Quick advice needed for romantic Germany trip
 

Staying 2 nights in Heidelberg next week before going over to Nuremberg area for 3 days. Need to find hotels for last 3 nights. Nuremberg is very full. Would Bamberg be a good base for all 3 nights? Or would it be best to at least spend one night in Nuremberg? We want to go to Rothenburg also, probably as a day trip. Any secret hotel/inn suggestions for Nuremberg when everything else is full? Don't want to drink and drive, so want to be based where we will go out in the evenings. Vielen Dank!

Nürnberg offers the most choices in the evening, and the city has a good light-rail system that allows you to take lodgings a couple of stops from the center - at this time of the year there must be plenty of rooms available.
See www.vgn.de/CFF6B06F-C0B4-11D7-AE44-00034709FE0C

Rothenburg ob der Tauber (that's its full name - there are several other towns named Rothenburg) is only a good hour away by train, usually with two easy switches, in Ansbach and again in Steinbach, you step off a train and step onto another, 4 minutes later you're on your way again.

Bamberg is less than an hour away, mostly by direct train.

See www.bahn.de

On this map www.vgn.de/media/netz_plan.pdf you can see not just the subway (U-Bahn) but all types of public transport (trains) - two different lines get you to Bamberg, the S1 and the R2 for example, and the two ways to get to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (S4 to Ansbach - R8 to Steinach - R82 to R.o.d.T. or R1 to Neustadt - R81 to Steinach - R82 to R.o.d.T.). So pick your lodgings with an eye on this map and you can be just about anywhere and get to just about anywhere.

In lieu of Nuremberg, the area's train hub, Neustadt an der Aisch is a small, attractive town between Nuremberg and Rothenburg and would be a good base for you. It's a few minutes closer to Rothenburg than Nuremberg with only one change of train. It's 80 minutes to Bamberg with one change in Fürth (these trains are hourly.) And it's less than 30 minutes on the hourly RE train to Nuremberg.

Neustadt photos:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rasse_0574.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...er_Tor-009.jpg

(Neustadt's Fortified town wall and "Wehrgang") http://www.frankenradar.de/files/tou...7/p1010926.jpg

Tour of Neustadt: http://www.neustadt-aisch.de/seite/d..._Rundgang.html (click on English option.)

Try the Allee Hotel Neustadt an der Aisch (top ratings) for proximity to the station and the old town zone. Listed on Booking.com.

There are numerous private B&B and apartment options as well; all are included on the town's tourist office website (in German) including this one (at Homeaway in English)

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p2109442

I've stayed here before - nice place but a bit far from the station:

http://www.accommodation.de/48003.htm

I was in Neustadt this May and enjoyed a hearty traditional meal at the Gasthaus Schlee:

http://www.nea.huerdenlos.de/uploads...t-DSCF2633.JPG

If you've been enjoying the local beer or fruit of the vine in Nuremberg, you don't need to drive bach to Neustadt - you can get to Nuremberg and back to Neustadt by train. Trains return to Neustadt as late as 1:00 a.m.

Daytrips by train from Neustadt to Rothenburg, Bamberg, and Nuremberg can be done with the daypass called "Tagesticket Plus" - it's 16.80€ for 2 adults per day and good at any hour on the regional trains. It's even good on the subway, trams and buses within Nuremberg. And on Saturday, it's good for an additional 24 hours on Sunday. Buy it at any train station:

http://www.vgn.de/en/dayticket?Edition=en&p=1

If all the hotels in Nuremberg are full, it's probably the result of a trade fair.

In that case there's no hidden gem since the high hotel capacity in places as Nuremberg or Frankfurt exists only because of the trade fairs. These weeks are the ones when the hotels really make money and none is willing to miss out on the opportunity.

I've spent quite a few nights in Bamberg because of trade fairs in Nuremberg and Erlangen and I thought it a great place. There are some really nice and not too expensive hotels in Bamberg.

But I think it might make sense to stay a night in Rothenburg instead of doing it as a day trip from Bamberg since you'd spend more time travelling than I'd like to do.

The hotels in Nuremberg and dozens of other German towns and cities, are full because of the Christmas Markets, which open on Nov 25.

There are only few public festvals which fill up hotel capacity in big cities as Nuremberg and the Christmas markets aren't one of them. The reason is nearly always trade fairs.

I'm really quite certain about that since I've travelled a lot because of my job, including the Nuremberg region. Not finding a hotel room which costs less than 200 euro within 50 km of where you want to be is one of the more annoying parts of the job and so I've spent way more time thinking about that topic than I'd want to :-)

Maybe one advice: if a search for a multi-night stay doesn't yield hotels with sensible prices, I tend to vary the date range. I you look for a 4-night range, sometimes three nights are no issue and only one is problematic. For that single night it's simpler to find an altenative.