I've read that Rothenburg is wonderful. Is it anywhere close to Brussels? Is it a doable day trip???

Rothenburg is a wonderful town. My advice is to plan an overnight stay, that's when you will truly see it's character.

Rothenburg, Germany is approx. halfway between Munich and Frankfurt. Not a day-trip from Brussels and one of those places best enjoyed before and after the daily tour-bus loads.

If you want to daytrip into Germany from Brussels, an entirely feasible idea, consider Aachen, Cologne or Trier if you'd like to see some larger cities. For smaller towns, one of the most charming in all of Germany is almost in Belgium - Monschau, a breathtakingly picturesque town just south of Aachen. It is an old weaver's town in a 3-D patchwork of slate, river, and canyon watched over by two castles. Other small towns I've enjoyed not too far from the Belgium border: Altenahr, Linz on the Rhine south of Cologne, and the open-air farm museum in Kommern (nr. Mechernich, not far from Monschau.) Rothenburg is hours and hours from Brussels. As a Disneyland clone (kitschy shops, cuckoo clocks, beer steins, etc.) it may rate a couple of hours if you're already in the area, but crossing Germany to see R'burg is a total waste of gas and time.

I wouldn't call Monschau breathtaking--cute, pretty, but not breathtaking. Philadelphians will know what I mean when I say it feels like New Hope in Germany. But it is a doable day trip.<BR>I do agree about Rothenburg. Way over the top tourist-wise. I just spent a few days in Franconia (outside Nuremberg)--4th trip in a year--and my Franconian colleagues shake their heads over the tourist stampede to Rothenburg. There is so much more to see in the region that is less tourist-driven. One of my colleagues gave us a walking tour of Nuremberg starting at the castle and walking down to the "Holy Ghost" restaurant, a former medieval hospital, and it was fascinating.

<BR>Cherie,<BR><BR>Another option would be to visit Brugge, Belgium instead of Rothenburg. They are very similar in the sense that both are well-preserved medieval towns. I have been to both and, while I do like Rothenburg slightly more, they are comparable. Brugge, however, is an easy daytrip from Brussels.

Thanks everyone We are going to Brugge for 2 nights because of things I had read here earlier. I was just looking for another interesting town to visit, How about Gent or Antwerp??