My husband and I will be there in SEPT 2019 and will be coming from a night stay in Bamberg. We need one more night stay before we head up north to St. Goar. I would like to see Rothenberg in the evening too. We were planning on taking train from Bamberg to Wurzburg and staying one night and doing a daytrip to Rothenber Ob tauber from there and then leave the next morning from St. Goar. There is nothing in Wurzburg that I relaly want to see and hotels and Air Bnb are more pricey. Is there another quaint little town that is very close to Wurzburg that will still be about the same distance to get to st Goar and not far from Rothenberg obtauber or bamberg. Thanks!
Try Marktbreit (25 mins from Würzburg on the line to Rothenburg) or Ochsenfurt (5 mins closer to Würzburg). Both gems of small towns with a limited, but probably adequate choice of hotels.
I visited both Marktbreit and Ochsenfurt a few years ago. Both are beautiful small towns. Ochsenfurt had more tourist services: hotels and restaurants.
https://www.ochsenfurt.de/index.php?id=99
"Übernachtung" (overnight) under "Tourismus" is the place to look. I thought Gasthof zum Schmied looked good when I visited but my wife was not impressed with the idea of staying in such a small town.
Your timing would be too tight for me: traveling to Ochsenfurt, visiting Rothenburg that night and traveling on to St. Goar the next day. I might be tempted to skip Rothenburg (even being a fan) and going on to Aschaffenburg, a nice town with beautiful Residence and gardens. It would be much quicker trip to St. Goar the next day.
Since you would have returned to Würzburg anyway, you might check towns that lie on the train line just north of there as well.
train line map: https://klima.veitshoechheim.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bahnnetz-Mainfrankenbahn-Main-Spessart-Express.jpg
Veitshöchheim would be one of those towns; click on "hotels, guest houses and pensions" at this tourist office page:
Consider staying in Büdingen. Same kind of medieval, walled town as Rothenburg, but without the tour buses and souvenir stores.
The location is better if you are on your way to St. Goar too.
https://www.buedingen.info/en/
What's wrong with Rothenburg ob der Tauber, itself. Is it the room prices? There are several hotels near the train station that are nice (We stayed at Post in 2017; I liked it a lot.) and under 100€ for a DZ. They're not inside the wall, which is preferable, but they are a short walk into the town center.
Otherwise, you'll have to go from Bamberg to another town, check in there, then go to Rothenburg and come back late to your hotel (the last train leaves Rothenburg at just after 10 PM). Staying in Rothenburg would sure simplify things and give you more time to see Rothenburg.
You might try Ansbach. It's south of Rothenburg and about a 40 minute train ride to RodT.
I also see that there is a bed & breakfast right across the street from the train station in Steinach, which is where you transfer from the main line to the shuttle that goes up to Rothenburg.
One word of caution, in 2019, Oktoberfest in Munich includes the last 10 days in September. Many people combine Oktoberfest with trips before or after to other well known venues in Bavaria (ex. Füssen or Rothenburg). Rooms there might be difficult to find, particularly for a short stay of one night. I looked for a room for one night at a hotel inside the wall, and they said there was no availability for 3 different September dates, but when I put in a multiple nights stay, including the night for which they had no rooms, there was something available.
Thanks! I actually may do that may stay one night in bamberg and see Nuremberg for the way. Then stay a night in Rothenberg. Thanks!
I've been to Nürnberg, and it, too, was worth the visit, but I really think you are trying to do too much in too little time. Get to Rothenburg earlier in the day and spend some quality time there. There is a lot to see.
You could also go to Nürnburg instead of Rothenburg, but I, personally, would prefer Rothenburg.
Why not just stay in Rothenberg ob der Tauber? Sure, it is very touristy during the day, and if you do it as a day trip you will just be one of the crowd, but in the evening and early morning it is very charming and quaint. I have been there so many times and no trip to Germany would be complete without a couple of nights there.
I usually stay at Cafe Uhl, which is just inside the wall. Comfortable lodging, pretty good breakfast, and a short walk to the square. Not too difficult of a walk to the train station either, if you travel with just a small backpack and carryon, as I do.
@ Joy it will be just my husband and I would you recommend a double room is sufficient? Thanks also do most hotels here have free wifi?