Suggestions for places near Nuremberg & Rothenburg

Since we already had some discussion offline, I'll leave this to anyone else who cares to comment.

Yes, Rothenberg is touristy, but it is charming as well. I think your two pre-teens/teens would love the night time outdoor "Night Watchman's Tour" of Rottenberg. From what I remember it lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, and is interesting with lots of comic moments. The reviews on TripAdvisor are nearly uniformly excellent. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187319-d808619-Reviews-The_Night_Watchman_Tour-Rothenburg_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html
Not sure if that link will work as a hot link, but if you cut & paste it in tripadvisor's search box, you'll see the details and review. Confirm whether or not you need reservations...I believe one tour is in German, the other in English, and I think you meet in a certain locale downtown, but check it out.

We followed up with a late dinner at a place called "Holle" ("hell"). One of the jokes is that the "Night Watchman" tells all the tourists to go "to hell". Our preteens loved the joke. We had our doubts, but actually enjoyed the food. It also gets strong reviews on TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187319-d963564-Reviews-Zur_Holl_Mittelalterliche_Trinkstube-Rothenburg_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html Again not sure if that link is "hot" but cut & paste and take a look. Enjoy!

I really enjoyed our brief, one-night stay in Rothenburg 2 years ago. As Rick says in his book and videos, Rothenburg is really enjoyable in the evenings and mornings when the tour groups are absent (though they didn't seem to bother me during the day either). The Nightwatchman's tour is almost worth the visit in and of itself. My then, 8-year old son was attached at his hip the entire time and it's a great way to learn about Rothenburg in an incredibly entertaining way.

We stayed at the Hotel Cafe Uhl which just happens to be located at one of the most photographed intersections in town. While the rooms were quite small for our family of 4 (with an extra twin bed brought in for our 15-year old daughter) the location was ideal and smells coming up from the bakery below were mouth watering. The bakery and hotel have been in the same family for something like 6 generations and they were very friendly and accommodating. Parking was located about a block away in a secure garage. As a photographer, I really enjoyed our evening and morning walks around the city along the walls. St. Jakobs church was beautiful and it's altar was mesmerizing. Your kids will likely enjoy looking at the stores though everything is pricey. We did buy a few things at the Kahte Wohlfahrt Christmas store which were all overpriced, but the store itself is a sight to see. I left wishing I had had a little more time so I consider that a good thing!

Bacharach is our favorite place to stay along the Rhine for what it's worth. It's quieter and there seemed to be more opportunities to meet and talk with locals. We're returning there during our upcoming trip in July.

I responded on THIS thread nearly 2 weeks ago. You provided this travel window: "We leave Prague on a Sunday and fly out of Frankfurt on Friday." If that is still the case, then I'll just re-suggest trimming off Munich and that stuff to the south and focusing on the much swifter Prague - Nuremberg - Rothenburg - Rhine destinations you seem to be opting for here. The fastest and most direct way from Prague to Nuremberg is on the IC bus and takes nearly 4 hours. So on Sunday you'll have about 1/2 a day for sightseeing, then 4 days for the rest of your travel and sightseeing - just enough, perhaps, for what you have in mind.

SUN
"...would like to settle that day somewhere near Munich or Nuremberg - sightsee and then spend the night somewhere convenient and get to Rothenburg area the next day."

Let's go with "near Nuremberg." Do you want to sightsee in Nuremberg? That would be pretty simple. Arrive around noon, stow bags in a locker. Spend several hours there seeing what interests you and have a meal: Nuremberg sights

Then, just take the train to Rothenburg for 2 nights. The 17:21 train gets you there at 18:49, the 18:36 arrives 19:49 and will cost €17.50 for your family using a "Tagesticket Plus" daypass.

MON
Rothenburg

TUE
Train to your Rhine town of choice. Bingen is a smart choice for 3 nights if you want to reach FRA early when you fly out. Suggest a stopover of maybe 3 hours in Würzburg - you'll get there about 1 hour after leaving Rothenburg; you have to change trains there anyway on the way to the Rhine. Stow bags in a locker, see the Residenz Palace and adjacent Hofkirche, and maybe a bit of the old town zone, grab some eats. Leave W'burg around 1 pm for Bingen (takes about 2.5 hours on the fast trains.) Drop bags at hotel (NH Bingen is very conveniently located near train station.) Drop bags at hotel, walk down the river promenade (only a few min.) to the KD boat dock. Take the 16:30 KD cruise of the very best scenery from Bingen to St. Goar (arrive 17:55) if you wish - have a meal, then return by train to Bingen (about 23 min., <€20 total for all 3.) The cruise is €19 adult, €6 for the youngest child cruise, but you get a 20% discount by showing your train ticket at the KD dock.

Don't want to cruise, or want to do it another day? You can visit Bacharach or Oberwesel that afternoon instead. Or take the ferry NOT the cruise boat, but the ferry, which runs all day long) over to Rüdesheim for a look around. Or just relax in Bingen and enjoy the scenery.

WED & THU
There are several outings you can do by train and ferry on these days - Rüdesheim (ferry), Bacharach, Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, Marksburg Castle in Braubach... maybe you have all this sorted out already. Daytrips by train on a daypass should cost €27/day for the 3 of you - get the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket from a ticket machine.

FRI
Train to FRA. Early morning RE trains are direct and take about 50 min.

Russ - your comments and suggestions are invaluable. Thank you! I think after reading a bit more and looking at train schedules, we will likely trim off Munich and/or the southern sites. I don't want to burn everyone out and we'll have just worked our tails off the week before in Czech.

The only think I might add is the luge near Loreley (sp?). I don't hear people talk about it as much as the one near Fussen but I know it's on my kids' wish list!

Thanks so much!!