Please get us to Rothenburg

This website ViaMichelin is the Mapquest of Europe. Click the Map tab. Spending some time on the Viamichelin website will answer most of your questions.

I suggest you find, and learn how to use, the German Rail schedule site. Put in "Salzburg Hbf" and "Rothenburg ob der Tauber Bahnhof".

Coming from Salzburg, you would go through Munich to get to Rothenburg.

Thanks - I would try to use the train schedule, but never knew quite which "suffixes" to use (Hbf, Bahnhof, etc" I guess I need to go to Munich, then to Roth. Back to Munich, then to Fussen. (each is about 2 hours from Munich - but not from each other).

Annabeth, small towns, like Rothenburg have only one train station, and they call it the Bahnhof, or Bhf. Large cities, like Munich have many stations and the main one (main is Haupt, in German) is called the Hauptbahnhof, or Hbf.

The German Rail website is pretty accommodating and lets you use a variety of names, but "Salzburg Hbf" and Munich Hbf" will work best. For Rothenburg, use "Rothenburg ob der Tauber Bahnhof".

Contact me offline (PM) and I can "walk" you through this.

Annabeth,

Given the fact that you have a "TINY amount of time" in which to visit the three cities, one possibility might be to use Munich as a "home base" and travel from there to Salzburg, Fussen and Rothenburg.

The train from Salzburg to Rothenburg won't necessarily pass through Munich. One route that I checked travelled via Augsburg, Treuchtilngen and Steinach (ANY train you choose will have to pass through Steinach, as Rothenburg is on a "spur line"). One thing to keep in mind is that the travel time from Salzburg is a minimum of about 5 hours each way!

On the other hand, the travel time from Munich to Rothenburg is as short as 2H:28M (each way), so that's a much easier trip! Again, you'll be passing through Steinach.

As you're travelling to Fussen, I assume you'll be visiting Neuschwanstein. There are two options for that trip. You can either take the train to Fussen and then transfer to the Bus for the trip to the Castle (you'll have to arrange tickets for the Castle on your own). An alternative would be to take a day tour with Radius Tours. While you'll still be travelling by train, they take care of all the details, including reservations and tickets for the "official" tour of the Castle. Check their website for detzils and costs.

Happy travels!

Thanks! I think I've got it! We want to be in Rothenburg for an evening, so just head there the morning we leave Salzburg (5 hours). The next afternoon, get on along to Munich (2-3 hours), from which we can take the Radius Tour to the Fussen castles as a day trip. Yay! Sound good?

Actually, in the connection with the change of trains at Augsburg, Treuchtlingen, et al, the express train between Salzburg and Augsburg does make a stop in Munich Hbf. You just don't change trains there.

And any regional connection, for which the €28 Bayern ticket will be valid, will have a change of trains in Munich.

Think of these towns as a 3-pointed star, with Munich in the center and Rothenburg, Füssen, and Salzburg as the points. The rail lines in Bavaria mostly radiate out from Munich, so, as Ken suggested, making Munich the base for your stay and taking a day trip to Füssen and an overnight trip to Rothenburg makes sense.

If you are flying OUT of MUC, you might want to make Rothenburg the next to last night of your trip and come back for the last night to Freising, which is near the airport.

The castle tours are really easy to do on you own, and far less expensive than taking a tour. See my web page on how to get to the castles.

Thanks for the very valuable advice! Especially that about Friesing.

BTW, reason I would rather take pre-fab trip to castles is that, with it being on the weekend (most crowded day) and our last day of two week trip - let someone else get us there and fool with the details (and avoid lines). Would be different in other circumstances.