If they want to use the night tour, they should take a car and stay overnight in Rothenburg.

Traffic is different and more hectic (we had several threads on this here). It depends on what they want to do, personally, for the trip that you are planning, I would not have used a car. The good thing on having a car is that they can go overland (e.g., take a tour through Franconian Switzerland, which is very nice and not well accessible by train).

A car will make life easier on the trip to Rothenburg, I would recommend NOT using it on the day trips to Wuerzburg and Bamberg. In Wuerzburg, ironically the best parking lot is next to the train station ;-) and the ICE from Nuremberg to Wuerzburg is faster than the (heavily congested) A3. Bamberg is a medieval town and to get from the big parking structures to downtown Bamberg is less convenient than the 20 minute walk from the train station (or 3 minute bus ride). Time wise the travel time between Nuremberg and Bamberg is the same on the train and on the car. They will not need the car in Nuremberg.

I would not really recommend taking the car from Nuremberg to Cologne/Mainz. There is a direct ICE (fast train) which is a) faster and b) much less stressful than the autobahn. The A3 from Nuremberg to Frankfurt is one of the most congested in Germany, and currently being upgraded to a three lane highway. It transports most of the commercial goods to the czech republic and is generally very crowded (read: right hand lane is full of trucks going 85km/h, left hand side is cars going 120-200 km/h). And there are still the repairs of the bridges on the Wuerzburg-Frankfurt stretch. I have to use the A3 often and I generally hate it. So unless they have tons of luggage, I don't think they need a rental car.

Also, when looking at the cost of renting a car vs. the train, don't forget that a liter of gas costs around 1.60 euros right now (=2 USD per liter, or 7.56 USD per gallon...). Parking is usually cheaper than in the big cities in the US, though...

So, yes, renting a car would be better for Rothenburg but not so advisable otherwise.

If you want to ignore this, then I would suggest that instead of taking the A3 from Nuremberg to Cologne, that they go A3 to Frankfurt and then A60 to Bingen and then continue through the Rhine valley on the B9 up to Bonn/cologne. This is one of the prettiest drives in Germany.


Well, it takes me 25 minutes just to cross the old town once by foot. It is the largest surviving medieval town center in Germany, after all. And the cathedral alone takes at least half an hour. So if that person thinks that Bamberg is boring after 30 minutes, then that person is probably not interested in history, old houses and architecture (plus the beer and [too heavy] food that Franconia is famous for). Bamberg cathedral just had its 1000 year jubilee, Wuerzburg residence is one of the finest pieces of baroque art, and both, the old town of Bamberg and Wuerzburg residence are on the Unesco world heritage list, so they are top destinations.... In other words: if your parents are similar to that person, then I would pretty much advise you to start your planning from scratch, because then the same would apply to all cities currently on your list. However, if they have some interest in the above, then ignore that person.

We rented a car for Rothenburg as we had other stops not on the train lines. We stayed at Cafe Hotel Uhl, above the bakery. The location was wonderful but the room was very basic - but very large. The breakfast in the bakery was very good.

cygnus,

my parents are Interested in history and would love to visit small towns.

I simply mentioned rather ridiculous comment from a young person who lives in Frankfurt and insists that Frankfurt is a must, but Bamberg isn't worth it. Some people (like in my example) give "false" directions.

Back to Rothenburg... they take a car in Nuremberg (for instance) to overnight in Rothenberg and then? drive to where with 2 days left before the flight from FRA?
Is 1 day enough to see Nuremberg?

Well, tickets are already purchased, and visit to Germany falls exactly on these dates 9/22 to 10/2. I wonder when do people which came for beer have time and interest to visit castles?
Votes are split - to visit "Disney" castle or not. I am not considering crowds, but structure and scenery.

I went inside the castle. Had to wait 2.5 hours after buying the ticket for my time to enter. I am sure you can find a similar interior somewhere else - the castle is very new in historical terms so not even that interesting. Look into Schloss Nymphenburg in Munch although I have not been. The tour at Neuschwanstein is in groups of 60, being rushed for 25 minutes from one room to the next (only like 5 rooms total) while the next tour group was pushing us from behind. The guide was barely understandable and sounded like she was reading a script. May I suggest a trip to Dachau too/instead?

I rented a compact car from Hertz (picked up in city) using AA discount codes. It had manual transmission. ICE tix Munich-Dresden were $200 each so the car saved us a lot of money.

In Rothenburg I stayed at Gasthaus Klingentor just north of the city. It had free parking and generous breakfast, with a caring host.

Thank you about details on the castle. That info is convincing ((((.

Dresden )))).... I will keep quiet.

Dachau suggestion is veeeery different from castle visit. I am not sure, but my parents might visit Auschwitz...
or have I misunderstood you - you are suggesting a Dachau Palace?

I am deliberating the route:
Prague - Munich - Nuremberg (day trips to Bamberg and Wurzburg) - Rothenburg -Mainz? - flight from FRA
OR
Prague - Nuremberg (day trips to Bamberg and Wurzburg) -Munich- Rothenburg -Mainz? - flight from FRA

which route is easier/better if travelling by train/bus?
(automatic car to go to Rothenburg will probably be expensive)