Ten days Saarbrucken and Rothenburg ob der Tauber

You might see some archery-related things in the Criminal History Museum in Rothenburg, and a lot of Medieval things. Very interesting museum, I think your brother would enjoy it. Easy walking distance from the Rathaus. And of course, the Night Watchman tour would be very interesting and historical.

I don't quite understand the rationale for doing one part of your trip by train and another part of your trip by car. As you know, Rothenburg has train service, but so do the other towns you mention. The map below shows the railways which connect Frankfurt with Trier and Saarbrücken.

https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data_vrminfo/PDF/RLP-Ticket_streckennetz.pdf

With the 49€/mo. Deutschland-Ticket you could do this trip entirely by train, using the trains as much or as little as you wish, for the entire duration of your stay.

Is Rothenburg, the only medieval town you mention, the only medieval town that you have located thus far? Are you asking for further suggestions?

Does Marksburg Castle (in the Rhine River town of Braubach) look interesting?
https://www.marksburg.de/en/circuit/#/

I'm a big fan of the Deutschland Ticket, but if your travel around Saarbrucken includes crossing over into France or Luxembourg, a car is a better option. Trier is a great place to visit with fantastic history. There's a lot of other stuff to see in the Saarland, Rhine Pfalz, and Alsace.

If you have a car while you're in Rothenberg, and you are interested in Medieval history, you should plan a trip just up the road to Bad Windsheim and the open air museum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o1o-nnGD0Y

all public transport in Luxembourg is free to the user. If taking a D-ticket train to the border and then free, what is the incentive to want to rent a car to go into Luxembourg?

A second thumbs-up for Bad Windsheim.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-Frankonian_Open_Air_Museum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

But once again, it's super-easy to visit by train. I did. 50 minutes from Rothenburg, covered also by your Deutschland-Ticket. Find this rail route at the bottom of this map:

https://revista.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1.jpg

KGC and Russ,

Thank you for the recommendation of Bad Windsheim, my wife and I will probably do that this September, as we will be staying in Rothenburg.

The reason for a car is that we want to drive around the villages in the area and make stops on the way to Trier, including Cloef Pfad; the train doesn't stop for photos. Driving from Saarbrucken to Rothenburg takes a little over 3 hours while the train takes over 6 hours with 3 changes.

Thanks for the information on Bad Windsheim; will definitely look into it.

So you have 10 days... You've allocated 5 nights for Trier and Saarbrücken, 2 for Rothenburg. Which leaves 2-3 nights for...? Guess I was assuming this additional 48+ hours would be spent visiting medieval places and other places that might interest you along the lengthy trek to Rothenburg. But if you are looking at getting from Saarbrücken to Rothenburg on your 3-hour route, then whatever photos you'll be taking will probably be along the Autobahn, probably not your best option. You will probably want to do some more research for destination options in between - if you can allocate an overnight stop or two, so much the better, as the options are many. Places that come to mind include Michelstadt, Miltenberg, Bad Wimpfen, Burg Guttenberg (Haßmersheim), Speyer, Ladenburg and the other Bergstrasse towns.

There are many fine old-world places that your DAY 1 Frankfurt > Trier rail trip bypasses too! The Lahn, Rhine, Mosel, and Nahe River valleys are stuffed with good options... old-world towns, medieval castles. But like your planned car trip to Rothenburg, good destinations will need to be researched and targeted for a train stopover (or a car stopover, either way can work...)

I'm a train guy who of course gets off at train stations for such visits. A couple of weeks ago, DW & I spent a day not far from your planned route to Rothenburg. Woke up in Heilbronn... train to Ludwigsburg then Marbach... cruised from there to Besigheim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1xqGvinerc

Explored Besigheim for a couple hours, had a nice meal, then caught a train to Ulm for the night.

My preferences would probably lead me to use the train for most of your plan but to rent a car in Saarbrücken for 1-3 days depending on your needs for that area. And I would find a way to spend at least one night somewhere between FRA and Saarbrücken, and at least one other night in between Saarbrücken and Rothenburg.

Burg Eltz is nearby and not hard to access if you have a car.

As for other places to go, I would suggest Quedlinburg. It's a well known medieval town and still so underrated. But an added bonus is the Harz region's nature and witch obsession. The former will give a better sense of life in that time (especially if you go deeper into the eastern side of the Harz) as well as great scenery and maybe some cool wildlife, and the latter will give a lighthearted element.

Here is also a list of middle age festivals and events by date. You can see the zip codes. Google maps and a bit of time to research will tell you if you have options nearby, and links to the festivals are provided so you can see if they suit you.

https://www.mittelalterkalender.info/mittelaltermarkt/mittelalterfeste-2024-nach-datum.php

You may already know this, but Saarbrucken is having a medieval festival from 15-18 Aug.

Find more medieval festivals: https://marktkalendarium.de/maerkte2024.php

My favorite medieval towns are Marburg, Limburg, Eltville am Rhein, Büdingen, Seligenstadt, Michelstadt, Gelnhausen and Idstein.

The 10 days includes travel days on either end, so really only 8. We're train persons also, but with the difference in time and at least 3 changes, we're leaning toward driving from Saarbrucken to Rothenburg; that could change. Burg Eltz is a possibility, but Quedlinburg and Harz are a little out of our target area. Thank you Ms Jo, we didn't know about the festival in Saarbrucken.

we're leaning toward driving from Saarbrucken to Rothenburg; that could change.

With the reduced number of nights and your apparent time squeeze., and with Saarbrücken as your central objective - and with the multitude of old-world towns and medieval options that lie roughly between Frankfurt and Saarbrücken, I agree with your notion of scuttling any ideas for Quedlinburg and the Harz. I also think it's probably not justifiable to push yourselves as far east as Rothenburg and Bad Windsheim. The alternatives that have been suggested, along with your hiking and your roots-search, could keep you busy for a few weeks, honestly... A quick run-down of those that have been suggested on this thread...

Near Frankfurt to the west:

Limburg an der Lahn
Eltville
Idstein

Rhine/Mosel Valleys:

Rhine Gorge Castles
Rhine Gorge Towns
Mosel River Villages
Burg Eltz

Nahe River Valley:
Idar-Oberstein
Bad Sobernheim open-air museum

If you do rent a car, I'd suggest using it to explore the Hunsrück region with it. Being there is like time travel. The Geierlay Bridge (never been myself) has become a big draw too.

https://www.hunsruecktouristik.de/en/
https://geierlay.de/

There are 80+ castles or Chateau within a 50 mile radius of Saarbrucken. One of the better ones to hike to and around is Castle Trifels, which is part of a ridgeline with three ruins (previous castles) and above the really scenic little town of Annweiler. It's one of the places I like to take people.

Another excellent castle to visit, near where you will be, is Burg Vianden in Luxembourg.