Romantic Road by car, by bus or by train?

I did the Romantic Road (my report) in October. I took five days, used public transportation, and spent about 2 hrs per day traveling and the rest sightseeing.

The two "ends" of the Road, Rothenburg and Füssen deserve at least a day each, so if you have included them on other days before and after the weekend, fine, but if the weekend includes seeing those towns, as well, then I would just get between them the fastest and least expensive way possible.

The fastest (but most expensive) way between Rothenburg and Füssen would be by car (on highways, not the RR) but if you don't already have a car when you get there, and have to go somewhere to pick it up and drop it off, then you would be far better off, timewise, just taking the train.

So, are you planning to spend, say, Friday in Rothenburg, doing the Romantic Road on the weekend, then spending Monday in Füssen, or does that weekend include time in those towns, as well?

Hi Kat, this has been discussed many times before. You will find people who are hard core train users (Hi Lee) and people who are hard core auto users (myself). Have you been in this area before? Do you plan on using a car afterwards were you to get one? If not then I might be tempted to use the train. This would be dependant upon the schedule and whether it fits your schedule. All 4 times I have done it I have used a car. I like to drive. I like to stop when I see something that interests me. This could be a restaurant, cafe, pastry shoppe, museum, castle.... I chose to rent a car and pay the diesel or gas cost no matter what. I have been known to take an unsheduled sidetrip because of I sign I saw that piqued my interest.
There are many arguments for or against one mode or the other. Ultimately it comes down to: What would YOU really like to do.
I know you will enjoy it no matter what. It is a beautiful part of Germany I never tire of.
Good luck an have a great trip!

If you're an American, the pricey Euro is a big factor. A teensy car for 2 arbitrary days in July with Avis out of Würzburg runs 130 Euros - gas ($7-$8/gal.), parking etc. not included. A "Bayern Ticket Single" - daypass for train travel on regional trains in Bavaria - runs 19 Euros per travel day.

Here's a map of the rail lines:

www.bayern-takt.de/media/PDF-Files/Netzkarten/Gesamtnetz07.pdf

Würzburg - Rothenburg - Nördlingen - Donauwörth - Augsburg would be a logical north-south sequence. However, the "Romantic Road" is really just a marketing tool to attract visitors like you who like the sound of the thing. The RR connects only some of the good towns in Bavaria and there is no good reason to confine yourself to RR towns. If I were in Würzburg, for example, I'd definitely want to see Rothenburg but also Nuremberg and Bamberg, which you will miss if you do the RR. Other non-RR towns of interest include Eichstätt, Weißenburg, and Bad Windsheim. You can reach any of these other towns by train too.

Russ,
Your remark that the Romantic Road is above all a marketing tool is so astute. It was almost like a wake up call for a novice traveler like me. Thank you for that. I agree that after reading all the travel books, I was really hung up on that notion. I am going to "shake loose" of the RR and just concentrate on the towns I want to see. Traveling by train seems to be the most practical mode of transportation, so I will use that.

Thank you everyone for your insights! Kat~

There is tour bus as well as the train so google that and you'll find the info. If you have a rail pass there is a discount I believe. BTW it's been a tourist attraction for a long time. It was one of the week end trips when I was student in Germany in the 70's. I did like Rothenberg.

Pam

if you go to wurzburg, check out miltenberg and wertheim, 2 lovely old towns along the main river.

Kat, I travelled around Germany in April of this year concentrating on the Castle Road towns. I am also a strong supporter of rental cars. After reading the travel logs posted on here, I can only imagine that my time in a automobile, stopping where I want, had to be more enjoyable than standing at a bus stop or train platform. I will say that for me, the small roads and tiny towns are much more enjoyable that the big cities. The trick I used was to program the towns into the GPS then specify "AVOID HIGHWAYS". You wouldn't believe the things I saw!

Rob,
I LIKE your trick with the GPS! That is very clever. I have been itching to buy one myself and take it with me. Which brand did you use? Do you have a personal preference? I used Garmin for domestic travel (the one that came with Avis rental car) and I really liked it. Garmin seemed very intuitive. A friend of mine also recommended Tom Tom because it allowed her to download international maps.

The GPS that I used in Germany was built into the car and I'm not sure what brand it was. The one I used in Scotland was a TomTom and I got it from the rental company. With the GPS you never, never get lost. If you see something interesting and want to follow a stream or find the top of a mountain, just turn it off and drive. When you are finished site seeing, turn it back on, it will recalculate, and you will be back on your way to your original destination. I hit the "avoid hwy" button because my travel companion was a little nervous of my driving an Audi A4 on the autobahn, and it made all the difference. As a soldier stationed in Germany in the late 80s, I always dreamed of travelling the backroads again and seeing the real country. All of a sudden, there we were! Have fun on your trip!