Rothenburg to Bacharach

The train is the way to do this. If there were buses, they would involve changes also. These are tiny towns that are quite distant from each other, not a typical train trip for Germans.

What concerns you about changing trains, exactly? Maybe it's not as difficult or tricky as you suspect.

Is FRA airport your final destination? Even if you stayed in Rothenburg during those final days, you would still have a minimum of two changes of train to reach the airport at the end. And just to get to Rothenburg, you will of course have to change trains, no matter where you're arriving from.

We just got back from Germany last week. Our first trip all by train. We were intimidated too about using trains and yes, some of the big stations are a little overwhelming. We went from Rothenburg to Frankfurt. No problems and we had 2 changes. The train station in Rothenburg is super small.

Thank you for your replies. the only concern with multiple train changes is having to walk fast. We carry very minimal luggage, but we are getting a bit older.

OK. pointers...

• Prior to arrival at the transfer station, you should determine in advance the platform number of your departing train.

• When you view train schedules online at DB, you can lengthen the transfer time if you wish by entering a stopover at the station in question for whatever period of time you deem reasonable. This will lengthen the journey, naturally.

• It may be wise to make this journey by regional train only. Point-to-Point tickets by regional train are totally flexible. If it turns out that you twist an ankle somewhere and can't move at your normal pace, a missed train isn't a big problem - just catch the next regional train heading where you're going. Consider the Day Ticket for Germany or the €49 Deutschland ticket (valid for one month!) for regional train travel. To specify regional trains only at the DB site, click on "only local transport." Also, some journeys have fewer connection to make than others. The fewer the connections, the better your chances of arriving as you planned. (Note also that regional trains in Germany are on time around 95% of the time; fast trains (IC, ICE, EC) achieve only 75% punctuality.)

• If you're planning to cruise the Rhine or use trains on the opposite riverbank from Bacharach (to visit Marksburg or Rüdesheim) I would recommend either Boppard (which offers free use of trains during your stay!) or St. Goar (home of Rheinfels Castle) as a base town rather than Bacharach. Both these towns have ferry crossings, waterfront hotels with nice views, and better locations for convenient for getting around by train as well as for cruising the Rhine .

Probably most efficient way is Munich to Nuremberg to Rothenburg to Wuerzburg to Bacharach to FRA.

The only change that worries people is the change at Steinach to Rothenburg. Depending on the direction you are coming from, that could be as short as 4 minutes. The little train that goes back and forth between Steinach and Rothenburg only takes 15 minutes, then it waits 15 minutes in Rothenburg and then goes back to Steinach every hour. If the conductor of that train sees that you are moving slow, he will hold the train for you, as it is not a big deal if it is delayed a couple of minutes.

Keep in mind the 49 EUR monthly regional train ticket. It is a deal.

At Steinach it works as Sam explains. Not a big concern.

For the rest of your Rothenburg > Bacharach (or Boppard) trip, there may or may not be other connections to worry about. It depends on the travel schedule you choose.

The 9:05 - 13:34 trip serves as an example. Layover times for 24th of March are as follows.

Change in Steinach: 12 minutes, transfer to RB train, no sweat.
Change in Würzburg: 7 minutes, transfer from platform 3 to platform 6 to an ICE train.
Change in Mainz: 14 minutes, transfer to RB train from platform 3 to platform 11, no sweat.

Let's assume all the trains run according to schedule. The Würzburg change above might be problematic for you. And you cannot miss that ICE train if you've bought some sort of saver fare ticket. So... You might build a longer stopover in Würzburg into that schedule and see how the schedule works for you as a whole... or you might search for a departure at some other hour to find one with longer layover times.

The other thing you can try is regional trains only. When you click "only local transport, a very doable schedule with RB and RE trains appears...

Leave R'burg 9:05 (same train as before)
Arrive Bacharach 14:20
Number of changes: 3, just like the previous schedule

Change in Steinach: 12 minutes, no sweat
Change in Würzburg: 20 minutes, no sweat
Change in Frankfurt: 36 minutes, no sweat

And the other nice thing about the regional trains is that tickets like the "Day Ticket for Germany" can be had right at the station on the day of travel; you have nothing to buy in advance, so there's no risk of losing your $ should your plans change.

How are you planning to ticket your other journeys? It looks like they might work well with the Bayern Ticket / regional trains (or the VGN Tagesticket Plus for travel between Rothenburg and Nuremberg.)

And you cannot miss that ICE train if you've bought some sort of saver fare ticket.

You can, provided you have a single ticket (i.e. don't it split up into a Rothenburg-Würzburg and a Würzburg-Bacharach leg to save money).
If the train from Steinach is delayed, the saver fare ticket automatically is freed of it's train-specifity and you can simply board the next ICE. the conductor can verify the delay of the previous train.

You CAN, as sla019 points out, catch some other train in lieu of the ICE... but ONLY if missing the train is the fault of the train system. If the train arriving in Würzburg is LATE, for example, as in sla019's example, you could just board the next train. But the topic here is not late trains... it's your ability to catch a train that is ON TIME, with compromised mobility and speed on your part. So... If you have a "saver fare", and your train arrives as scheduled in Würzburg, but you fail to reach and board your scheduled ICE train within those 7 minutes, you are out of luck. You cannot board another train with that ticket and will have to buy a new ticket. That's why a longer layover would be desirable if you buy a saver fare for IC, ICE, etc. journeys.

14 minutes, transfer to RB train from platform 3 to platform 11, no sweat.

No sweat, as long as you know that platform 11 is not out beyond 6 (that's 8). Track 11 is in close; it's a "stub" track that butts up against the north side of the station building and is accessible from the same platform as Track 1.

Yes. One of the more unusual track arrangements. This station map shows you what Lee's talking about...

https://www.rnn.info/fileadmin/downloads/Bahnhofsplaene/RNN_Bahnhofsplan_Mainz-Bahnhof_13122015.pdf

Lee, thought you (and maybe a few others) might enjoy a look at Gleis 11 from a few decades ago... and some additional photos of Mainz Hbf both prior to and after the update took place. Scroll to the end for the new look.