montrealvic

hi guys is bamberg really that much better than wuzburg. considering we will be arriving in frankfurt at 5:30 pm on a tranatlantic flight and looking for a place to stay the night and go to rothenburg the next day.

JN

I haven't been to either, but that won't stop me from an opinion! At that hour, I'd look for a close-by, non-stop destination. You wont get to a train till 6:30pm at the earliest. Wuerzburg is less than 90 minutes from Frankfurt airport. Bamberg is another 1.5 hours past Wuerzburg and an train change. My advice would be to take the train to Wurzburg, grab a hotel close to the train station, get a good night's sleep, explore W in the morning when the tourist hordes are in RODT, then go there in mid afternoon.

RufusTFirefly

It's actually about 2-1/2 hours total from the airport to Bamberg--depending on which train you catch, and I would think you'd want the shortest trip.

But unless you plan to stay pretty much a full day in that first overnight destination, I don't think it matters a lot where you stay that first night.

By the time you get up the next day (probably late), get ready for the day, have breakfast, and check out of your hotel, you're not going to have time to see much in either Wuerzburg or Bamberg unless you want to get into Rothenburg late.

If I wanted to go to Rothenburg for some reason, I'd probably just go straight there from the airport--about 2-3/4 hours. But jetlag doesn't usually bother me the first day; it could be more of an issue for you.

born2wonder

montreal,

Yes, Bamberg is better, but only if you like entire cities full of original mideval buildings, world famous beer, and a 'less touristy' feel.

However, given that, I would still stay in Wurzburg night one, since you will be going to Rothenburg day two.

Also, since you are staying in Dresden for 7 days at the end of your trip, you could easily take a day trip to Bamberg. But then, that would only leave you six days in Dresden. Smile.

julies

My 2 cents worth. We spent part of an afternoon and and then had dinner in Rothenburg. We spent an entire day and a night in Bamberg and wished we'd had more time there. Wurzburg was a nice afternoon trip. I'd do anything at all to include Bamberg, including eliminating Rothenburg.

montrealvic

should i possibly eliminate rothenburg and stay in bamberg instead.

born2wonder

montreal,

One last suggestion from me. Since you seem to be very indecisive, I would suggest the following.

Stay in Wurzburg over nite. The next morning after walking around the alstadt of Wurzburg, get on a train and go to Rothenburg, or Bamberg, which ever strikes your fancy at the moment. You won't be dissapointed with either.

Then, the next morning, leave for Munich from Wurzburg, which will be the most timely connection of the three cities.

SAnParis

Rothenburg is wonderful little town & should not be missed. However, I would suggest an overnight there just to take advantage of a) seeing it w/out all of the tourists b) taking the Night Watchman's tour & c) seeing it in the morning first thing. I would also choose Wurzburg as a stopover. It is not Bamberg, but certainly serves your purpose & is worth a day anyway. If you look up Rothenburg there are ton of posts on here. Most of the naysayers I would believe to be the bus tour types, & it really is hard to get a feel for Rothenburg in just one day (particularly w/the tourist hoards).

Intrepid1

Rothenburg is the Number One tourist attraction amongst the Germans and adding all the other folks who will be visiting it could be jammed.

BUT, all those people visit a place for good reasons and the town is somewhat unique with the moat, the drawbridges, the walls, etc. I think you owe it to yourself to see it at least once.

montrealvic

how about this guys. since we are arriving in frankfurt at 5:30 pm on a long flight. first day stay in wuerzburg. (plus the last train to rothenburg leaves at 6 pm fom frankfurt) on the second day in the afternoon we will go to rothenburg and spend the night there. on the following day going to munich we can stop over in bamberg for a few hours in the afternoon. we will have a twin pass their wont be any extra cost. what do you guys think. (although we could go directly to bamberg also on first night and then go to rothenburg and on our way to munich.)

julies

Don't get me wrong (and I'm not a bus tour person) Rothenberg was okay. But, we didn't find it any more interesting than a number of other small towns we visited in the area. We just thought Bamberg had a lot more to offer.

RufusTFirefly

Rothenburg isn't our cup of tea in terms of a place to stay ovenight, BUT it is very photo-worthy. They go to great pains to keep everything freshly painted and spruced up for the tour groups.

But avoid the highly touted Schneeball snacks in Rotheburg--probably the worst tasting glob of dough I ever experienced.

zozozo

When are you going? If it is summer I would pick Bamberg over Rothenburg just because of number of tourists. It is difficult the walk around and enjoy Rothenburg while trying to find a place to walk. Rothenburg does improve at night and nightwatchman tour is at 8pm so if you are getting into Rothenburg later than 8pm this tour is not going to work for you. Bamberg has less tourists and you can take boat ride on Regnitz river. The cathedral has only pope buried north of alps. You can walk through old town and really feel you are going back in time.
here is website see if you like Bamberg. We are visiting Bamberg and Rothenburg in Sept.
http://www.bamberg.info/www_tks/bamb...268_89_7_f.htm

blh

All three are worth a stop. I think your plan to spend the first night in Wuerzburg, then on to Rothenburg for another night, and a stop in Bamberg on the way to Munich would work well. That's almost exactly the same amount of time we spent in each place - and we were happy we stopped in each place. They are each worth seeing.

Watzmann

As a born and proud "Würzburger", I have to concede: Bamberg is more beautiful when it comes to a complete picture of baroque architecture. If the tommies hadn't bombed my city on 16th of April of 1945, it would be the other way around, however (no bitterness there, you get what you deserve, donīt get me wrong). When it comes to single sights, Würzburg is ahead of Bamberg, as Bamberg has its overall Appearance but no single Stand-outs (apart from the cathedral) like Würzburg has: there is no Residenz and no Festung/Castle like in Würzburg. Unfortunately, all the buildings in between are of the late 50ies, due to the massive bombing. Coming from Frankfurt, I'd sleep in Würzburg, just in regard of time. Donīt know about your schedule, but have you ever thought of going by bike to Rothenburg from Würzburg (approx. 60km, absolutely doable in one day and well signposted bike tour through very pittoresque landscape and villages)? Then head back to Würzburg via train, hand back the bikes and off to Bamberg.

Bob_KY

Watzmann, one thing you can be proud of is how well the city was rebuilt. I did not realize as I walked through the city that it had been bombed until I wandered into a small museum with pictures taken after the war. How many years did it take to rebuild it?
I would love to go back. It was one of the places that I had not read much about, but that I absolutely loved (the others being Bamberg and Bad Mergentheim). Maybe it was the weather, or that it came earlier in my trip, but my memories of it are better than that of Bamberg.