Where to stay for 3 nights in countryside near Rothenberg on Der Tauber October 1-4. Renting a car in Frankfurt. Should we stay in one spot or separate places?
Posted by
Paradise
7790 posts
Separate places... Please let us know what places you might want to see or visit or stay in other than Rothenburg. In the general area, there are dozens of desirable options. The choice depends on your preferences.
If you have no idea, consider touring the Half-Timbered house route, just to the NE of Rothenburg. It's a route that takes you to many nice smaller old-world towns.
This map of the route shows you the larger cities nearby for orientation:
https://vcdn.bergfex.at/images/resized/4e/8de7ebaaedbd804e_c1131992e0a926bb.jpg
The first 3 towns on the south end of this route - also the first 3 listed in this brochure below - are often overlooked by visitors to Rothenburg. Rick Steves doesn't cover them - perhaps hasn't discovered them yet? - so RS often fans aren't aware of them. The brochure is in German but has fotos:
Ochsenfurt and Marktbreit are Main River towns near Würzburg. Bad Windsheim is a spa town with a fantastic open-air museum.
Here's a guide for seeing Ochsenfurt (in English):
Here are some highlights in Marktbreit in English:
https://www.marktbreit.de/freizeit-tourismus/tourist-information/sehenswuerdigkeiten/sights-in-english-version
Here is info on Bad Windsheim's open-air museum, also in English:
Here's another great old-world walled town in pretty countryside...Iphofen - which might interest you as well. Think wine and art. Also in English:
https://tramino.s3.amazonaws.com/s/iphofen/752858/160927-iphofen-ortsprospekt-eng-web.pdf
Fotos of Iphofen (German text but the many fotos tell the story well.) Scroll through both long pages:
https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/2985-iphofen-galerie/
I'd be happy to stay in any of these places. Not sure what you are looking for, however.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
I was planning Rothenburg and perhaps Dinkelsbühl, however your suggestions look interesting as well. I’ve previously stayed in Mainz and took the scenic(regional) train from there to Cologne. This trip will be Cologne after turning the car in at Frankfurt. It is a work convention/trade show for my husband and he has a class in ZDS Solingen after the trade show. I’m hoping for good weather and do a lot of walking and maybe rent a bicycle since I’ve toured Cologne. I can speak and understand some German ,but my husband does not and wasn’t sure how traveling outside big cities will be. Thanks for your suggestions.
Posted by
9385 posts
The Romantic Road starting at Wurzburg ends in Fussen and included many walled medieval towns and villages like Rothenberg and Dinkelsbuhl.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.
Posted by
Paradise
7790 posts
Cologne etc. is not what you are asking about... It's just the 3 days prior to Cologne, and you plan to pick up the car at FRA on the 1st and deposit it back at FRA on the 4th, correct?
With just 3 days you can and probably should stay in just one place. I would not undertake the whole Romantic Road as was suggested in a previous post unless you just want to see Germany from your car window. Dinkelsbühl is already pretty far flung - going any further south is beyond the scope of your time.
Suggest you look for a mid-way point between Dinkelsbühl and FRA airport using a road map. (When I do that, I find myself somewhere near Osterburken.) Then draw a circular travel zone radius from that center point so that FRA and Dinkelsbühl end up on the perimeter of your circle. The zone you have circled will be gigantic and offer dozens of great options to choose from.
The towns I already named lie within that zone. Other small places I'd suggest you consider visiting/ exploring / staying in:
Michelstadt (Scroll down about 1/3 of the way)
Miltenberg (Main River)
Esslingen (Neckar River)
Bad Wimpfen (Neckar River)
The Bergstrasse towns
Guttenberg Castle and Falconry show (Hassmersheim / Haßmersheim, Neckar River)
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
2352 posts
If you're going to Solingen tour around there! It's a very interesting area, and not highly touristed by Americans, but it's worth the time. If the trade show is at the Solingen convention center that's right in the middle of the city. it's a bit run down, but that's because you're in an old industrial town. Parking kind of sucks, but the public transport is good. You can catch a bus on the road outside.
Do go visit the Cutlery Museum. It has everything from Iron Age to fashion place settings for Emperors. Haribo, the Gummi Bear candy company, is based in Solingen. They have a factory outlet just a couple blocks from the convention center. They have stuff you'll never see in the US.
For a palace take a short ride to Wuppertal and visit the Schloss. Even closer is the small town of Unterburg 10-15 minutes drive from the convention center, where all the buildings are sheathed in slate tiles, and all with different patterns. And on the hill above the town there are true castles in very good repair worth a visit. (There are about a dozen within a 10 mile radius of Solingen center. I haven't visited them all.) Just a little further along the Wupper River is an old factory turned into an event hosting location. It also is worth a walk around.
https://www.schlosswuppertal.de/
https://en.schlossburg.de/home
https://alteschlossfabrik.de/location-galerie/
https://www.haus-graven.de/
This is true, scenic, medieval, Germany, and a world away from the touristy sites most Americans are directed to. (Plus you're hours of driving away from RodT or Frankfurt.)
If you don't already have lodging let me turn you on to this place. It's great. I've stayed there in the fall of 2023 and the spring of 2024. https://www.villabiso.de/
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for all the suggestions. I’m looking forward to exploring!