Bavaria -- Hotels in Nuremberg and the Romantic Road-- Help!!

If you don't mind staying just outside of Nuremberg...there's castle Veldenstein which is about a 20 minute train ride from Nuremberg. If you've never stayed in a castle it could be a new and fun experience to share. I've stayed there. The rooms are nice, breakfast good, located right at the train station and it's VERY cheap.

Besides Rothenburg and Fuessen, the best town, in my opinion, is Nördlingen (Noerdlingen). It has a nearly intact wall with a Wehrgang you can walk on. Nördlingen sits inside an ancient meteor crater, the walls of which were used to train our lunar astronauts. You can climb to the top of the tower of the church in the middle of town for a great view.

I stayed at Gasthof zum Engel, which is just outside one of the town gates, Deininger Tor, and a very short walk from the Bahnhof.

"nice hotel with a large room? And,of course we don't want to spend a lot on hotels" Those two requirements rarely intersect in Europe... But anyhow, if you don't mind staying in a hostel, part of the Kaiserburg (the castle that sits in the middle of town) serves as a youth hostel.

My suggestion for the Romantic Road? It's only worth exploring if you have a specific interest in some of the towns along the way. Otherwise, it is no different from about a dozen other country roads that run south to the Alps (the one exception is the magnificent view of the Alps, Fuessen and Neuschwanstein at the southern terminus). And at that time of year, daylight hours are so short that you have to cram your sight-seeing into a few hours. Finally, unlike other parts of Europe, Germans keep the lighting very dim at night, so outside of the cities, you can see very little once the sun goes down at about 4:15-4:30. But that's just one traveler's two cents worth...

Do you plan to drive or take the train? How you travel will affect decisions on where you stay.

I stayed in the Motel One in Nuremburg and really liked it. It was near the train station and outside the city walls, but I was able to walk to the old town within 5 minutes. I stayed there for 49 euros and found that to be a great price considering Nuremburg had very expensive accomodations. It was also rated very highly on Trip Advisor.

You really need to find a hotel that offers dinner on the 24th as every restaurant will shut down either completely for that day or by 14:00 or so. Seriously, everything in Germany just about shuts down except for public transportation, taxis and hospitals. The 25th and 26th are public holidays and though it will be easier to find restaurants open, though not all, many attractions will be closed. Do check with any museums, etc. that you are planning to visit during this time period. Lots of places just close down for the holiday period, as it is too expensive to pay staff extra holiday pay for all these days. Check the dates of the Christmas markets you want to visit, some close on the 22nd, others the 23rd and only a very few, I believe Berlin and Munich will be open for a little while on the 24th and possibly 25th and 26th.

Again on the 31st, stores will close early, many restaurants close, even bars will have private parties. The 1st is an official holiday and you again should check to see that the places you want to visit will be open.

Larger cities will be your best bet for Christmas and New Years to find things open.