenburg

No one knows exactly what the schedule will look like a year from now. For now, I don't think there's a simpler or more direct way. With some luck, a similar sequence will be available next year.

My second suggestion for doing Nuremberg PRIOR TO Rothenburg was not to exclude other Christmas Markets, but to give you an alternative that helps you reach the destinations in your original plan in a more efficient manner.

To get to Rothenburg odT by train, you have to change in Steinach. It's a small station and the train from there to Rothenburg is a dedicated train just for that connection.

You can get to Steinach without connections from hubs at Würzburg, Ansbach, or Treuchtlingen. You can get to Würzburg and Ansbach from Strasbourg with only one change, but getting to Treuchtlingen requires two changes, min.

So, to find a 'mid-point' for stopping that meets your requirement - only one change getting to it or from it to Rothenburg - Ansbach and Würzburg would be your choices. Both cities have Christmas Markets.

Each route, via Würzburg or Ansbach to Rothenburg odT, takes about the same amount of time. It takes a little less time to get to Würzburg, but about 20 minutes longer to get from there to Rothenburg versus from Ansbach. So, Würzburg is closer to being half way, although both are closer to Rothenburg than Strasbourg.

An advantage to going through Würzburg is that you have 13 minutes to change in Steinach versus only 5 minutes if coming from Ansbach, although, I've made the 5 minute change 3 times without a problem. And Würzburg is a larger town with more to see and do.