Weekend in Germany

That's a lot of driving for one weekend, but it can be done. I wasn't very impressed with Baden-Baden, but the distance for you will be short enough to make a trip worthwhile. Because you only have a weekend, I would cut Rothenburg. You would drive almost 3 hours from the Rhine to a town that is very similar to Colmar.

Nice place to work, I think! As for your trip to these three German "Rick's picks"... as much as I respect Rick's advice, I do not find Baden-Baden very worthwhile at all. Maybe if you're a high roller or need an expensive spa treatment. But either Rothenburg (plus another nearby destination like Nuremberg, Würzburg, or Bamberg) or the Rhine would make sense as a weekend (probably not both.) If you do the Rhine, there's much more there than just the cruise. The river cruise between Bacharach and St. Goar is a mere 40 minutes that covers only about 15 km of the 67-km Middle Rhine Valley. Not sure why you're choosing such a small area to visit. I would suggest a longer stretch - Bingen to St. Goar is 2 hours and very scenic, and if you can go an hour longer, continue past St. Goar to Braubach. Braubach is a small but attractive town and Marksburg Castle is there and offers hourly tours - really very good. If you stay in Bacharach, catch a morning train to Bingen and cruise north from there (much quicker than north to south because of the current) then return by train. Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar and Boppard are nice villages to spend some time in or stay in along the left (west) bank of the river. Boppard has a nifty chairlift ride for great views of the valley and town: http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de Other great destinations near the Middle Rhine include Cologne, Cochem, Trier, Burg Eltz: http://www.burg-eltz.de , and the WW II museum in Remagen where US troops crossed the Rhine: http://www.bruecke-remagen.de When are you going? There are wine fests in one Rhine village or the other throughout September.

Thanks for your replies! My colleague and I will be there Sept. 16-18. From your feedback, I think we will skip Baden Baden and just spend the weekend along the Rhine (and do a longer cruise). I appreciate the links and the advice!