Interlaken to Rothenburg by Train & Transfer time concerns

Rothenburg is only one of several nice old-world towns in Germany, and it's one that has suffered somewhat from heavy-handed tourism. Even Rick Steves admits that it's on it's way to becoming a "medieval theme park." I don't think it's worth the 8-hour train ride with multiple changes unless it's on your way to other nearby destinations on your itinerary. Is it?

You can reach the adorable old walled town of Gengenbach in half that time and with only 1 change of train.

GENGENBACH

Gengenbach is on the Black Forest railway line, where other interesting old-world villages can be found.

HASLACH

SCHILTACH

TRIBERG

Ladenburg (about 5 hrs from Interlaken, near Heidelberg) is lovely as well.

Ladenburg's market square

Or get your old-world fix on the upper Rhine (border of Switzerland and Germany) in the town of Laufenburg, 3 hours from Interlaken
LAUFENBURG

Nearby Bad Säckingen is also quite nice:

Bad S. photo

Going from Interlaken to RodT (Rothenburg) is not so easy, as you have found.

You are going from a town off the main line to a small town at the end of a very small branch line.

The connections are actually quite easy and many people will be making the same changes.

Are you using the Bahn for your times or are you using Rail Europe or some other?

I have been using Bahn to look up the train routes and times. My mother really has her heart set on Rothenburg (my uncle was stationed over there and fell in love with the city). Are any of the other cities mentioned on the route to Rothenburg that we could stop off at and visit to break up the trip?

My biggest concern is the very short transfer times. I'm not familiar with how the stations are over there, is 5-7 minutes enough time for a rookie to make the transfer?

"Are any of the other cities mentioned on the route to Rothenburg that we could stop off at and visit to break up the trip?"

I believe most itineraries from Interlaken to Rothenburg have a change of train in Karlsruhe (and hence in Offenburg, just before Karlsruhe.) It's about 3.5 hours from Interlaken to Offenburg. Get off in Offenburg, and you are only 6 minutes from Gengenbach by train along the Black Forest Railway line.

If you continue further north from Karlsruhe to Mannheim, from there you can hit the Neckar river valley, the Bergstraße and the Deutsche Weinstraße, all of which are chock-full of scenic towns.

It's not that Rothenburg odT isn't worth seeing... if your route of travel takes you near it. But it isn't worth traveling several hours out of your way to visit, because as the others noted, you'll pass plenty of good alternatives along the way. Unless what you're really looking for are a high concentration of trinket shops

kpeabody10,

Travel from Interlaken Ost to Rothenburg ODT is certainly possible, as long as you're prepared to spend a full day on the train to do so. As you've noticed on the website, that trip varies from about 7.5 - 9.5H, with 2 - 5 changes. I've made similar trips and they're not really too difficult. The timing of changes will be adequate, and keep in mind that thousands of locals use the trains each day and manage the changes fine.

To make the changes easier, you may find it helpful to research the trip you want on the Bahn website, making note of the platform numbers and train numbers. Take a printout with you. When you arrive at each station, look at the electronic board to determine where your next train is. In some cases, you'll have to go down stairs to a tunnel and then back up again to change platforms. In other cases, you may just be able to walk across the platform to the next train.

If I were going to travel that route in one day, I'd use a departure from Interlaken Ost at 07:00, arriving Rothenburg ODT at 14:49 (time 7H:49M, 4 changes). Two of the legs indicate "subject to reservation" and those will not be covered by your Railpass, so you'll have to pay out-of-pocket.

Stopping in an intermediate location for one night is also an option. One town you could look at is Freiburg (im Breisgau), which will be about a 3 hour trip from Interlaken Ost (at least one train is direct, with no changes). I haven't been to Freiburg yet, but it's on my list of places to visit so I have done a bit of research on it. The Freiburg Minster looks awesome. From there to Rothenburg ODT will be as short as 4H:52M, with three changes. That may make the trip a bit more palatable.

Good luck with your planning!

5-7 minute changes in Germany are usually fine. You can walk between platforms by bridge or subway and in Germany there aren't any off-train ticket checks or gates.