Nuremburg as a base

I'm also considering turning in the rental car as soon as we get to
Nuremberg, since we can take public transit both within that city and
between it & Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bamberg, etc. We'd also avoid
having to find a place to park, parking fees, etc.

Thumbs up to that. Nuremberg is a solid base town, one of the best in Germany, IMHO, for rail excursions to interesting places nearby. It is a somewhat poor choice for keeping a car or for driving yourselves in and out of on day trips, as those car issues you mention will trouble you inside Nuremberg as well as in your day trip destinations.

Rothenburg and Bamberg are only two of the good day trip options. A day pass called the VGN Tagesticket Plus allows unlimited access to the surrounding rail network for a full day with no hours restrictions and costs €22/couple. Buy it at the station from a ticket machine or by app. If you buy it on a Saturday, it's also good on Sunday.

I would suggest you consider moving a day or two from Berlin to Nuremberg if one or more of these other day trip destinations interest you...

• Bayreuth (Margravial Opera House and more)
• Iphofen (scroll through 2 pages of photos at link)
• Bad Windsheim's Freilandmuseum (like time travel and on the way to Rothenburg; combine the 2 in one day?)

There is a mantra among Rothenburg fans, which originates from Rick Steves' advice, that you cannot visit Rothenburg unless you spend the night and take the Nightwatchman tour. But honestly, Nuremberg's old-town zone is fantastic at night as well. And I found the scripted Nightwatchman tour kinda hokey. However, it is possible to return to Nuremberg by train AFTER the Nightwatchman tour if you really want to do it and thus avoid moving all your stuff from Nuremberg. Nuremberg is a much better starting point for the train ride to Berlin than Rothenburg is.

We were stationed at Nürnberg and have very much enjoyed returned visits on a couple occasions.

That said, we preferred multiple overnights in both Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Bamberg. Often the best part of visit to a town for us is walking about in the evening. The atmosphere of an old town is enhanced for us at night.

None of these towns are great for driving into. We mainly visit towns on our recent visits and prefer the train system. Having a car in Germany was good for visiting small towns and rural sights.

I spent 4 nights in Nuremberg and felt that it made a very good base. It's easy to get to places in all directions and as Russ pointed out, the regional pass covers quite a large area.

I took day trips to Regensburg and Bamberg, and really enjoyed them both. I did not go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber as I had been there before, but I do recommend it highly. It is very charming and is well worth an overnight stay. You could do what you are talking about, which is to return your rental car (you will not need it or want it in Nuremberg) and spend 3 nights in Nuremberg.

However, I think that I would switch it around. Instead of going to Nuremberg first, go to Rothenburg. So when you come up from southern Bavaria, keep your rental car and drive to Rothenburg. Stay there one night, then drive to Nuremberg, turn in the car and rely on public transportation from that point on. That gives you time to explore Nuremberg itself, which has a lot to offer, and also Bamberg, which is a charming city with a beautiful cathedral and other great sights to explore. Then you can just take the train to Berlin from there.

My reasoning is that Rothenberg is a bit more cumbersome to get to by public transport, so it would be much easier with a car. You can park your car right outside the town walls for the night, and then pick it up when you're ready to head to Nuremberg. Nuremberg trains will get you to Bamberg and then on up to Berlin quite easily.

A very good idea to use Nuremberg as a base for side trips. I intend to do just that next summer (checked out all that this time) since the Hbf. area has a number of good hotels, decently priced, which is even more of an incentive to choose Nuremeberg.

I would turn in the car and spend one night in Rothenburg so you can take the Night Watchman's tour-and not be part of the many day-trippers to Rothenburg.

Cala: Thanks. We've since re-done our plans and will be staying 2 nights in Rothenberg before dropping the car off in Nuremberg for 2 nights there.

We did that order as well. 2 nights in Rothenburg (our hotel had parking available) then Nuremburg. On the way into Nuremburg we visited the Documentation center and Nazi Rally grounds...if that interests you a good thought to do on your way in since you may not be able to check into your hotel yet anyways. BTW Hotel Victoria in Nuremburg has parking but is also within walking distance to the train station and within the old town walls. 😀

My reasoning is that Rothenberg is a bit more cumbersome to get to by public transport, so it would be much easier with a car.

Not an opinion that I share if you are based in Nuremberg.

Check the driving time vs. the train time. It's the same either way. The trains are timed such that one arrives just a few minutes before the next one leaves. I don't see what's difficult here (unless train rides are just inherently difficult for someone.)

If you're heading to Rothenburg first for two nights from southern Bavaria... from Füssen?... the extra car days you'll pay for so that you can eventually drop the car in Nuremberg might make the trip a little faster, but they'll add expense. I would consider dropping the car in Augsburg. From there to Rothenburg, it's 2.3 hours by train (vs. 2 hours driving.) As for expenses, you can figure that the train rides will cost about the same as your gas alone.

Thanks all. Our trip is set in stone now. I don't see how a topic can be closed, but consider it such. Really appreciate ALL responses!

@bk9net: My comments today were not aimed at your specific plans. You made it clear in yesterday's post that you have finalized your plans for Rothenburg. But here's the thing... this forum is an ongoing travel library of sorts, and "how to visit Rothenburg" is a very popular topic on this forum; those who stop by months and years from now to gather ideas on R-burg might benefit from whatever additional comments eventually end up here from other forum members. It is only after some lengthy period of inactivity that threads end up getting closed.

Russ: great point and I'll remember that going forward. Thanks. (FYI, I do peruse existing threads first to see if they help with any questions. Often they do, and provide much more information than I was looking for. All great stuff re: this forum and of course Rick's materials).