Rothenburg od. Tauber > Basel Switzerland?

just enter the info here:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?country=USA
You'll see 3 changes and 5 hours 41 minutes.

Tell us a little more. What else do you have planned on this trip?

Here's why... despite what the travel literature claims (particularly some guy who writes these certain blue books), Rothenburg odT isn't nearly as unique as claimed. It is scenic, but southern and central Germany has an abundance of well-preserved towns from the same era. Rothenburg is unique for all it's trinket shops and hoardes of tour buses that visit daily. At best, it's a regional attraction. If you have to divert several hours out of your way to see it, though, you're probably passinb by any number of good alternatives.

So, what else have you planned? Perhaps we can help you simplifly your trip so that you're not going so far out of your way.

Part of the reason you may be having trouble figuring out the trains is that RodT is at the dead end of a very small branch line, only reachable with a couple of connections from even the nearest big city. Wurzburg and Stainach at least.

As said above, please share the itinerary around RodT with us. There are all sorts of possibilities.

Unfortunately one of the weakest guidebooks Rock does is Germany, but there is a wealth of information available here both from people who currently or recently live or lived in Germany, and from regular visitors.

The trouble you're having is the result of an itinerary that probably doesn't need to happen. I agree w/ Tom on Rothenburg (which by the way has been largely restored from the rubble it was after WW II, not a survivor from medieval times, as some assume.) There are many good alternatives that are probably better located for you and that are not so overrun with tourists (even Rick Steves has labeled it a "medieval theme park."

Hi, Thank you for your suggestions! We welcome suggestions on a possible itinerary! Here's more of our schedule. My husband and I will be in Europe for almost a month, with a town just over the border in Germany, near Basel, Switzerland, as our base (friends live there.) We are planning a 1 week rail trip to the Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland area during our month. (For which we thought we'd get a Swiss Rail Pass...) We've been to that area several times and love it there. Most of our travel in the past has been in Switzerland, so we'd also like to explore some new places. We'd like to take a 7-10 day trip, beginning around Sept. 23, 2015, in German speaking countries. We tend to prefer quaint towns in the country rather than cities. We saw a post that there is a fall festival in Salzburg that would work well in our schedule. We've been to Salzburg before, but we really enjoy it, and as an artist I think the fall festival would be fun to experience. I was looking at possible routes that would take us from Salzburg and loop us back towards Basel. As far as southern Germany, we've already been to Mittenwald, Oberammergau, and Munich. As far as the Tirol, we've been to Innsbruck, Hall and Seefeld. We've also been to Hallstatt in the Salzkammergut. We're thinking we'd prefer to do trains, but we'd be open to renting a car. Any thoughts on doing a couple of the 1 day German Lander regional rail passes for a possible route through Bayern and Baden-Wurtemburg? That looks like it might be the least expensive way to go… I've also looked at the Eurail 4 country pass but that does't cover as much in Lauterbrunnen with the lifts, etc. In addition to a possible itinerary, or towns to visit, please let me also know your suggestions about rail passes. Thanks so much! We appreciate all the Rick Steve's advice we've received through the years!

"We'd like to take a 7-10 day trip, beginning around Sept. 23, 2015... We tend to prefer quaint towns in the country rather than cities... We're thinking we'd prefer to do trains..."

Sounds good. With your stated interests, I'd suggest this.

Your base town - Gengenbach (2-3 nights.) Visit Black Forest towns like Schiltach; see Vogtsbauernhof using scenic Black Forest Railway route. Outings are free (with Konus guest card you get from hosts in Gengenbach.)
Gengenbach-Augsburg. Stow bags and take a break there, see the city. Or overnight there if you decide the city has enough that interests you. Possible in 4 hours on 2 trains - buy a Saver Fare for 2 adults at DB for €50-60 total (prices rise as tickets sell so buy now for best prices; saver fares are not refundable without a fee however.) Augsburg-Salzburg for 2-3 nights: €28 for two on a Bayern Ticket, 3 hours.
Salzburg - Lindau: €28, Bayern Ticket, 2 trains, 5 hours, pretty route. Lindau is lovely for a couple of nights.

Thanks so much Russ! I really appreciated your suggestions about the Black Forest area and researched the cities that you mentioned. If we also wanted to visit Strasbourg France while we are in that area, where would you suggest us using as our base? Gengenbach AND Strasbourg? Or would 1 city work for that entire area? And which would you suggest? Can you suggest a place to stay in Strasbourg? How many total days would you suggest if we'd like to do both areas? We really appreciate your help!

I would make the day trip to Strasbourg from your Gengenbach base. The trip takes 1 - 1.3 hours each way by local train. Since you have free transport with the KONUS card in Gengenbach, you can get to the French border for free - and back of course. You'll also need a ticket to Strasbourg and back from the border... buy a Europass 24h. mini (€6.60 for one, €10.90 family version) at the Gengenbach station or the Offenburg station to cover this route.

Europass 24h brochure in French and German

How many days? 3-4 wouldn't be too many. From G'bach you can day trip to Freiburg, Strasbourg, and many Black Forest villages very easily and see Gengenbach in your down time. You may want to visit the glass-blowing facility in Wolfach, Triberg's Black Forest Museum, the walled town of Villingen, the Alpirsbach Monastery/Brewery, or one of Baiersbronn's top-end restaurants, all depending on your interests. The Black Forest Railway itself is an entertaining way just to take in the scenery. AS the German railpass brochure points out, it's one of Germany's most scenic routes.

Thanks so much Russ! I've made reservations now for 3 nights in Gegenbach and I'm wondering if it even makes sense to go as far as Salzburg. Your suggestions have been wonderful, so if you have time, may I ask, if we wanted to do an entire 10 day trip in that area, (western Switzerland, eastern France and south and west Germany) could you please suggest some of your favorite places that would be an additional flavor to the Black Forest? Including a fall festival or something with traditional clothing, handcrafts, dancing, etc. would be wonderful too! (The only places we've been in western Switzerland are Gruyere and Gstaad on our first trip in 1987!) I speak basic German which sometimes comes in handy. I know no French… We really appreciate your help!

"if we wanted to do an entire 10 day trip in that area, (western Switzerland, eastern France and south and west Germany) could you please suggest some of your favorite places that would be an additional flavor to the Black Forest...Including a fall festival or something with traditional clothing, handcrafts, dancing, etc."

Boppard's fall wine festival is very popular and covers the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October. Boppard is a lovely town in the UNESCO World Heritage Middle Rhine Valley and is surrounded by similar towns, real medieval castles, and vineyard upon vineyard. The Fest is mostly about wine, wine-tasting events, food, and lots of street music , and especially about the Saturday night fireworks show - which alone might be worth the trip. It's not a rowdy affair - mostly middle-aged folks having a good time. The area is worthy of 3-4 days.

Festival flyer (good that you know some German.)
Middle Rhine Valley site
Boppard
KD river cruises

Between the Middle Rhine and the Black Forest there might be a lot of good options for your interests as well - a 2-3-day stay in this area could be really nice too. Some places for you to look into:
Besigheim
Tübingen
Neckar River Valley
Hirschhorn
Burg Guttenberg
Bad Wimpfen
Esslingen
Michelstadt

Triberg in the Black Forest is souvenir central for all manner of hand carved (and also machine reproduced) wood items including, or course, coo-coo clocks. Take the 7270 bus from the train station to the main commercial district (Marktplatz). Only 5 minutes, but a long way up hill.

@ Russ. Spent the night in Villingen last week and it was very interesting, especially the Frauenkirche, with the fountain outside and the bronze doors, apparently by the same modern artist.

Triberg: It's a steep grade into town on foot so if you aren't up for the exercise, do catch a bus... Triberg gets a few too many tourists for what it's worth but a couple of spots there are worthwhile - the Black Forest Museum (which has a ton of interesting stuff - German language skills will give you a fuller experience) and the Hubert Herr cuckoo-clock workshop:

BF Museum

Deutsche Welle article on cuckoo clocks and H. Herr
H. Herr homepage in English

Sam: I've only day-tripped to Villingen... did you stay somewhere worth mentioning?

Park Hotel, just outside the wall and 100 meters from the train station. Very nice small family owned hotel in the RS mode, nicely decorated, room had a tiny balcony looking out over the hotel front, good breakfast.
They close at noon on Sunday, so they sent a photo indicating the secret hiding place for the key with the confirmation. We caught an earlier train and arrived 3 hours before the appointed time and couldn't find it, so called the number on the door and they came down and let us in.