To Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber from Munich or Frankfurt

I would keep the Frankfurt-Berlin ticket. Besides losing the refund fee, you would have to buy another ticket (which will probably be more expensive than the last one) Also, If you insert a stopover in Rothenburg into that journey, you will add a LOT of ground travel time - about 4 hours.

Do you already have a ticket for Berlin-Munich? If not, then it is possible to schedule a stopover during that journey instead. Normally Berlin-Munich is around 6.5 hours. A stopover in Rothenburg would add about 2 hours of ground travel time to that (plus your time in Rothenburg of course.) So you could probably leave Berlin around 8:30 and arrive in Munich, then spend 4 hours in Rothenburg, then reach Munich by around 9:30 or 10:00 pm.

You can check this out yourself by using the stopover feature at the DB itinerary page - "enter stopovers."

Rothenburg is not the last word in cute old-world towns. If you already have a saver ticket for Berlin-Munich, then I would keep that ticket too. To see places similar to Rothenburg, take a day trip from Frankfurt to Gelnhausen and Büdingen or to the Middle Rhine Valley (Bacharach, Oberwesel.) If you want to surround yourself with other tourists (like you would in Rothenburg) then the Middle Rhine Valley town of Rüdesheim can be reached in about 1 hour from Frankfurt.

Let's put Rothenburg odT in perspective. Yes, it's an attractive old town, and one that managed to preserve its old defensive wall. But attractive old towns are extremely common in Germany, and several others also maintain their walls. Rothenburg is merely the most well-publicized. With all that publicity, though, comes the expected results... massive amounts of visitors that inevitably change the character of the town. Meaning, lots of tour buses and trinket shops. If you have to go far out of your way to see Rothenburg, you've probably bypassed several interesting alternatives.

I can think of at least three towns north of Frankfurt that have the same combination of preserved old buildings and complete defensive walls, but still feel more lived in than visited (a la Rothenburg) . Russ already mentioned Büdingen. Two others I've seen are Ahrweiler, which sits in a beautiful wine valley just off the Rhine, and the even more impressive Fritzlar, although this one may be just as difficult to reach from Frankfurt as Rothenburg. If you don't need the wall, closer to Frankfurt you can find Seligenstadt, Miltenberg, the towns of the Bergstraße (Bundestraße 3 as it runs from Darmstadt to Heidelberg along the foot of the Odenwald mountains), especially Heppenheim and Weinheim, Wetzlar, Marburg, Braunfels or Idstein. If you want a partial wall, you have Oberwesel and Boppard on the Mittelrhein. Any of these towns would be worth a daytrip and all are much easier to reach than Rothenburg.

Hi Russ and Tom...

Yes, I already purchased Berlin-Munich ticket saver fare. A stop in Rothenburg odT would have been a nice option have I done my researched first before buying the ticket. I was pressed with time as my saver fare start date of 91 (or 92?) advance purchase was only a day or two away. But it’s all said and done now. I realized it would be costly to change.

Thank you for your all your suggestions. I’m looking to visit towns/villages with colorful homes, red roofs and some pointy spires. Wall or no wall is not a deal breaker! Rudesheim would be a pretty close substitute to Rothenburg odT for me especially because of the vineyard scenery and panoramic views on the cable car. The other places, i.e. Budingen, Ahrweiler and Bergstrabe sounds like those places I'm looking for.

We intend to take a cruise along the Rhine starting from Bingen or Rudesheim. I’m not sure how visiting Rudesheim, Oberwesel, Bacharach, St. Goar (Rheinfels Castle) and Braubach (Marksburg Castle) could all fit in a day. Just an idea what we're doing from May 18-May 21.

Arrive May 18 at noon. Considering that we have a long intl flight, we probably need a couple of hours rest before we explore the city.

May 19 – Cruise on the Rhine on KD boats starting in Bingen? And hop-on/hop-off in those towns mentioned above? Do we end our cruise in Koblenz and train it back to Frankfurt?
May 20 – if visiting Rudesheim takes a whole day, should we do it today?
May 21 – explore more of Frankfurt in the morning; depart Berlin by train late afternoon.

About train tickets, would a Day Pass work on May 19? I understand we could get a discount on the KD boat with the pass. There will be 2 adults.

I would be very grateful for any additional info or suggestions. Thank you for your time helping us, first timers, well-informed and happy!

If you visit Rüdesheim, it's best experienced on a weekend night. It doesn't take that long to explore, and it's mostly restaurants and souvenir shops anyway. However, it has at least one unique feature that more than warrants a visit. Many of the restaurants have live Schlager music performances (an acquired taste, I admit), and they tend to fill up with bachelor and bachelorette parties from Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Mainz. Good times will be had by all!

There's also a chair lift that runs from the center of town up to the Niederwald monument, but I never rode it. Jo from Frankfurt can provide more information...

Thanks, Tom. Unfortunately, we are leaving for Berlin on a weekend night. That would have been one enjoyable and unforgettable experience!

We'll get on the chairlift if the weather is good. Cross our fingers!

Rather than Rothenburg, you could easily visit Büdingen and Gelnhausen from Frankfurt. Only an hour away by train, these towns offer a medieval atmosphere but without the tour buses and souvenir stores. The wall around Büdingen is one of the best preserved in Germany. The town was not bombed in the war nor burnt down in the 1600's during the 30 years war. Rothenburg was bombed and burned down, so Büdingen wins out when it comes to original buildings.

Rothenburg was 30-40 percent destroyed in WWII. That is pretty good compared to many places in Germany. If you do not like to see post WWII rebuilt cities and towns, then skip Frankfurt, München, Nürnburg, Würzburg, Dresden, Berlin, etc. Much of the history of Germany is rebuilding after wars (WWII, Thirty Years War, Napoleonic Wars, Frederick the Great's Battles).

I like Rothenburg but it is not an easy day trip from Frankfurt or München. There are indeed many great places to see in Germany without long cumbersome day trips.

Speaking of near Frankfurt and relatively untouched by the bombing in WWII...

Heidelberg, Speyer and Wiesbaden... two of which Mr. Steves hasn't given his flock permission to visit and the third unmentioned by him.