Rothenberg

Likely not, because the two cities lie in different states, Buses in Germany usually only run local routes. Where are looking for train times? On Deutsche Bahn, I'm seeing most of the connections between 3 and 4 hours. Considering it takes just under 3 to drive between the two (with good traffic and without stopping), that's not bad for rail times.

I think you want Rothenb u rg (Rothenburg ob der Tauber). You'll have better luck finding connections if you spell it correctly. "The Eurail connections seem to take too long." There is no such thing as a Eurail connection. Eurail is not a railroad. It is a joint venture of the European railroads to package and market rail passes. The connections you are looking at are on German Rail. You can find German Rail connections at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. A Eurail pass will not be valid for most buses. There is, I believe, a discount on the Romantic Road Coach with a Eurail pass. The reason it takes longer by rail is that the entrance to Rothenburg is by a shuttle from Steinach, which is to the east of Rothenburg, on the rail line from Würzburg to Munich. So, you have to take a circular route around Rothenburg to get to it. You could go by train from Heidelberg to Lauda to Schrozberg and then by bus (~1 hr) to Heidelberg, but you'd have to pay extra for the bus from Schrozberg to Rothenburg, and I don't think it would save any time. In 2007 I took the bus from Rothenburg to Weikersheim, probably a little longer distance than Schrozberg to Rothenburg. It cost €4,70.

Ah. I did not know that I was one letter off. I am referring to Rothenburg ob der Tauder. I will inquire about bus transportation to Heidelberg once I reach Rothenburg.

Jimmy, If you're looking for shorter travel times, rail is probably still the best idea (even with the connection from Rothenburg to Steinach). Regarding the Romantic Road Bus, as I recall it was bought by a Spanish (?) firm a year or two ago, and it's not the bargain it once was. Happy travels!

"Tom, put the pedal to the metal, man. Ansbach to Heidelberg takes on average 1 hour 45 minutes." Wasn't an option on the one day I drove it. Stau after Stau after Stau on A6.

"this is clearly a victory for the Auto Party". Not necessarily. Depends on your priorities. If your only objective is to race to the next destination, regardless of whether you see anything other than cars on the road, and you don't care how much you see, then maybe a car is the way. But, if getting there is half the fun, and spending more then you need to makes it harder to go back, then there are connections. The Verkehrverbund Rhein-Neckar (metro district Rhein-Necker) extends from Heidelberg (near Kaiserslautern, actually) up to the border with Baden-Württemburg/Bavaria, a few miles from Rothenburg. For €8,50, you can go from Heidelberg to Archshofen, just beyond Creglingen. Creglingen is one of the stops on the Romantic Road and home of the Fingerhut (Thimble) Museum. There is a Heidelberg to Rothenburg connection, using a regularly scheduled bus from Creglingen to Rothenburg, but that connection takes about 5 hours, including a one hour stop in Creglingen. With a little knowledge of German, you can reserve an AST (Anruf Sammeln Taxi, kind of an on-demand bus) from Creglingen to Rothenburg in about an hour, 3½ hrs total. The fare from Archshofen to Rothenburg is about €3, so the total trip will cost you about €11 (fuel for a compact car, Heidelberg to Rothenburg, according to Via Michelin, is almost €16, plus they don't rent cars for free.