I know I'm trying to do too much in too short a time, but I have little choice. We land in Frankfurt about 10:30 AM, rent a car, and drive down the Romantic Road. My first thought is to stop in Rothenburg for the night because I suffer from lack of sleep after a flight and need a few hours to recuperate. Does it make sense to stop here? (My husband will be driving, but I hate to sleep through the R.R.) We need to be fairly close to Salzburg by the next night - will time and good sense allow us to go to Oberammergau and Neuschwanstein?
I can't tell from our maps how difficult it is to get to Salzburg from Oberammergau. Thanks for any help - planning is the fun part, but it's driving me crazy!

Judy: "Does it make sense stopping over in Rotenburg?" As the most "romantic" town along the romantic road, it sure does... for a couple of centuries... We stayed at a most exquisite place 7km from Rotenburg - a "gasthaus" which is part of a private brewery - only 5 min's drive from town and warmly recommended. (I'll be damned if I ruin the place by putting its name on the Internet. E-mail to me if you want details). It will take you a leisurely day to drive from there to Saltzburg. From the kind of pressure you seem to be under, I would advise you to drop either Oberamergau of Neuschwanstein. While at Oberamergau, the Linderhof castle is very close by and is worth a visit. You would need to do some driving to get to Neuschwanstein.

Judy: My wife and I honeymooned in Germany last summer and did Paris in January. Different strokes, etc., but both times we snoozed for a few hours and went to bed as "normal" later that night and felt fine for the whole trip. Rothenburg is a good choice. When leaving the airport, get on autobahn #5 to Frankfurt (going north, east of town) and connect to autobahn #3 to Wurzburg (east). Take autobahn #7(south) to Rothenburg. Total time: about 2+ hours. When going to Salzburg, which you'll love, you'll want to head straight there, I think. After Salzberg, you can drive through Bertgesgarden (sp?) and into (by?) Munich. From there, take the autobahn to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (under 2 hours) and take a cable car ride on one of the mountains (even the smaller "Hausberg"), check out the lovely town and then take the short drive to Ettal and see the beautiful Basillica. Next, and also close by, stop at Linderhof castle. It is a gem. Then another short drive to Oberammergau. This trip is like a drive through a fairy tale. What we did was stay in Munich, so after we did this trip, we drove back to our hotel and the next day headed to Schwangau and Neuschwanstein castle, which took between 2-3 hours along first the autobahn, then the Romantic Road. It's so beautiful and especially when you see the castle from miles away perched on the mountainside. Afterward, we ate dinner at a little pub and then drove straight through to Frankfurt. The drive was under four hours as we averaged about 90+MPH ( I lived in Germany from '83-'86). You can choose which way you want to go, but you really can't go wrong. If you'd like a copy of our trip notes, just email me. Have fun!

I would recommend taking a flight out of Frankfurt directly to Salzburg and renting a car there. There are flights at least every hour to Salzburg and the flight time is 45 minutes. Renting a car in Salzburg will usually be less expensive than Frankfurt, and the airport is much smaller and quicker than renting in Frankfurt. Once you land in Salzburg, you could drive out to the beautiful alpine areas surrounding it, go to your hotel or guesthouse, sleep for a couple of hours, and then spend some time enjoying this terrific area. If you have not already purchased your airline ticket, it may not be much more expensive to make Salzburg your " final destination".
I hope your trip is wonderful!

Judy,
Rothenburg is an excellent choice for a first night stay. I agree with Eli that both Neuschwanstein and Oberammergau entail too much driving. I would recommend Oberammergau with a stop in Rottenbuch on the way. I'd suggest you travel south on route 7 to route 8 (E52). East on Route 8 to Augsburg then south on Route 17, the Romantic Road. At Schongau, Route 17 divides into Route 17 and Route 23. Take 23 to the next town, Rottenbuch. Visit the monastery church, a magnificent example of baroque decorative arts. (Weis church is too far out of the way.) Continue on Route 23 to and through Oberammergau to Route 2 which connects with Route 11 (E533). Route 11 runs into the autobahn leading to Salzburg. You join it just west of Innsbruck.

Thanks to you who have given me such great responses so quickly! You're helping me make some knowledgeable decisions. judy