Paris to Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Basel (Switzerland)
 

We are traveling London - Paris - Colmar / Basel at the end of May and already have our [unchangeable] airline tickets flying home from Basel, Switzerland. However, I've decided I just really want to fulfill my dream of visiting Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
I'm lost as a ball in high weeds when it comes to European train tickets. Can someone please advise? What is the best purchasing site? Do we get two one-way tickets (Paris to R, then R to Colmar) or is there something akin to "open jaw," as in air travel? All I know is we will have just arrived in Paris from London via Eurostar - and we'd prefer day train.
Hopefully this will even be feasible, time and money wise.
I would be most grateful for anyone's kind advice re. transportation. Thank you!

There are 3 daily train connections from London St. Pancras Eurostar to Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
London dp 6.47, 10.58 and 12.58 - Rothenburg ar 16.49, 20.49, 22.49. Change at Brussels, Frankfurt and Wuerzburg.

Rothenburg - Colmar: tons of trains; change at Ansbach, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg.

Colmar - Basel Euroairport (EAP):
either direct Flixbus Colmar - EAP
or train Colmar - Mulhouse plus bus Mulhouse - EAP
or train Colmar - St. Louis plus bus St. Louis - EAP
or train Colmar - Basel plus bus Basel - EAP

Do we get two one-way tickets (Paris to R, then R to Colmar)...

That's right. I suggest you look at German Railways for both tickets. They sell advance-purchase tickets at a discount. The earlier you buy, the better the price.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

I cannot recommend what you are doing, however. Once you look at the hours you'll be spending to get to "R" and from "R" to Colmar, you'll probably realize that you're wasting your vacation time. Rothenburg is pretty small and requires no more than a few hours. And it's a sort of tourist trap too - so it's a lot of travel time and money for questionable pay-off.

I'm a little surprised that you don't want to see Strasbourg, FR, near the German border. You could get there from Paris in less than 2 hours!! Maybe it's too big for you... OK... so from Strasbourg you could cross the border to visit some of the beautiful old GERMAN towns in the Black Forest. Kappelrodeck, Schiltach, and many other unspoiled towns there are packed with charms similar to Rothenburg's, and NOT so packed with international tourists. You can reach these places by train:

Kappelrodeck photos: http://www.kappelrodeck-tourismus.de...hwarzwald.html

Schiltach: http://www.schiltach.de/ceasy/module...&maxHeight=600

Gengenbach, wine fest: http://www.bo.de/sites/default/files...dsc_0913_1.jpg (I think I read once that Gene Wilder's Willie Wonka was filmed here in part.)


Colmar itself is famous for the sort of half-timbered buildings you can find in Rothenburg (and is full of tourists too.)

You say it's YOUR dream to visit Rothenburg, but I think it's probably like my travel dreams. Some clever tourist-industry employees with an eye for good photos and some persuasive words PLANTED some specific dream in my skull, and I got hooked. But in fact some of those places have ended up to be disappointing when compared with the places I seek out on my own or with tips from fellow travelers.

Thank you both! Good advice and help

check www.seat61.com for good info on ticketing -for general info also www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Book Eurostar tickets early too for discounts - www.eurostar.com.

For schedules check www.bahn.de/en - put in London as departure and Roth. as destination.

As much as I enjoyed my first visit to Rothenburg back in 1970 I have to agree with the cautionary advice given above.

The town was at one point, and may still be, the single most popular visitor destination amongst German tourists. The whole place is more or less cut from a fairy tale: the walls, the drawbridges, the moat, etc. Inside it is what a few people around here love to criticize as "Disney-fied" except this place is a bit older for sure.

It used to have at least FOUR Christmas shops, among other retail outlets and yes it can get mobbed with visitors.

Getting there by train includes the change in Steinach which isn't difficult at all but simply adds to the travel time.

I think you have to ask yourself if it is really worthwhile especially when there are so many other places to see between there and Paris.

Alsatian alternatives to Rothenburg:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623045335898/ and subsequent pictures before Strasbourg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623045335898/ and subsequent pictures

There are 3 daily train connections from London St. Pancras Eurostar to Rothenburg ob der Tauber:>

they are going London-Paris
Paris-Colmar

then Colmar - Disneyland on the Romantic Road. (Nearby Dineklsbuhl and Nordlingen have much the same charm without the bus loads of day trippers.

There's a REASON people visit some locations MORE than others and that reason is usually a good one, like it or not.

Palen: It's not impossible to travel from London via Paris to Rothenburg. But the easiest and fastest itinerary goes via Brussels - Cologne - Frankfurt. Therefore I wrote above:

"There are 3 daily train connections from London St. Pancras Eurostar to Rothenburg ob der Tauber:
London dp 6.47, 10.58 and 12.58 - Rothenburg ar 16.49, 20.49, 22.49. Change at Brussels, Frankfurt and Wuerzburg."

neckervd- re-reading OP I see they are transiting Paris - I thought they were staying there for a while before going on - so yes Brussels a better and easier route vis-a-vis changing train stations in Paris.