Germany towns and Romantic Road

Pick out the towns you want to visit and travel to them by train. You don't need to take a tour nor a bus. Most towns will have tours available from the tourist info itself.

Get out a map and plan out a route. Use the Deutsche Bahn website to get train fares and schedules.

Have you thought about maybe one of the other great routes that go through Germany, like the Half-Timbered Route, the Castle Route, the Fairy-Tale Road, etc.? Some of them cross each other, like the Romantic Road and the Half-Timbered Route.
http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/index.php

As Jo noted, the Romantic Road is one of about 100 themed tourist routes that criss-cross Germany. The scenery along the road itself is nothing extraordinary for that region of the country, so don't think you're missing out on anything if you don't follow the exact route. See the towns that interest you.

If a bus is required, such as to Dinkelsbühl, the DB train schedule will usually reflect it.

The Romantic Road coach goes betweenFüssen and Würzburg in a day and only stops briefly in the towns along the way. IMO, that is the wrong way to do the Romantic Road. The road is just a boring, winding, 2 lane country road, filled with truck and farm equipment traffic. It's the towns along the road, although they are not unique to Germany, that make the road interesting.

I did the road in 2007, spending 4½ days between Wieskirche and Würzburg, sometimes only spending a couple hours on the road and the rest of my time in the towns. For instance, I spent one night in Nördlingen, exploried the town and climbed the church tower in the morning, had lunch in Nördlingen, then boarded the bus for the one hour trip to Dinkelsbühl, where I spent three hours, then took another bus ½ hour to Feuchtwangen for the night - 1½ hours traveling the road, the rest of the time seeing the three towns.

I agree with the previous RR advice. The RR bus schedule should be avoided - it is extremely limited and offers extremely little stopover time in most towns. You can have a very nice visit using the train, even if it doesn't follow the RR exactly. Use this map of Bavarian rail lines to plan. I suggest using two RR towns as travel bases - Augsburg in the south, Würzburg in the north.

From RR town Augsburg: it's 40 min. by direct local train into the heart of Munich for O'fest. 30 min. to RR town Donauwörth. 50 minutes to RR town Harburg (castle.) About 1 hour to RR town Nördlingen. Less than an hour to RR town Landsberg.

From RR town Würzburg: It's 70 min. to RR town and tourist magnet Rothenburg. 50 min. to RR town Tauberbischofsheim. And from Würzburg you can visit some other terrific towns that you would miss out on completely if you stayed on the the Romantic Road. Ochsenfurt is outstanding - and only 20 minutes by train from W'burg. Sommerhausen (short bus trip) and Marktbreit (25 min. by train) are old-world towns that share the banks of the Main River with Ochsenfurt.
Video

Iphofen is a gem as well, and only 25 min. away from Würzburg by train. See photos at this page.

Nuremberg and Bamberg are also bypassed by the Romantic Road; they are larger and very worthwhile cities that you could visit from Würzburg as well in about 1 hour by train.

Hi Jo-
Some good advice has been provided by Ms. Jo, Tom, Lee, & Russ. I have driven the RR road 5-6 times over the last maaaaany years because I could stop when, where, and for how long I wanted to. And in my opinion, the RR has deteriorated during these years. Part of it is now a high speed divided highway similar to a mini-autobahn. The towns are the highlight of the RR, not the road itself. As Russ has suggested, you could overnight in Augsburg and train in to the 'Fest on the 20th. In fact, I did that once many years ago. Based on past experience, I have an alternate itinerary to visit the 'Fest. One year I stayed in Munich proper for the Oktoberfest and caught the night train in a two person cabin for Rome . I believe you can do the same to Milan. That way you could spend Saturday & Sunday afternoon in Munich and then catch the night train to Milan on Sunday night, the 20th, arriving Milan Monday morning the 21st. This will allow you to visit the 'Fest Sat and Sun if you so desire. (Be sure to arrive at the 'Fest by 12-1 in the afternoon in order to get a seat, ESPECIALLY if the weather is nice.) And the cost on the night train is partially offset by the hotel room that you don't have to rent Sunday night. If you book now, it is possible to get a decent hotel (that has cancellation privileges) in Munich for Sat night the 20th in the neighborhood of $200. I tend to use Booking .com as my go to travel site. Or you could still stay in Augsburg and train in to the 'Fest Sat, return to Augsburg Sat night, train back to Munich Sunday morning, drop your bags at the Munich Bhf (which is located 4-5 blocks from the Oktoberfest grounds) , spend the day in Munich., then catch the night train to Milan. If you do elect to return to Augsburg Saturday night, be careful to get on the right train. I once took a train headed the wrong direction after a late afternoon and evening at the 'Fest. I trusted my German companion for directions...

I hope you have a wonderful trip- I already have my reservations- in on the 3rd and out on the 26th!