Rothenburg- cities before and after

Wuerzburg is only one train change coming from Rothenburg. So you could do Nuremberg-RodT-Wuerzburg. The Residenz in Wuerzburg is worth seeing. Or the other direction.

Rothenburg is not all that big of a pain. It is at the end of its own little spur line. Places worth seeing are often a little bit out of the way.
Travel light as Rick advises.

Sam thank you- I had not considered connecting Wurzburg and indeed I would like to visit and it’s an short ride- and also it would get me back to some good train lines to move along through the country.

Travel between Nuremberg and Rothenburg, no matter the direction, involves 2 changes of train. It's not intimidating, just know in advance what track number you must go to upon arrival.

While Rick makes it seem like Rothenburg is the only small place worth visiting in this area, it isn't so. Bad Windsheim is about 45 minutes from Rothenburg with one change of train. From Nuremberg it's only a few minutes further. And the Franconian Open-Land Museum (Freilandmuseum) is outstanding.

Iphofen (art/wine town with fine half-timbered buildings and old town wall) is on the train route between Würzburg and Nuremberg - figure 50 minutes by DIRECT train from Nuremberg or 25 from Würzburg.

I would gladly make a round-trip outing From Nuremberg to either of these towns. The VGN Tagesticket Plus (day pass) priced at €22/couple will get you there and back.

The same day pass works for the Rothenburg > < Nuremberg route and for Rothenburg > < Bad Windsheim. Bamberg is also doable as a round trip from Nuremberg (45 min., same VGN day pass)

This regional map shows the railways that connect towns within the VGN area.

Any journey or day trip involving Würzburg and any of the listed destinations will NOT work with the VGN day pass. Use the more expensive Bayern Ticket instead.

I am not a train person, but I saw something about a Nationwide "Nine Euro Ticket" a month for regional trains offered this June, July and August. It's aimed at easing the cost of living and energy crisis. Won't be valid on on ICE, IC or EC trains. Maybe already posted somewhere.

Don't see any "nine Euro tickets" advertised at Deutsche Bahn, but there is the Quer-durchs-Land ticket for 42 EUR plus 7 EUR for each additional person traveling together for up to 5 total people. Regional trains only after 9 am weekdays, any time weekends and holidays. That has been around forever, if not at the same price. I would be afraid that a "9 EUR ticket" would upset regional governments who already subsidize their own, less expensive regional day tickets called Laender Tickets, anywhere from 22 EUR per day.

Do all or a portion of The Romantic Road. There are many great medieval walled towns as well as great cities like Wurzburg and Augsburg.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
The first visitors were friends and families of the American soldiers stationed in the large bases in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg but the idea of the trail from Würzburg to Füssen soon became wildly popular.

It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.

These days coach parties from all over the world can be seen at the most popular stops along the way, the route signs along the way are in German and Japanese, and in 2010 the Romantic Road celebrated its 60th birthday.

Don't see any "nine Euro tickets" advertised at Deutsche Bahn

This ticket is expected to be valid from June 1 till August 31 and will be valid on all local trains nationwide. It was an idea of the federal government, in order to soften the prices for transport, which have risen sharply due to the Ukraine crisis. Many people doubt that it was a good idea. In any case, it can be expected that many people will buy the ticket in the first two weeks, not because they need it, but because it is cheap. A precedent of this kind was the introduction of the "Schönes Wochenende" ticket in 1995, which initially allowed five people to travel around the country for 15 Deutschmarks (about €7.50); the trains were overcrowded, but after a short time the situation had normalized, because train travel was more frustration than pleasure. So you should be prepared for chaos on local trains from about June 1-15. After that, everything will normalize: The government will boast of its feat, people will consider them even more crazy than ever, and the trains will become emptier.

Romantic Road: a popular option with huge name recognition and appeal for sure, but to do the whole thing, the public transport options are nearly non-existent. The RR bus is back this year with ONE southbound bus every Wednesday and TWO northbound buses per week (Wed & Sun.) Woo-hoo.

https://www.romantischestrasse.de/en/travel-bus-train/romantic-road-bus-showing-recent-pictures/timetable-for-2022

For access by train to specific places, this RR bus page provides details:

https://www.romantischestrasse.de/en/travel-bus-train/romantic-road-bus-showing-recent-pictures

Even in its best days before Covid, when service was daily, the RR bus was an inflexible way of visiting the RR towns. The route itself is not unusually scenic and the scheduled stops provide insufficient time for exploring the towns.

The railway map below shows all Bavarian train routes; to visit parts of the RR or specific RR towns by train, you'd need to travel along the map's solid red and green lines:

http://www.regionale-schienen.at/images/sites/0/onlineThema/0806_z08.pdf

We are taking a train to Rothenburg tomorrow from Regensburg for a 2 overnight stay. Then we are going to Würzburg. The train ride from Regensburg takes a little time with 3 transfers. It takes a bit of time but It is not difficult. Rothenburg to Würzburg is quicker. These 3 towns are probably our favorites in Germany. Regensburg and Würzburg are college towns with a wealth of historical sights, eateries and hotels.

When you visit the Prince Bishop's Residence in Wurzburg, be sure to visit the small chapel. It's on one end of the building and is easy to miss if not seeking it. It's a must see -- maybe more impressive than the rest of the place combined.

Gary that’s interesting to hear that is a town on my radar I hope you’ll share trip reports!

TC great tip on the chapel adding to notes!

When I was in Würzburg (2007) I saw both the Residenz and the Marienberg Fortress.

The Residenz kind of grossed me out. It's way too gaudy and opulent for one person's home, particularly when that person probably took a vow of poverty. (Makes me wonder how he did with chastity.)

However, I found the Marienberg fortress to be a fascinating place. In one of the fortress museums there are pictures and a model of Würzburg after the incendiary bombing raid by the RAF on March 16, 1945 (less that 2 months before the end of the war), that destroyed 90% of the city and killed an estimated 5000 people.

The Residenz kind of grossed me out. It's way too gaudy and opulent for one person's home, particularly when that person probably took a vow of poverty.

Hahaha, a typical Puritan misunderstanding. ;) Had he vowed poverty? Certainly. But let's not forget that, just as Jesus Christ had united in himself both the natures of God and man, he was both bishop and prince of the Holy Roman Empire. And as the latter he was not even allowed to be poor at all but was obliged to an high effort of representation if he was not to disgrace his rank. Inter alia, he had to have a prestigious bedroom and and pompous audience hall ready for the emperor, even if no emperor ever appeared. Thanks to this immodesty, beautiful concerts are held in that Kaisersaal today. I had an office for a couple of years in the middle of all that "gaudy" scene and I loved it (even if it was only in the appartments of the servants. ;)

As an alternative, you could go to Rothenburg via Würzburg (coming from Nürnberg) and then leave by bus to Dinkelsbühl (it's about a 2 hr bus trip with a half hour change in Dombühl). Spend a few hours in Dinkelsbühl, then go on by bus to Nördlingen for the night. Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen are two other walled cities on the Romantic Road with very different wall configurations, both intact. Nördlingen's wall has a "Wehrgang" you can walk on, Dinkelsbühl's wall does not.

Spend the next day touring Nördlingen and walking the Wehrgang on it's circular wall, then take a 20 minute side trip by train down to Harburg castle. There is also, I understand, a museum in Nördlingen
about the "Ries" (the ancient meteor impact crater Nördlingen sits in); our Apollo astronauts trained on the crater walls.

Note, if you visit Harburg, it's best to do it as a side trip from Nördlingen or Donauwörth, without luggage. There are no lockers in the station and no public transportation into Harburg. From the station it is an easy, flat 1km walk into the town, then a short, step climb up to the castle.

From Nördlingen, you can go by train south to Donauwörth, or west to Aalen and from there to Ulm or Stuttgart.

Nine Euro Ticket

Here is a blurb from another website about the 9€-Ticket. It was proposed by the Bahn, but apparently they are expecting it to be very popular and to increase rail and bus traffic enough that more of them will have to be provided at added expense, and the states want more money from the German government to pay for the extra expenses.

as the latter he was not even allowed to be poor at all but was obliged to an high effort
of representation if he was not to disgrace his rank

As the Church Lady would say, "How con-veeen-yent".

In Würzburg I prefer the walk to the castle (Marienberg Festung) and the Mainfränkisches Museum, which contains my favorite artwork in Germany - Trauernde Maria aus Acholhausen. It was love at first sight for me in the 1970’s.

We also like the walk up to the Käppele, a pilgrimage church. The way up is lined with the Stages of the Cross. They may not be very artistic but the setting is great.

We are in Rothenburg now, having travelled from Regensburg. One glitch was that the Ansbach train station is under construction. We made it ok with a little confusion.

@Gary Mc: Have a great time in Rothenburg!
If you happen to pass by Hotel Eisenhut: Have they reopened the restaurant yet? The Eisenhut fell victim to the pandemic, but they seem to be gradually reopening.

@sla019. The Hotel Eisenhut is open to let rooms but the area at the front is being renovated. The sign said it would be open in the “Sommer 2022”.

@Gary Thank you!

Romantic Road: a popular option with huge name recognition and appeal
for sure, but to do the whole thing, the public transport options are
nearly non-existent.

I blew that theory totally out of the water 15 years ago.

For someone unacquainted with the German transportation system and unwilling to spend some time actually seeing something, doing the RR by public transportation would really be a challenge.

In 2007, after years of hearing that you had to have a car to do the Romantic Road, and already knowing something about public transportation in German, I set out to "do" the Romantic Road entirely by public transportation, and I proved it was possible.

I spent just over four days (24 hour periods) on the Romantic Road, visiting about 12 towns, and all my travel was by train or public bus.

First, you must realize that the Romantic Road is not about a road. The actual road is just a two lane country lane, clogged in the summer with tour buses, farm equipment, and freight trucks. The real draw of the Romantic Roads is the towns, from medieval walled cities, like Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, and Schongau to other worthwhile places like Bad Mergentheim, Landsberg, or Wieskirche. To really experience the Romantic Road, spend time in the towns.

So I started out on a Saturday at 11 AM at Wieskirche. After spending an hour looking at the church there, and having lunch, I headed north to Schongau, spending a couple of hours there exploring their not-really medieval walled city and headed north for Landsberg.

Had I know that the bus from Schongau to Landsberg only ran only weekdays, I could have changed my days, but instead I had to go from Schongau to Landsberg via Weilheim, Pasing, and Kaufering by rail.

Sunday I went from Landsberg to Nördlingen via Donauwörth [edited] and Harburg. all by rail. I loved Nördlingen; I spent nearly 20 hours there.

Monday I went from Nördlingen via Dinkelsbühl to Feuchtwangen, all by bus.

Tuesday I went from Feuchtwangen via Rothenburg to Weikersheim by bus. Since I had already spent time in Rothenburg, I only stopped there long enough for lunch.

Wednesday I went from Weikersheim to Bad Mergentheim by bus and from Bad Mergentheim to Würzburg by rail, where I arrived in the early afternoon.

Yeah, I spend four days doing the road, but I only spent a little over 2 hours (average) on travel each day, with over 3½ per day in the towns, not to mention the time I spent overnighting in Landsberg, Nördlingen, Feuchtwangen, and Weikersheim.

Lee writes,
Sunday I went from Landsberg to Nördlingen via Donaueschingen and Harburg. all by rail. I loved Nördlingen; I spent nearly 20 hours there.

This is one of the relatively convenient RR segments to navigate, one that I often recommend to others. (Donauwörth is probably the station you refer to, right?) This journey is all by train. Nördlingen is an extra-nice town. There are frequent and multiple connections throughout the day. It's easy, hop-on, hop-off travel.

Monday I went from Nördlingen via Dinkelsbühl to Feuchtwangen, all by bus.

Buses being the only transport option for this segment, the skimpy schedule must be heeded exactly. The 3-hour gaps in direct bus service between Nördlingen > Dinkelsbühl (a 37-minute trip) are bridged by other bus journeys that, if used, will require 3-4 times as long to reach Dinkelsbühl and will involve 2-3 different buses. There are three early-morning buses with very frequent departures and convenient trip lengths - between 6 am and 7 am, that is. IMHO, this is not the sort of "service" that most travelers are looking for, or want to be surprised by. The schedules cater to local commuters, not tourists; it's permissible for tourists to use those buses, of course, but the commuter who is at work in Nördlingen doesn't need to return to Dinkelsbühl between 6:55 am and 12:40 pm, so for the tourist there is one and only one direct bus available during those 5.75 hours.

The average traveler isn't going to like the "weekday-only" schedules either (like the one for your Schongau > Landsberg journey.) So I think it goes back to your comment that "...doing the RR by public transportation would really be a challenge..." for anyone who can't commit to the learning, planning, and execution of such a trip. "Nearly non-existent" isn't much of an exaggeration for the average traveler. I think it would be an "extreme" challenge for most, actually, to do the whole thing - not as extreme as swimming the Channel instead of catching the Eurostar - but fairly close.

the schedules cater to local commuters

Not even that. These are basically school buses that have been made accessible to public transport. The present timetable (http://www.vdr-bus.de/Fahrplane/fahrplane.html) shows that four out of seven daily buses between Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl only run on school days, i.e. only during nine months of the year. The "Romantische Straße" was planned in the 50's for the incipient car tourism and for bus tours; no one thought of rail tourists because there was never a railroad north of Rothenburg.

Maybe the situation between Rothenburg and Nördlingen will improve when the line from Dombühl to Nördlingen is reactivated. But that's not certain, since the Bavarian Railway Agency wants to make sure that there will be >1000 passengers per day and direction.

Russ, yes, Donauwörth. My fingers were on autopilot. :) My brain was already thinking about the next sentence.

These are basically school buses

Yes, a few are bus runs to take kids to school, but most bus trips I've been on have not been. I've done a lot of bus trips in Germany, 70 by my count, and I don't include city buses, SEVs, or short runs (like Füssen to the castles at Hohenschwangau or Berchtesgaden Hbf to Schönau. And I count a trip as one even though there is a change of buses. For instance, Feuchtwangen to Weikersheim was two trips, even though I was on four different buses with three changes. Feuchtwangen to Rothenburg was one trip, because I stopped for a while in Rothenburg, and Rothenburg to Weikersheim was another trip. Each of those two trips had 2 legs, but I only count them as 1 trip each because all I did at Dombühl and Creglingen was change buses.

Anyway, two of those trips, Nördlingen to Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg to Creglingen were school runs, only one other bus leg I've been on in the last 22 years and no other bus on the Romantic Road was a school run.

Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl only run on school days, i.e. only during
nine months of the year.

SLA, you make it sound like there are 3 months in the summer without those buses, but actually, those school vacation days are scattered over the entire year.

In Bavaria, school holidays between May 1 and Oct 31 are about 8 weeks, 2 weeks (10 weekdays) for Whitsun (Pentacost) and 6 weeks (30 weekdays) for summer vacation. There are a few other weekday holidays in that time, but basically about 65% of the weekdays in the peak tourist time (May through October) are school days and these "school" buses run.

So don't plan on doing the RR with public transportation on weekends, in the first 2 weeks of June, or in August and the first few days in September and you should be able to do it easily with public transportation.

The biggest problem I'm having with finding connections on the RR the way I did it in 2007 is from Feuchtwangen to Rothenburg with a change in Dombühl.. There is a 10:06 - 11:31 connection in May, but they don't show it after the end of May. After May there don't seem to be any all-bus connections to Rothenburg. But Dombühl isn't a town on the Romantic Road, so maybe we can skip it. There are connections to Rothenburg using a bus to Ansbach and rail from there.

SLA, you make it sound like there are 3 months in the summer without those buses

That was not my intention. Maybe it reads like that to someone who comes from a country where there are three months of summer vacation, but we don't have that in Bavaria, as you have calculated for me carefully (since my wife is a high school teacher, I knew it already ;)). And I haven't also said anything about bus traffic elsewhere in Germany, but about the one between Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl. And there it is unfortunately a fact that exactly during the main travel periods, namely Christmas vacations, Easter, Pentecost and and summer vacations, there are only three buses a day instead of seven. Which makes public transport for tourism of limited use.

However, those busses were never intended as a tourist service. Rural bus transport is organized by the districts, which have to finance school bus services and a minimum of public transport from their own funds. And since Nördlingen is located in the administrative district of Swabia and Dinkelsbühl in Middle Franconia, they must primarily ensure that trips to the respective administrative centers (Donauwörth/Augsburg) or Ansbach, resp. are possible. Compared to this, bus transport between Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl is a side issue for them.

As I have already said, that situation can only improve if train traffic between Nördlingen and Dombühl will be resumed, because that would have to be financed by the Free State of Bavaria.

That said, I like it how you demonstrate here how one can get by as a single traveller in the boondocks of western Franconia.