Steinach(b Rothenb) to Rothenburg o. d. T.

As long as the train from Würzburg is on time, I think you will be fine. It is a really small station, and track 3 to 5 is just down the stairs, through the tunnel, up to track 5. Just stay with the herd. They won't leave with people still headed for the train. If the train is late, the train to Rothenburg will probably wait, since that train is where all (most) of their passenger are coming from.

Here is the layout and pictures of the station in Steinach.

If there were buses from Steinach to Rothenburg they should be indicated on the Bahn schedule and I don't see any, so I don't think there are any, at least at that time of night. Both Rothenburg and Steinach are in the Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg (VGN, www.vgn.de). Their website also shows no later connection to Rothenburg until the 5:23 morning train.

There is an AST (Anrufsammeltaxi) at 23:34, but you have to arrange for that by calling a phone number at least an hour in advance, and you won't have time. If you were fortunate, someone might have already arranged for one, and you could ride with them.

The important thing is this: know when you are getting into the station and be at the end of the car, ready to get off, when it stops.

There are only two trains arriving at that time of night with passengers to transfer to the train to Rothenburg, your train and one arriving at the same time from Ansbach. That's his real purpose to be there, so unless your train is extremely late, I think he will wait.

BTW, inter-city trains, as in trains between cities (aren't they all?), do stop in Steinach, but Intercity trains (ICs) do not, only regional trains.

That time of night that connection worries me.

Twice in that part of Germany I've missed 'the last train of the night' -- where the town is big enough, your best solution is to go to the Taxi stand holding a 50 Euro bill in plain sight -- and say "Private, No Meter" -- and someone close to going off shift will negotiate a private fare for you.

We went from Rothenburg to Wurzburg at nearly midnight one night -- minivan, 6 of us, 150 Euros... got there faster than the train.

Come up with a plan with more breathing room if you can -- this may be a case where hiring a private car for a little more than the train cost could be wise. See if you can get a quote for a limo service Frankfurt to Rothenburg -- they are often more reasonable than you would expect.

Now that I think about it (and my wife reminds me...) that is the same connection we missed in 2003. We were able to call a taxi service who sent out two cars to drive our group to Rothenburg ob Tauber. Neither of us recall what it cost us -- but knowing we made it to our hotel (and our much desire pillows...), the price seemed reasonable.

I'm a little concerned that you say you are coming from Frankfurt Airport, leaving there at 20:00. Are you coming in on a flight at that time of night and expecting to catch the last train connection to Rothenburg? If it's a trans-Atlantic flight, you could be asking for trouble. My last flight into Frankfurt was an hour late! It might be better to plan on taking the S-Bahn to Mainz Hbf, checking into Hotel Königshof, then going to Rothenburg the next morning.

My flight comes in at 18:00 from London, but there is no train until 20:00. When we check in, I'm going to see if we can get on a earlier flight, but we might just be stuck. Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to have to figure out what we can do....

Just a note about taxis in Germany, most are fitted with a meter that turns on as soon as you sit down, as it is in the seats, the driver does not have a choice about running with or without a meter. Waving a 50 € note at them may not be of any use at all.

Another option would be to take the train as far as Würzburg for the night, then go on to Rothenburg first thing in the morning. The last connection from FRA to Würzburg is an IC leaving the Fernbahnhof at 22:02, arriving Würzburg Hbf at 23:41. Surely you can make that one.

Pension Spehnkuch is about a block from the Hbf in Würzburg and reasonably priced. It does have the bathroom down the hall, but you won't be there very long.

Realistically, the 21:46 connection from Würzburg to Steinach originates in Würzburg (it looks like the actual train comes into Würzburg from Treuchtlingen 30 min earlier), so it should be able to leave on time. It should be waiting at the platform when you arrive from FRA. The trip to Steinach takes 42 minutes. How much time can it lose?

If the train is not going to leave on time (21:46), you will have until 22:34 to call one of these numbers: 09861 2000, 09861 7227, or 09861 95100. to schedule the AST from Steinach at 23:34.

Jo, while the obligation to use a meter and the standard fees is an almost universal measure in Germany's local taxi decrees (Beförderungsbedingungen and Taxiordnungen), a drive between Würzburg and Rothenburg odT would cross district (Kreis) borders, and be therefore outsize the so called Pflichtfahrgebiet. The result is that only federal law (PBefG and BOKraft) applies.

In plain English all that legalese means that freely negotiated fares for a Würzburg to Rothenburg odT drive are legal. (And every cab driver can switch off the meter, but it's often not legal for them to do so.)

I agree that waving a fifty euro bill around is quite silly though.

Silly worked a few times -- but that was a few years ago.

Sounds like the opportunity to hire a taxi off meter in Germany is less today than it was 5 or 10 years ago.

(Do note that we've been on a travel hiatus -- so my info is sometimes stale...)

Apologies for any confusion.

Instead of worrying about catching this train, making a tight connection, plus traveling late at night, have you simply thought about staying in Frankfurt the night you arrive? Especially after a long flight. In the morning, you will be fresher, more able to enjoy your travels and the scenery from your train window. The city is only an 11 min. ride from the airport, you could be in your hotel by 21:00, time for a bit of a walk, a nice dinner, and then a good nights rest.

Thank you very much for all your replies. You have given me several options, and now I can figure out what to do. You have all been extremely helpful, and I really appreciate it!

Hi Lizzie! I can only share our experience on that leg. We had a 4 minute connection in Steinach on our way to Rothenburg in the summer of 2008. I was getting very nervous as our train into Steinach was running a couple minutes late and was really worried we were going to miss our connection. We pulled in at the time the train was supposed to leave. We were at the end of the car and made sure we were first out the door. Long and short of it, after a mad dash down and then up some stairs, we jumped on the train glad we made it. Then we sat for about 4 more minutes while the train waited for everyone else to board before we departed for Rothenburg. Can't say they will all wait, but as a previous poster said, the main reason that train is there is to pick up people on your train and the one from Ansbach to go to Rothenburg. Hope you have a great trip1

Thanks Jed! I've several answers like that from some other people I have talked to....it sounds right now like we are going to go for it, as you said, the train will wait. Thanks again for everyone's help!