Reichsstadt Festival in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Welcome to the Forums, and welcome to Europe.

Have you discovered the wonderful world of trains? You can get almost everywhere by train, they are very frequent and easy, same with trams in the cities.

Other than RodT do you have any idea which other German regions you're interested in, or other countries?

You'll have 14 days which is a good amount for a first trip.

Tell us a bit about yourselves and what you'd like to do and see, and we can really help.

September is a fantastic month for festivals in Germany. Lots of them celebrate the grape harvest. Check these out... all are within a decent radius of Frankfurt Airport...

The big one used to be called the "Wine and Sausage Market but now is officially mis-named as just the Wurstmarkt or "Sausage Market."

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/germany-wurstmarkt-wine-festival-oktoberfest/index.html

Others nearby:

https://www.rlp-tourismus.com/en/experience/wine/stories/10-charming-traditional-wine-festivals-in-rhineland-palatinate

The Reichsstadt festival... never been. But this brochure for 2023 should tell you what it's about:

https://www.rothenburg.de/fileadmin/Tourismus/Dateien/Veranstaltungen/Highlights_im_Sommer/RTS_BR_Reichsstadttage_2023_WEB_DS.pdf

We have never been to Europe. We have always wanted to see castles and cathedrals. We do not like the tourist places where you are treated like cattle. Massive amounts of people shuffling along and rushed because a few hundred more people behind you.
So we would be flying into London September 2-3 (no dates set yet). We would probably spend a couple days there then planned to hit the festival in Rothenburg. The festival is celebrating its 750 years so thought it would be great for the cultural experience.
From there we are open for some ideas. While in England we would be visiting a couple cathedrals. We would have to get back to England by the 13 th at the latest.
Thanks

We do not like the tourist places where you are treated like cattle.
Massive amounts of people shuffling along and rushed because a few
hundred more people behind you.

Rothenburg might be quite a poor choice for you in that case. More tourists per square foot than any other town in Germany, perhaps! The only industry to speak of in Rothenburg is tourism. This small town gets flooded with roughly 2 million visitors per year. 561,000 hotel-nights are logged there annually.

CASTLES: Pay a visit to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and its neighbor the Mosel Valley. More castles than you can imagine pack the hillsides here.

Rhine: http://www.loreley-info.com/eng/rhein-rhine/castles.php

https://img.locationscout.net/images/2019-04/burg-rheinstein-germany_l.jpeg
https://img.fotocommunity.com/marksburg-braubach-bc203e81-d606-4f2f-bb8d-17e275e8ba88.jpg?height=1080
https://www.romantischer-rhein.de/images/f85i4_6b44k-/burg-rheinfels.jpeg
https://www.robertharding.com/watermark.php?type=preview&im=RM/RH/HORIZONTAL/489-1780

Mosel:
https://burg-eltz.de/en/homepage
https://reichsburg-cochem.de/?lang=en
https://mosel-erlebnisse.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Burg-Thurant-dermerkur.jpg
https://www.mosel-inside.de/en/travel-guide/mosel-villages.html

CATHEDRALS of importance in/near the area: check into the cities below.

Cologne
Mainz
Worms
Speyer
Trier

The Rhine & Mosel are located near FRA airport in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, near the border with France and Luxembourg:

Map of Germany: https://ontheworldmap.com/germany/state/rhineland-palatinate/rhineland-palatinate-location-on-the-germany-map-min.jpg

Map of Rhine/Mosel River area: https://www.rhine.apartment-listings.com/bilder-fotos/map/lageplan-bacharach-600-7.gif

Some Rheinland-Pfalz highlights: https://www.dw.com/en/10-reasons-to-love-rhineland-palatinate/g-18438891

While most people fly into Frankfurt (FRA) for this area, Luxembourg Airport (LUX) is also a good option.

We would only be going to Rothenburg for the festival.
Is there any issue with taking rental cars across borders?

I'm a big fan of Rothenburg, I've been to the charming town three times and will return. Except for the Xmas markets, I've have never experienced big crowds there. And even during the markets, one just had to walk two blocks from the main plaza to experience the charm of the town. Morning and evening walks on the town wall are peaceful, and sunsets from the Castle Gardens are beautiful and golden.
Have a great time planning your trip!

I've never been to this new kid on the block festival celebrating the granting of city status (festival only since 1974) the above link describes it quite well, scroll down for English, but I did once stumble upon the Meistertrunk which is the biggie celebrating the saving of the city.

For the one I was at there were plenty of crowds, plenty of drunks. Since yours will be at the beginning of September rather the Meistertrunk in the spring I would expect even more crowds and even more drunks.

It sort of doesn't seem to fit with your description of what you like and don't like....

Happy planning!

(Russ is accurate with description of the Rhine Valley castles)

Rothenburg is a very attractive place, which explains the large number of year-round visitors. Based on your stated preference for less-touristy, less-crowded places, I guess I'm surprised that you selected this particular historical festival - in this particularly touristy town. This one does seem fairly elaborate and entertaining, just based on the flyer content, although I wonder how much of the history you will come away with exactly. Any dialog will be in German, I think.

Germans love their medieval events, and they happen all across the country. Jousting knights on horseback... jugglers... feasts featuring large slabs of meat. For some kinds of events, language is no barrier. Some of them celebrate a particular historical event... a royal marriage, the founding of a town, the building of the town's castle, etc. Some take place in castles or on castle grounds. Reichsburg Castle does knights' feasts for example...see pics at bottom:

https://reichsburg-cochem.de/knights-meal/?lang=en

There's plenty of time to plan for next September... So while you might make plans for this fest in Rothenburg, you might alternatively figure out the rest of your trip first, and then see whether another such event will be taking place in/near your chosen destinations. If not, you could then incorporate this one into your itinerary.

Cars across borders: You need to be mindful of envionmental stickers/fees, freeway stickers/fees in different towns and countries. Some agencies forbid driving in certain countries. Picking up in one country and dropping in another usually means a very expensive drop-off fee. Germany surprises US drivers sometimes with its radar-speed-controls (and subsequent tickets for infractions) and blood alcohol limits tend to be lower than in some US states. Trains are the way to go if you plan to hit wineries/breweries.

Thanks Russ.

As for crowds, I dislike having to be in a line and shuffled through a museum, gallery, etc like part of a herd. As for the festival, we like festivals where we can roam around at our own leisure.
How I plan trips is:
I found out what area my wife wants to go.
I list the various sites that would be nice to see (cathedrals and castles). I also check to see what concerts are on and then what festivals are going on.
Once I have that I start the real planning starting with transportation then lodging.

My Wife and I just returned from a visit to Germany and the Christmas Market's. We were in Rothenburg ob der Tauber mid week the middle of December and found it very enjoyable. The Saturday we left was as noted quite crowded. I would definitely return even with the multiple train changes to get there from Nuremberg.
I might note that upon arrival in Rothenburg by train, there is no taxi at the train station. You need to call and reserve or try and grab one in the street. We spent an hour and were never successful. We walked to our hotel near the center of town which was not the most pleasant experience given the cobble stones and the diminishing light. We reserved a cab (about 10 euros) for the return to the station and with 2 suitcases and a duffel filled with Christmas Market goodies it was money well spent!