Rotenburg ODT - 2 Nights too much?

My husband and I have been to Rothenberg a few times. Once we were there for 2 nights ( just the two of us) and two other times with our children, for only 1 night on each visit.

When you leave Munich are you thing of visiting Neuschwanstein Castle? There's a few summer luge areas that our kids loved over there too. If you take a leisurely way to Rothenberg, then you spend one night and explore the city the next morning. Your choice to spend another night in Rothenberg or continue to Nurnberg.

On the second trip with the kids we stopped at the Linderhof palace and son more summer luge rides.

Whatever you decide on, it will be a great adventure!

I spent 3 days my last time - my third visit. You always take a day trip to Dinkelsbuhl, Creglingen or other places if somehow you get tired of Rothenburg.

I spent two nights. Arriving later in the day the first day, spending one full day there and then leaving early the morning after the 2nd night worked well. We basically had one full day to see what we wanted to see. The evening we arrived we had dinner, walked part of the wall and walked a bit around the town. The second evening we went on the Night Watchman's tour, which we really enjoyed. I thought two nights there was just the right amount of time.

We stay 2 nights. We like to walk down into the Tauber River Valley, especially to Detwang to visit the Peter and Paul Church. One of the nicest things about Rothenburg is the setting.

Thanks so much for the great feedback and suggestions! So appreciated! I love the idea of the luge and river walk. We planned on the night watchman's tour as well. Beth

IMO Rothenburg requires no more than around half a day. Rick says it's "well on its way to becoming a medieval theme park," which is likely a comment about tourist crowds at the shops and restaurants since there are no rides as yet. But there really isn't that much for kids and teens there.

"I may cancel one night and head to Nurnberg for two nights, based on feedback."

Nürnberg is a city of 500,000 - Rothenburg, 11,000 - so these are vastly different experiences. If you are considering stretching 2 R'burg nights into three (1 night + 2 N'burg nights) then you might consider just staying in one place for 3 nights, possibly somewhere in between.

Wernfels Castle in Spalt is southwest of Nuremberg, a family-designated hostel with 15 family-sized rooms w/ private bath, a private swimming pool, and other indoor/outdoor sports facilities. Besides the recreation, hostels are generally good places for kids to be around kids from the host country. From here you could day trip easily to Rothenburg and Nuremberg.

Bad Windsheim is close as well. The Open-Land Museum there takes you through a collection of local homes and other buildings from the last 5 centuries - amazing place.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-Frankish_Open_Land_Museum_Fraenkisches_Freilandmuseum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Francon.html

Two nights gives you just one full day and (depending on time of arrival and departure) parts of another couple of days. I've been there a number of times (used to live in the area) and three nights the first trip is about right. On later trips two nights would be sufficient. If at all possible do a day trip to Dinkelsbuhl. A stroll along the Tauber is also neat.

I think 2 nights is excessive, especially because you could easily be to Rothenberg by 10am, see the city, do the night watchman's tour, sleep, and depart but 1 night stays are also fairly annoying and the region is great, so I'd use the extra day to visit a few other less touristy towns on the Romantic Road or nearby. Swabisch Hall is stunning for example.

I spent 2 nights there and was very glad I did.

We stayed two nights in June 2015 with our daughter, nephew & a big high school music group. Everyone in our big group loved the town. Depending on when you will be there, you may luck out and get to see a band perform in the town square :). It was also a fun town for the kids to explore in small groups while the adults saw what they wanted to. Lots of fun little shops, including many with medieval swords that were legal to take home from the Frankfurt airport. That was fun for my kids but they needed someone 18 years or older to approve the purchase. I got to be that person for many of the kids :). We also really enjoyed the night watchman tour & afterward he handed out coupons for a free ice cream cone, which we enjoyed the next day (he owns the ice cream shop along with many other shops in the town we heard). We also enjoyed sitting on the small patio in front of our hotel after our evening tour enjoying good German beer and enjoying beautiful evening weather. I think two nights is a great choice.

We spent two full days there. One day was enough to see the all sights in the town itself, leisurely. The rest of the time was spent shopping and killing time. With children it might be different, although it's hard to convey what's charming about another old town to kids.

The first time I saw Rothenburg (1988), I spent two nights in Ansbach and made a day trip to Rothenburg. I arrived in the morning and left before supper. I felt I had seen enough.

The second time (2002) i was coming from Stuttgart, where I had arrived on a trans-Atlantic flight. I arrived in the afternoon. From there I was going to Berchtesgaden, an all day trip by regional trains with a Bayern-Ticket and a stopover for lunch at the Munich Hbf, so I wanted to leave on the first train after 9 AM. Since I didn't think an afternoon was enough time to see Rothenburg, I stayed two nights. That worked out about right. The first afternoon, we lounged on the opposite side of the Tauber, observing the town from the vantage point, then found a nice outdoor restaurant for dinner. The following day we walked most of the wall, had lunch on Herrstraße, saw the Riemenschneider Altar in St. Jakob's church, and peaked into the Christmas shop. We left the next morning feeling we had seen everything we wanted to see.

So, the only way I would spend only one night would be if I was arriving early on the first day and/or leaving late on the second day. Otherwise, 1+ day would work.

Since you will have a car and I have posted this before: If you want to get away a little, the Tauber river valley (north) is nice for a drive. About 10-15 km north of Rothenburg across the Tauber from Tauberzell is the Keltisches Oppidum Finsterlohr (Celtic Iron Age settlement). The small town of Burgstall is right in the middle. Not a lot there to see, but some of the wall has been rebuilt and it is a 2000 year old site. Quiet after the tourists in Rothenburg: www.kelten-creglingen-finsterlohr.de/
http://www.tourismus-taubertal.de/verzeichnis/visitenkarte.php?mandat=64475

We loved spending two nights in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Enjoyed the rampart walk at night, wine tasting at Restaurant Glocke, evening walk with the nightwatchman, and Rick's "Walk in the Countryside."

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions!!