Neuschwanstein Castle & Rothenburg... need input

I really enjoyed staying in the town of Fussen-it has easy train connections from Munich and bus to Neuschwastein Castle(described in RS guidebook), then train to Rothenburg.

If you want to just stay in Munich and make day trips (thats what I'd do with only having 3 days), I'd look for a bus tour from Munich direct to the castle. Your hotel could help arrange, if you have one, or look at Viator. Rothenburg odT by train.

Thank you so much for your replies. My original thought was to make these day trips from munich.

If you do Rothenburg as a day trip from Munich, you need to see if you can go back to Munich after the Night Watchman's Tour.

I did both last summer and although very touristy, both totally worth it.

Rothenburg warrants an overnight in my opinion. Assuming you aren't trying to fit Munich into the three days, I would rent a car and drive to either Fussen or Rothenburg, then go to the other, possibly via the romantic road.

I was looking at the tours to Rothenburg from Munich and I wasn't happy with the limited time seeing Rothenburg and I started to wonder if it would be even worth my time. I do love the idea of renting a car and just seeing the sights that way. That way we can stay over night and do the Night Watchmen's tour. Now the question is, where is the best place to rent a car?

I recommend the Villa Toscana Hotel in Fussen. Your stay will include a Fussen Card which gives you free bus travel and will cover the regularly scheduled bus for the short trip to Schwangau, the hopping off place for Hohen Shwangau and Neuschwanstein.
Trains are super easy from Hauptbahnhof in Munich to Fuessen and an unforgettable train ride. Trainline.com is a great place to buy
If you are a senior, discounts are available on Trainline. The ticket to Fussen is about 26 Euros for a Senior. Train tickets are easy, even on short notice and the ticket will end up on your phone. No train ticket offices necessary. But, the earlier you buy the ticket, the better chance for availability.
Enjoy.

Sorry to say that, but half of the information in jspr2ggs's post is wrong. The train ride from Munich to Füssen is on regional trains. These do not sell out, and tickets can be bought 5 minutes before departure for the same price as a month in advance. There is no senior citizen discount on German trains. 25 Euros is the regular price for a Bayern ticket for one person (the "Regio-Ticket Allgäu-Schwaben" is even slightly cheaper). The Bayern ticket is valid on all regional trains in the state from 9am in the morning (whole day on weekends). And I'd rather buy on bahn.com, through the DB app, or at the station than through a third party.

I did this trip completely by train with my then-12 yr old. Salzburg to Munich to catch train to Fussen. Fussen to Rothenburg. It was really easy. With the DB app, you can even choose a routing where the platform where you arrive is close to the one from which you leave.

scottandmelle, I would go on your own to Rothenburg by train, and then you could spend as much time as you like. Its not that difficult to tour that you need a guide. Info in the RS guide is more than enough. Train is easy. A car would be a nuisance for a day trip (time spent getting and returning, fueling, hunting for parking, etc.)

Thank you again... These ideas are certainly making me think... I'm nervous with the train because of the 2-3 changes. But it would be a hassle to get a car. Things to think about :)

We did a day trip to Neuschwanstein from Munich using Mike's Bike Tours. The coach bus leaves from Munich and then when we got near the castle, we did a short bike ride to Swan Lake. That was really nice seeing the castle from another perspective. The bike ride was fun, very easy, and scenic. Then we had lunch and then headed up to the castle. They have an option to skip the bike ride portion and do the other castle first, so doing both in a day. Anyway, it was a hit with our family.

We went to Rothenburg from Munich and stayed for 3 nights. We took the train, and even with the several different train connections, it was easy. I would not want to do just a day trip to Rothenburg, do at least one night. The Hotel Spitzweg is where we stayed and we absolutely loved everything about it! Definitely walk the walls, visit the criminal museum, climb to the top of the tower in the main square, and do the night watchman tour. Zur Holl was a fantastic restaurant in town, our favorite of our entire two week trip. Just thought I would throw that out there in case you decide to make it an overnight:)

Thank you! I think a night stay is a must in Rothenburg. I'm feeling more confident the train will work.