One of the world's great sites is Rothenburg, along Germany's Romantic Road. It was a prosperous city until about 1400, when it fell into a slump that lasted 450 years. Then around 1870-1890 the Germans woke up to the idea that there was a priceless treasure--a city frozen in the 15th century. They passed laws forbidding any changes to the town, and so it remains today. Definitely worth a journey.

There are two similar towns I know of--Riquewihr, France, and Ouro Preto, Brazil. All worth seeing and meandering through.

To be honest: There are a few similar places in Germany. The one good in Rothenburg is that they market it very well and almosts every American wants to die for it.

If you know any similar places. I'd like to hear about them. Perhaps British official secrets?

France has lots of similar places, some of them quite large-e.g. Avignon. A lot of it has been repaired, but it sure looks medieval. The place where I most felt I was in the living past was Genova. The old walled section of the city is a real taste of what medieval life must have been like. :)

Or visit any of a thousand villages in Southern France. Just drive around at random.

We stayed overnight in Rothenburg during our month long trip to Europe a few years back based on some glowing reviews by Rick Steves. The city was quite nice and somewhat interesting but I don't think we'd recommend going out of your way visiting it unless you're interested in walled medieval cities. If it's along your route, as it was for us, or if you just have time to fit it into your interary we'd recommend a stop.

We arrived around midday, stayed overnight in suite in someone's home, and departed fairly early the next day. That was more than enough time for us to explore most of the town. We'd definitely recommend the Night Watchman tour (http://www.nightwatchman.de/index.php?cat=1&sprache=ENG) as it was a fun, interactive, and informative way to get to know the town better. Inexpensive too.

Been there, two days, wished the Disney guys were involved so at least we'd have had smell-o-vision.

Nota Bene - German open/close laws from the 20th/21st century still apply, so plan accordingly for beer and diapers.

If you know any similar places. I'd like to hear about them. Perhaps British official secrets?

No, I am German. For that, the British might tolerate that I live in the UK but will never let me know their secrets. You might wish to review the Unesco list:

http://www.unesco.de/350.html

I believe that eg Bamberg, Goslar and Quedlinburg are very good choices. But there a unknown places too: Ahrweiler eg is a walled city. Even plenty of Germans have never heard about it.

Nota Bene - German open/close laws from the 20th/21st century still apply, so plan accordingly for beer and diapers.

Nota Bene, most of it disappeard at the end of last year. But do not believe that all the shops are open until late now:D

Bamberg is a really pretty town, and so are Donauworth and Dinkelsbuehl (both on the romantic road). The latter two may be slightly less crowded than Rothenberg.

Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, Celle, Goslar, Wernigerode, Quedlinburg, Hameln, Pirna, Torgau, Gengenbach, Michelstadt, Gelnhausen, Marburg, Meersburg....
Want me to continue?

Ah, some wonderful and picturessque towns. Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen are especially nice. Still, Rothenburg is tops in my book.

If you know any similar places. I'd like to hear about them. Perhaps British official secrets?Cesky Krumlov (in the Czech republic) is a more interesting and authentic medieval town than Rothenburg. Not too hard to get to (just across the border from Linz Austria). See http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/kaktualita.xml

One of the world's great sites is Rothenburg, along Germany's Romantic Road. . . . . Definitely worth a journey.

Agreed.

If you go, be sure to stop by the St. Jacob's Church to see the beautiful wooden "Altar of the Holy Blood" carved by Til Riemenschneider over 500 years ago, which contains what is purported to be some drops of the blood of Christ in a crystal capsule. More information here (http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/journalEntryActivity.aspx?EntryID=47573).

I would add Brugges, Belgium, as being somewhat in the same league.

To be honest: There are a few similar places in Germany. The one good in Rothenburg is that they market it very well and almosts every American wants to die for it.

Can I do this by train? Or do I have to drive through it?

You can do almost any place in Germany by train; the Deutsche Bahn is one of the best systems in the world.

If you'll be in the Nuremberg (Nürnberg) or Munich (München) areas, it would be easy to do a rail day visit.

You can check schedules and prices here (http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm).

You can do almost any place in Germany by train; the Deutsche Bahn is one of the best systems in the world.

If you'll be in the Nuremberg (Nürnberg) or Munich (München) areas, it would be easy to do a rail day visit.

You can check schedules and prices here (http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm).

But if you do go by train, be aware that you want to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, often abbreviated as "Rothenburd o.d. Tauber" or less frequently as "Rothenburg/Tauber." There's another rail destination in Germany named simply Rothenburg, and I heard a fellow traveler once tell of buying a ticket to the wrong one because he didn't make the distinction.

You can do almost any place in Germany by train; the Deutsche Bahn is one of the best systems in the world.

If you'll be in the Nuremberg (Nürnberg) or Munich (München) areas, it would be easy to do a rail day visit.

You can check schedules and prices here (http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm).

Thank you.

But for train fares, I'd prefer to use Deutsch Bahn. Rail Europe's prices are inflated and as the running engine is hosted by SNCF, you guessed it, it tries to route you through their system.

I once asked for train times from Amsterdam to Cologne as I know ICE has direct services. But RailEurope insisted I go Amsterdam to Brussels, and then from there to Cologne. Another time from Amsterdam Airport to Amsterdam , I was looking for the frequency of the trains, and Rail Europe gave me the schedule from Airport to Den Haag, and then from there to Amsterdam. A journey going backwards so to speak!

Anyway here is DB's website. Waaay cheaper.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

You are very right. I was not even aware of this raileurope thing.

I checked my normal route between Frankfurt and Duesseldorf. Standard Class on Deutsche Bahn is 68 Euro, on Rail Europe is 99 Dollars. Even with an exchange rate of 1,30 Dollar per Euro, 68 Euro is still 88,40 Euro.

Worst thing: You can only get tickets to and from limited destinations and not to each and any station throughout the country.

You are very right. I was not even aware of this raileurope thing.

I checked my normal route between Frankfurt and Duesseldorf. Standard Class on Deutsche Bahn is 68 Euro, on Rail Europe is 99 Dollars. Even with an exchange rate of 1,30 Dollar per Euro, 68 Euro is still 88,40 Euro.

Worst thing: You can only get tickets to and from limited destinations and not to each and any station throughout the country.

And it'll even be cheaper if you have Bahn25 discount card for internal German travel !


RailEurope charges a commission (for themselves) on all fares...

Try Paris to Cologne .. on Thalys in First, oneway.

Rail Europe = US$ 272 (EUR 211)

SNCF Website = EUR 138

Best to also have a Thomas Cook European Railway timetable when travelling extensively in Europe. Ok they should go with the times and have a downloadable version onto PDA or even CD-ROM, but no, you have to carry the equivalent of a mini Yellow Pages around with you !

In addition to being more expensive most of the Rail Europe tickets are non refundable. Change of plans and you are screwed:)

mike