Mainz to Rothenburg or Strasbourg

There are dozens of alternatives to Rothenburg within a much shorter distance. Büdigen, Wetzlar, Marburg, Fritzlar, Königstein im Taunus, Miltenburg, Seligenstadt, Aschaffenburg, Michelstadt, Heppenheim, Weinheim, Ladenburg, Speyer and Erbach are just a few that come to mind. And a few of the above are also walled. I don't see why Strasbourg would be a difficult daytrip. If it interests you, go for it. It might be a cliché by now, but the old center really is like a German city with a French accent. It's not comparable to Rothenburg. Whereas Rothenburg is an average sized town, Strasbourg is a medium-sized city. There's no reason to go out of your way to Baden-Baden either. If you want a spa treament, you have Wiesbaden right next door to Mainz, and Bad Homburg, Bad Kreuznacht, Bad Dürkheim, Königstein and Bad König aren't much further away. And ditto the Schwartzwald. The only part of it that's really impressive is the southern end of the mountain chain, and in the amount of time it takes you to get there, you could almost reach the far more scenic Bavarian/Tyrolian Alps.

"What makes Rothenburg a bad day trip?" Disclaimer: this is just MY opinion. 1.) It involves 7-8 hours of train. It's probably 4.5 hours if you drive, but that means getting a car, dropping it off, contracts, insurance, etc. Both ways are quite expensive for just a few hours in the town. 2.) Rothenburg isn't some perfect place. It's a very nicely preserved town in some ways, but its prominence in travel guides and on bus tours means thousands of tourists bumping shoulders for most of the day, lots of trinkets and souvenirs, and a community of innkeepers and shopkeepers that is almost not German anymore but totally dependent on mostly international tourists and given over to their habits, dollars, and even language. Even though he recommends Rothenburg, Rick Steves has called it a medieval theme park, and he's not far off the mark. 3. There are other similar places that are less impacted by tourism and that are closer to Mainz. Some of them are in the Middle Rhine Valley, and some others have been listed on this thread. Daypasses for the trains will get two adults from Mainz to most of these places for around 25-50€ for a day's outing. If you're going to the Strasbourg area, then do make a point of stopping in Gengenbach, which has some eye-popping half-timbered buildings and retains its old world atmosphere and much of its former old town wall and towers.

Agree with Tom that Rothenburg is pretty far for a daytrip, and that Baden-Baden is too (and not really worth a daytrip.) There is a truly outstanding outing less than one hour from Mainz in Bad Sobernheim, one I took this May for the first time. The Rheinland-Pfalz Open Air Museum is a collection of historical homes and other buildings in a scenic spot just outside town (walking distance from the train station.) All the buildings were dismantled in different places around Rheinland-Pfalz, then moved and reconstructed on site in their original form. If you're at all interested in how German townspeople and farmers have lived out their lives over the centuries, this is the place where you can walk right into their daily routines. DIRECT trains from Mainz Hbf go there every hour and take about 45-50 minutes. R-P Freilichtmuseum There are hotels in Bad Sobernheim that offer spa treatments as well. There's also a "barefoot path" - a trendy thing to do there now in Germany, whereby you shed your shoes and take a long walk through all sorts of weird stuff - a sort of reflexology experience. There's a Biergarten there too - which makes it my sort of spa. I'll need to try it on my next visit. Or you could, then post a review. Article in English on Barefoot path Barefoot path (German) Did you get my response to your PM, Amy?

You didn't mention if you've ever been to the middle Rhein gorge. St. Goar is only about an hour by train from Mainz, Bacharach is closer.

There's always a Rhine River cruise which stops at Bacharach which is a small, quaint town with several restaurants, wine tasting and shops. Check out this website for a one day cruise from Mainz: http://www.kdrhine.com/kdrhineMainz.htm

We are spending a day on the Rhine - Rheinfels, Marksburg, Bacharach, etc.. The reason we are considering Strasbourg or Baden-Baden is because my husbands family is from Diersheim (his branch came to the states in 1840s) and he would like to see the area. Both of those are close, but more interesting than Diersheim. What makes Rothenburg a bad day trip? RS's book seems to say you can see it in a few hours. Would driving make it easier? I will check out some of those closer walled towns and that open air museum does sound very interesting.... Russ - I did get your PM. Will respond soon - thank you for being such a big help! Amy

Other alternatives: From Mainz, a 1.5 hour train ride will get you to Gelnhausen. It's not in Rick's books, but a look might prompt one to ask, "Why not?" Büdingen is 15 minutes from Gelnhausen by train.

"We are spending a day on the Rhine - Rheinfels, Marksburg, Bacharach, etc." IMO, that's pushing it. I spent a full day touring Rheinfels, taking the boat from St. Goar to Bacharach (Ops, wrong dirction), and walking around Bacharach and Oberwesel. I also spent a good part of another day seeing the Marksburg and Braubach. Then I spent another day going to Koblenz and seeing Deutsches Eck and walking through the town. I'd devote at least two days to the area. Rather than Baden-Baden (too commercial) or Strasbourg (too French), I'd go by train to Karlsruhe, then to Pforzheim and take the train up the Nagold to Calw, the quaint, somewhat avant-garde, hometown of Hermann Hesse. http://www.calw.de/de/Kultur+Tourismus/Calw-informativ/Bildergalerie?view=publish&item=gallery&id=19 You can also visit the spa town of Bad Liebenzell and see the Kloster ruins in Hirsau.

I agree with Lee and Russ. I think there is already so much to do in the Rhine area, that you can explore and enjoy it to the fullest. No one has touched on taking the regional train down the Mosel to Cochem. Additionally, since you are there on a Saturday, you can take advantage of the bus up to Burg Eltz (which runs only on the weekends) on the Mosel and either walk back down to the train or take the bus back down. For castles, we enjoyed the one in Cochem a lot, too. If you want to follow Lee's lead to Budingen, perhaps Jo will come back and tell you how to get a tour through the TI in English. We took one in Budingen and found it terrific.

Done. One day on the Rhine, one on the Mosel. Since we're getting to see Burg Eltz, we are thinking of skipping Marksburg and just doing Rhinefels, Bacharach and Oberwesel on the Rhine. So, how do we get from Mainz, to Cochem or Burg Eltz? Back up the Rhine and down the Mosel or is there a more direct train? I am completely ok with back tracking and I'm very excited that this just became a slightly less demanding section of our trip! I love the idea of lazy boat and train rides and some hiking through beautiful country to see amazing castles and ruins. Yay! You guys are amazing help. Danke! Amy