Romantic Road

Kind of depends on how many days you want to spend. If you have several, I'd advise staying in Rothenburg, because it's closer to the middle of the road. Make one trip from Rothenburg to Weikersheim, Bad Mergentheim, and Würzburg. You can come back by train from Würzburg. The next day go south to Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, Harburg, and Donauwörth.

To agree with above: rothenberg, smaller, easier to get in and out of, middle of Romantic road so you can go North or South; very nice to walk around in morning and late afternoon (and night) afrer you get back from your sightseeing; plus, by being out during the day you will avoid the very busy lunch time crowds. Nice restaurants.

I thought Wurzburg was beautiful, but much bigger than what I imagined the towns on the Romantic Road to be like... so I would have been disappointed. I actually prefer Dinkelsbuhl to Rothenburg to stay in. Its close, but doesn't feel quite as touristy and it is an easy little village to enjoy the German food and ambience.

Würzburg. It's a living city, as opposed to a moth-balled tourist fun house. Don't get me wrong, Rothenburg is pretty and worth a visit if you're in the area anyway. But you're likely to get a much better selection of restaurants and nightlife in Würzburg.... and better public transportation options if you're not driving.

Well, technically, the best Swabian food to be found will actually be in Swabia and not Franconia. For a base, Wurzburg makes the most sense in a lot of ways. Some people here love it, but I got bored on Rothenburg after several hours, so I wouldn't want to spend more than one night there.

suggest you decide where to get your car first (Munich vs. Frankfurt), then you can get a map of the romantic road when you get there. there is a very detailed map you can get from hotels/car agencies on all the attractions along the romantic road and then you pick out the places you want to see (don't attempt to see all of the highlights though). Don't have to use any home base, just drive along and over night in any of the bigger towns. I stayed in rotherburg odt, wuzburg, dinklelbul before, and thought they were all worth a nigh if you have the time, but if you have to pick 1 or 2, wuzburg and rotherburg would rank higher. dinkelbul is a little smaller, so there isn't very much going on in the evenings.

Thanks everyone for your tips so far! Looks like Würzburg is winning! We do everything with public transport and will be arriving (by train) after a few days in Munich and then onwards (by train) for a few days in Dresden. I am almost positive that Würzburg has better train connections (have to do some more research) so that's why I thought it would be best.

"I am almost positive that Würzburg has better train connections (have to do some more research)". It is serviced by ICE trains, Rothenburg only receives regional trains.