Worthy Sites-Rothenburg to Munich via Train

I think just about every train between Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Munich will go through Nuremburg. I suggest spending some time there.

The most direct route goes through Ansbach, Treuchtlingen and Ingolstadt.
Not sure what you mean by day trips. Stopovers?

A day trip means leaving your base town and returning to it later the same day. There are some good day trips from Rothenburg:

To Würzburg: 1 hr, 11 minutes one way.

Here is some info on Ochsenfurt (51 minutes) and Markbreit (47 minutes) which are neighbor towns that lie on the same Main-River train route you will use to reach Würzburg. Both are stops on the "German Half-Timbered House" theme route.

Bad Windsheim (50 minutes one way from Rotheburg) is on the same half-timbered route and an outstanding day trip option, primarily for its Franconian Open-Land Museum

I appreciate you all. I learn so much here. Rather than ask for "day trips" on our way from Rothenburg to Munich, I would have been served by asking for suggested "stop-overs". :)

My favorite stop over in route would be Regensburg. The main sights are walking distance from the train station. St. Peter's Cathedral (1260 ad), the Steinerne Brücke - Bridge (1140 ad) and the Porta Praetoria - Roman Ruins are all very close to one another. I also really like St Emmeram abbey Church. There is additionally a palace, a town hall many other worth while churches to see.

Regensburg is not really a stopover between Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Munich, it is a detour.

By the fastest ways, Nuremberg or Augsburg are change points that are worth stopping over. They also have big stations with plenty of luggage lockers to store your bags. I am more familiar with Nuremberg and it has plenty of historic sites to visit during a stopover, including the Imperial Castle. Although Nuremberg suffered significant bomb damage during the war, they did a good job of putting things back together keeping the original character. Definitely worth a 4 to 6 hour stopover.

Sam's Nuremberg-or-Augsburg suggestions probably be the simplest options if you wish to minimize your travel time on the train. This summer I made a point of stopping over in Augsburg, which I had not visited in many years. Nice place to visit. This was an overnight stop for me, though, so I did not use a locker to stow bags. Will your stopover be for overnight, or just a few hours? If not an overnighter, your stopover station should have lockers, like Augsburg's does or you will be toting your bag with you while you sightsee (which might work for you if you pack as Rick Steves suggests; I use a backpack with Rick's packing strategies and often take it with me while sightseeing.) Donauwoerth, like Augsburg, is another "Romantic Road" town (no lockers however) on the same train route to Munich which you might like, much smaller than Augsburg. We overnighted there recently and enjoyed our time there.

Please note that a stopover in Nuremberg takes you on a completely different route to Munich. Nuremberg is a multifaceted city with far more to see/do than either Augsburg or Donauwoerth and also a good choice. IMO it's the kind of place to stay overnight, but a focused visit of several hours might work. Plenty of lockers there.

When you search for your train trip to Munich on the DB site, you should specify your chosen stopover town as an official stopover. That way, you don't have to weed out the train trips that are going on a completely different route.

If you don't mind longer train rides, I see no reason why you couldn't visit Regensburg or some other town/city that sounds good to you. Just be sure to specify Regensburg (or whatever town you wish) as a stopover and to check the travel times to see that they are acceptable to you. Regensburg was for me more interesting altogether than Augsburg. It's a UNESCO World Heritage city for its outstanding medieval old-town center.

One more thing... You may want to stop over in one or more of the towns I mentioned in my first post as day trips on your way to Rothenburg. Not sure where you are coming from prior to Rothenburg, but Würzburg is quite nice, and the station there does have lockers.

As someone who lived in Steinach for two years my suggestion is take either a taxi or the bus to Ansbach and go from there to Munich. In the time it would take you to backtrack to Steinach you can be in Ansbach. The taxi isn't that expensive, and the bus is super cheap. It's only 30 minutes' drive.

The RE80 goes direct from Ansbach to Munich every hour, which is nice because if you get off anywhere you know there will be another train by every hour, and you can plan your stops accordingly.

But, instead of getting off en route, take some time and visit Ansbach. It's a pretty town, has been home to American military since WWII (some are still there), and very rarely visited by tourists. The old town is nice, the garden around the Orangerie is pretty, and everyone speaks English.

If you must stop along the way, I'll suggest either Donauworth or Augsburg. Augsburg being the bigger city, although the old town is interesting and very easy to reach from the train station.

As someone who lived in Steinach for two years my suggestion is take either a taxi or the bus to Ansbach

Well, as someone who lived close to Steinach for 10 years, I wonder: which bus? There is simply nothing faster than the train connection and the change in Steinach is more than simple. Taxi - convenient, of course, but $$$ (€75+).

Ansbach is worth a visit. We did it as a day trip from RodT. If you are looking for stops on the train route, Will you have any ( or much ) luggage. Luggage storage at smaller train stations seem to be rare these days

VGN runs a bus between Rothenberg and Ansbach. Takes about 40 minutes. Costs maybe 5 euro. It's been a few years, but checking the inet shows it still running.

Personally, especially with more than one person, I'd take the taxi. Even at 100 euro, split 2-3 ways, that's a better bargain than wasting vacation time going to Steinach and points around to get somewhere I can be in 30 minutes.

VGN runs a bus between Rothenberg and Ansbach. Takes about 40 minutes

Unfortunately, I could not find such a connection with DB or VGN (https://www.vgn.de/verbindungen/? , deselect trains). There are only 3 direct buses a day with 27-33 stops (!) and between 1:07 and 1:16 travel time; the morning bus (dep. 6.38) will be crowded with schoolchildren. Could it be that you are mixing up Rothenburg with Dinkelsbühl?

I love the "petty coat junction" train between Rothenburg and Steinach. The only non-electrified train I ever rode in Germany.