1: A car gives you more flexibility and will save a lot of time. Burg Eltz will be much easier with a car and also Rheinfels (while Marksburg is easily doable from the boat).

Second, the train connection to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (spelling!!!) is really poor and if you want to do it on the way to München, a car is the better option.

2: Yes again. Faster and more flexible. All 3 in a day is possible with a car. I am not so much a fan of guided tours. You are in a bus, everything is slow, boarding the bus, unboarding the bus, pottie stops etc.

3: I find Oberwesel pretty. Consider staying in a castle hotel.
http://www.burghotel-schoenburg.de/
http://www.schloss-rheinfels.de/

Sankt Goar, Oberwesel, Bacharach have train and boat connections. So, it does not matter whether you have a car or not.

Thank you so much!

Though you will likely read responses from both sides of the rental car/public transportation teams, we are huge fans of driving our personal vehicle all around Austria and our neighboring countries. The freedom that comes with stopping at whim and will for one reason or another has made our time and travels around Central Europe all that more memorable.

We visited Bavaria with a rental car (Rothenburg o.d. Tauber to Munich and Salzburg via Fussen) before we moved to Austria, and a highlight was having a packed picnic that we could enjoy at a summer toboggan run or at a roadside picnic area, with cows gently braying in the near.

Further, when the tour bus groups are stopped at an Autobahn petrol station and everyone is in the queue for the WC, we were relaxed at a picnic area, looking over a scenic vista and enjoying a lunch we prepared, rather than suffering through a petrol station sandwich that always has to be picked apart for its offensive contents. (Why, oh why, must the triangle sandwiches contain eggs!)

In short, my vote is that you keep the car for as long as practical.

Very good that you have 3 nights on the Rhine. That will definitely allow you some time just to appreciate the place more fully. Doing 3 castles and a cruise in just 2 days beginning from Frankfurt would have been quite rigorous whether you drive or use the trains.

"1- renting a car when we arrive Frankfurt then driving it to rhine valley then leaving early to head to rothenberg (on the romantic road) to check it out then arriving late in munich seems like the best we can do. Right?"

?? But Hubby says it's crazy to pick up in Frankfurt... right?? I assume he's concerned about driving drowsy/jetlagged in a new environment right after a transatlantic flight; this is good reason not to do it.

I've used a car for the Rhine/Mosel in the past but IME it's totally doable by train. The car cannot go with you on a cruise outing like the one I penciled out above on July 7 - the cruise boats do not carry cars.

I would absolutely not want a car Munich - you're just paying for the car to sit idle when you don't use it. When you do, driving within - or driving out of and back into Munich is no fun.

You mentioned the AUTOBAHN to Munich earlier - I assumed you wanted the car to drive it. Now you mention driving the Romantic Road; there's no train that covers the RR fully. Not that doing so is a necessity, but a car is if you intend to do that. The RR bus is a joke - don't bite.

You could pick up a car in Koblenz on July 8 or 9. Or you could take the train to Würzburg on July 10 (or some other convenient location) and pick up there. But IMO you should not drive straight to Munich. Before Munich I would instead book a night or two somewhere within striking distance of the Füssen area "castles" as you had originally planned (they're all palaces actually.) Look into the RR towns of Landsberg am Lech (or Augsburg if you need a substantial city.) This is probably preferrable to making multiple trips into/out of Munich with the car or by train + bus - those trips waste a lot of time either way.

"3- now that we have 3 nights in the rhine valley - with a car, where should we base ourselves? If we don't have a car, where should we base ourselves?"

Either way, St. Goar makes good sense. Rheinfels is right there. The best cruise segment ends there. There's a ferry that runs all day long for both foot passengers and cars in St. Goar, making Marksburg an easier outing.

http://www.schiffbilder.de/1024/pers...chen-18381.jpg

On July 7 I would catch the train from FRA to Bingen and head straight to the KD dock (you can take bags on board) for your cruise. FYI The "Bingen(Rhein) Stadt" station is a little closer to the dock than the main station. The train to St. Goar would be quicker and it also travels along the river, but the cruise makes a superb first impression by boat.

Try the Rheinhotel St. Goar.

Picking up a car in Koblenz: I used Autoeurope a few years ago and was able to arrange a pick-up at the auto dealership directly behind the main station.

Train trip to Burg Eltz: Travel along the river banks (St. Goar - Moselkern - St. Goar) by train (if that's your choice) - A "VRM mini-group ticket" day pass for 5 persons costs €22.10 from a ticket machine in St. Goar. You can stop over elsewhere if you like or use it the same day for additional trips. Winningen is a very handsome Mosel wine town on the way.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4120/...50deb0ee_z.jpg

Here's a map that shows these towns and the rail lines (change trains in Koblenz, the train hub, as you change from the Rhine to the Mosel line.)

http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data...ennetzplan.pdf

Visiting Marksburg by train: The same mini-group ticket will be useful for a day trip from St. Goar to Braubach and back. Note that the ticket covers the St. Goar ferry too!

The mini-group ticket is valid after 9 am weekdays or at any hour on Saturday (or Sunday.)