Would you suggest drive or train to Rothenburg?

My math skills (or communication ... or typing skills)are lacking - $16 each way for gas is what I meant.

What Land are you starting in. If all of your travel is in Bavaria, you can use regional trains and the Bayern-Ticket, RT in a day, for at total of €29 for all of you. That's less than gas. Having essentially free use of a car is a lot different than having to pay to rent one.

Patty, you haven't mentioned where you are driving from and if you live there or are just there temporarily. If you live there and have a car, by all means drive. I don't know about the parking but you could probably just google Rothenburg and maybe park at a hotel. You could also google a map and look at the most convenient route.

Lee, I am in Parsburg and I am starting @ Parsburg Bahnhof. I can not find any trains, anytime in the near future for the price you posted. The cheapest that I can find is 59E each way. I am starting off on the DB BAHN Bayern-Ticket page. Am I doing something wrong?
I think I would rather go by train there for the price you posted - rather than drive.

Thank you Anna, I found the directions on Google Directions.

If you do decide to drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, there is a parking lot right outside the wall of the historic area. No problem at all ... well marked and immediately accessible to the inner town. I have driven there several times, and have arrived from a different direction each time. Totally simple. No issues whatsoever.

If you do decide to drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, there is a parking lot right outside the wall of the historic area. No problem at all ... well marked and immediately accessible to the inner town. I have driven there several times, and have arrived from a different direction each time. Totally simple. No issues whatsoever.

Something is wrong here. First, it's Parsberg, not Parsburg. Spelling does matter. Parsberg is in the Nürnberg transit district, VGN, as is Rothenburg, so the Bahn website won't show regional fares. Second, the maximum regional fare in the VGN is €9,40, so Parsberg to Rothenburg should be €47 one way for five. That (no regional fares in Verkehrsverbünde) is why the Bayern-Ticket doesn't show up. The Bayern-Ticket is not valid until after 9 on workdays, so unless you are traveling on a weekend, you'd have to start with the 9:43 RE to Nürnberg. Since you are traveling entirely in the VGN, if only two of you are adults and three are 14 and under, you can use a VGN Tagesticket Plus for all day (no 9 AM limit) unlimited travel for €15,60.

Parsberg ... I meant to type it that way but my dyslexic brain told my fingers to type -burg instead of telling them NOT to type -burg. Very annoying - sorry. Lee, you typed: "... is in the Nürnberg transit district, VGN, as is Rothenburg, so the Bahn website won't show regional fares. Second, the maximum regional fare in the VGN is €9,40, so Parsberg to Rothenburg should be €47 one way for five. That (no regional fares in Verkehrsverbünde) is why the Bayern-Ticket doesn't show up." ... <b>OK, I have no idea what you mean.</b> Aren't both in Baveria? Regional fares don't show on the bahnhof website? Even after 10 AM weekdays I am coming up with "Fares not available" and when a fare does show, it shows: "from 59,00 EUR up to 195,00 EUR" or a price similar for one way - so double that for round trip. My children are 15 to 20 years old - none of them are 14 or under. How is a VGN Tagesticket Plus different from a Bayern-Tciket? How do I get it to show on the Bahnhof website?
We just took a trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle and it was a breeze reserving the cheap fair on the DB BAHN website - I don't understand why I am banging my head on the wall with this one.

Germany is divided into Verkehrverbünde (transit districts), like VGN (Verkehrsverbund Grossraum Nürnberg), MVV (Münchner Verkehr- und Tariffverbund) etc. The Verkersverbünde determine fares and sell ticket for their district. The Bahn doesn't sell tickets online for travel between two points in the same VV, only for a point inside the VV to somewere outside, and thus they don't show fares, either (they only show fares that you can purchase online). The Bahn website does show fares and sell tickets for express trains (ICE/IC/EC), even between stops in the same VV. A Bayern-Ticket is a pass for regional trains throughout Bavaria as well as all conveyance of the Verkehrsverbünde within Bavaria. Thus, you can use the Bayern-Ticket on buses in Nürnberg. A VGN Tagesticket is a pass for all conveyance only in the VGN.

"Why would an American .... take a train for 3 hours when he can drive autobahn the whole way in 90 minutes?" Because, after 50 years of driving, it's become a total PITA. I can't go anywhere (almost) in this country without having to drive. Thus, when I get to Europe, it's such a luxury to be able to go by train, and get to spend my time doing anything else but driving - looking at the scenery, reading, writing in my journal, sleeping (try doing that while driving), etc.

Another point that, like some of the others here, has little to do with the original questions: Don't obsess over the spelling when checking routes and fares on bahn.com. When you start typing the name of the town or station, a pulldown window appears. Much of the time the correct location is obvious; if not look it up on a map and come back to the bahn website.

Parking in Rothenburg: There is a large parking lot outside the walls. Inside the walls is extremely limited. Hotels I have stayed in didnt have enough parking for all their guests. (But then a lot of the streets inside are narrow and cobblestoned too). So park in the big lot.