Rothenburg der Tauber

Oh, the mornings and evening in Rothenburg are so beautiful. Can you actually stay there? It's one of my favorite places.
If you do a 10 hr bus trip, hopefully you'll take it easy the next day. You'll be on the bus longer than you'll you in this magical town.
Safe travels.

So, getting there by train takes about 3-3.5 hours by train, bus probably about the same. So that's most of the 10.5 hours in transportation there and back. Just enough time left for a quick walk around town and a lunch. No, I'd say that's not worth it to me. Staying over night would be preferred.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is very nice, but there are other places just as interesting nearer to Munich.

Could you make a suggestion, I would be grateful!! I was thinking about Augsburg.

Yes, Augsburg, or, opposite direction, Landshut. Nürnberg is, of course, an option too. If you prefer a smaller town, then I'd go either to Wasserburg (east of Munich) or to Landsberg am Lech (west of Munich, transfer in Kaufering at the Munich-Lindau line).

Or, if you're more interested in beautiful (pre-Alpine) scenery: take one of the hourly direct trains to lake Tegernsee, take a walk along the lake or a round trip on the lake using one of the small boats; or take the bus to the Wallberg cable car and enjoy the beautiful panoramic view from above. Have lunch in the Bräustüberl in the former monastery right by the lake.

Regensburg is about 1.5 hours by regional train from Munich. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a great place for scenic walks.

Landshut is 50 minutes from Munich. It has a really nice river front, several interesting brick building facades and a castle.

Augsburg is a great choice as well. We spent 2 days there this spring.

I've not been to Regensburg but it gets lots of good reviews.

Chiemsee would be my first choice for a daytrip.

Then, no particular order, all within 1.5 hours:

Landsberg am Lech
Murnau
Bad Tolz
Augsburg
Landshut
Tegernsee
Wasserburg am Inn
Starnberg (for a ferry ride)
Kufstein

Two Hours - Mittenwald, Innsbruck, Lindau

Munich to Innsbruck in 2+ hours by train. Similar to get to Kitzbuhel. Not sure your time of year? Murnau am Staffelsee in Germany @ 1 hour. Landshut is nice in summer. Regensburg is timeless. Nürnberg by the Dürer-Hase is a favorite place. I drive mostly. Folks will speak english. Don't pause to ask for help.

I would be inclined to say "no" to the tour. I've done a lot of traveling in Bavaria, and I don't think the cost of this tour is justified.

First, I've been to Rothenburg 3 times and I never needed a guide.

Second, the cost, about $72 (66¸-€)/adult , seems way excessive for the value. All they do is transport you, and you can do that single with a 29€ Bayern-Ticket (about 20€ per person with 2 people).

In 2007, I traveled the Romantic Road (Wieskirche to Würzburg) using just public transportation. "Everyone" says you can only do the RR with a car, but I proved them wrong!

On that trip, I visited Harburg Castle and enjoyed it, but, in my opinion, "Guide" only adds Harburg to make it difficult to duplicate their trip with public transportation. (Going from Harburg to Rothenburg by rail requires some backtracking and takes time; it's far faster with a charter bus like "Guide" uses.)

But does "Guide" stop long enough at Harburg to allow you to take the one hour guided tour, which is given once an hour and costs 5€? Admission to the castle is 3,50€, and their Harburg website does not say it has to be paid with a credit card. Guide says admission is 10€ and has to be paid by credit card. What game are they playing?

As others have said, Rothenburg deserves at least an overnight stay. In 1988, I stayed in Ansbach for two nights and commuted in to Rothenburg for the day. When I came back in 2002 and 2017, I spent two nights each time in Rothenburg.

My trip is in August. My plan is to spend a night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. My second town is Nurnberg, my 3rd hotel is in Rothenburg ob der Taube. From the middle of Munich, Rothenburg ob der Tauber is 150-158 miles driving distance, 2:18 to 2:26 or more hours one way driving. (I shouldn't be this smart given that I have never traveled to any part of Germany but) using google maps to estimate travel times, Rothenberg ob der Tauber looks like it is too far from Munich to see properly as a day trip from Munich. The fact that a tour operator is willing to give you the day trip doesn't mean they are allowing enough time to see the town properly. Are you going to the museums? Rick Steves guidebook has a walking tour - if that's all you care to do and you don't mind Spending 5 hours in one day on a bus and you don't want to spend a night there, at least you are well informed now but that doesn't sound appealing. Spend a night in Rothenburg ob der Taube or skip it.

ut does "Guide" stop long enough at Harburg to allow you to take the one hour guided tour, which is given once an hour and costs 5€? Admission to the castle is 3,50€, and their Harburg website does not say it has to be paid with a credit card. Guide says admission is 10€ and has to be paid by credit card. What game are they playing?

Lee, I looked at the Harburg website and the €3.50 only covers the entrance fee. There are other fees as well, like a castle tour for €5 and entrance to the Warnecke exhibition for €2. Plus at the bottom is a listing for a Combined Special Tour for €10. These are the castle prices, so it sounds like the tour price is the same. I don't think they're playing a game here.

That said, I do agree with everyone that you can find some lovely villages and towns closer to Munich. Rothenburg is a gem of a town, but it's best seen after all the day trippers leave. Is there anyway you could get there by a regular bus and spend the night?

I am convinced that the trip is too long on a bus for just a few hours and I am grateful for all the options given. The trip is in August so I canceled the bus tour and will research the places suggested by everyone. Thank you!!

Lee, I looked at the Harburg website and the €3.50 only covers the
entrance fee.

Maybe you should look more closely at the Harburg Castle Website. They say that the Combined Special Tour costs 10€ in addition to the entry and is only after 5pm. The Get-your-guide website specifically says that "the 10€ covers Entry to the Harburg (€10) which is not included in the tour price". The tour of the Harburg (3,50 + 5.00€ takes one hour (and starts every hour.) Do they really stay at Harburg for over an hour while the people who didn't pay for the tour wait on the bus and the ones who paid them 10€ for a one hour tour take the tour?

I also vote for staying overnight in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, rather than wandering around among the throngs of tourists everywhere in the daytime. It is indeed magical to just walk around at night. As everyone says, the Night Watchman tour is very fun and very well worth the time. Also, the Criminal History Museum is pretty amazing. Easily worth 3-4 hours. If you have time during the day, walk around the town on the wall, very interesting perspective.

Im getting back from Rothenburg while typing this... Please DO stay overnight...when the crow of turists leave... you will find out a complete different place...I just loved...spent 2 days and there is always something new to discovery.... Heading south to Fussen -Lakes-Eagle Nest by car.... any must see in the way?

Where did you stay in Rothenberg?
We are driving next summer and plan to spend two nights there

I acknowledge that Rothenburg ob der Tauber has crowds of tourists, but that is because it is so charming. I visit it every time I go to Germany. I love it. I give it 2 nights, because it does take some time and effort to get there on the trains. There are lots of changes required. But in the early morning and in the evening when the bus loads of people leave it is so enjoyable. So far I have always taken the Nightwatchman's Tour. Sometimes I am traveling with others who I know would enjoy it, but I think I will go on the tour when I visit solo in September if the weather is good. Don't skip Rothenburg and don't just take a bus day tour.

"I visit it every time I go to Germany. I love it. I give it 2 nights, because it does take some time and effort to get there on the trains. There are lots of changes required."

Time and changes depend on where you start from.

With all the different ways of organizing a Bavarian itinerary, it's curious to me that so many of us choose to turn Munich into a base town for outings. Rothenburg, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden... as day trips from Munich, none of these really works out well once you examine the details of getting there and back AND fitting in all you want to see and do in the remaining time.

Maybe people have heard Munich is a major train hub (which it is!) and assume it will work as a travel base because it has that label attached. Maybe they just assume that the availability of commercial day tours from Munich to these places means they will have a good outing on their own. Or maybe it's Rick's advice. I don't know.

Salzburg has too much to see and do for a day trip out of Munich, and there's much nearby of value too for just part of a day. The nearly-4 hours getting to Salzburg and back will shortchange the experience. Berchtesgaden is much too far, and its activities too spread out.

Rothenburg isn't that big and there isn't that much to do there. But the ground travel is disproportionately long for day trippers.

Yet I routinely see itineraries here that cling strongly to a Munich base for 3-4 nights and include 2-3 day outings from Munich to these destinations and others that are similarly far from Munich - with almost no time for Munich itself.

Nothing wrong with zero time for Munich if you don't want any time. And there are a few destinations closer to Munich which might be good day trip destinations with reasonable travel times there and back. For day trips to Herrenchiemsee, Andechs Monastery, Landshut, or Augsburg, I think Munich might work just fine. But at some point, the time you spend in tra, nsit becomes crazy-long and isn't worth doing just so that you can keep the same hotel room for 3-5 nights.

I am a big fan of multi-night stays of 3-5 nights as well. There are alternatives to "biting the 1-2-night bullet" for Rothenburg - but they don't include Munich. Previously I have stayed multiple nights in Würzburg, Nuremberg, and Neustadt-an-der-Aisch, all which can be used successfully as base towns to Rothenburg and other nice places over a few days. In the case of Neustadt, I had no reason at all to spend the 5 nights that I spent there except for the town's convenient location. It's a rail hub - a tiny one - which provides easy access to the towns above and others as well in very short order. (It actually was a quite nice and interesting town, so much so that I returned there for a second multi-night stay with more day trips a few years later.)

From Neustadt, Würzburg or *XXXXXXXX, it's quite easy to visit Rothenburg by train in the early morning hours or the late evening - when the tour bus crowds are NOT there - and still get back to your travel base. I don't see it as an imperative to sleep there. Of course, if you have the peculiar plan to travel there from a MUNICH base, the quiet hours in Rothenburg will be a non-option.

*Insert NUREMBERG here. I previously had Augsburg there by mistake.