I'm planning for a trip down the Romantic Road from Sept 30 - Oct 4. My husband and I would be flying into Frankfurt and then renting a car. We're wondering if its better to stay in a different towns along the road each night or to stay in one and make days trips out from that?

Any recommendations for hotels or towns to stay in would be greatly appreciated.

Here's what I was roughly planning so far:
Sept 30 - Wurzburg - Hotel Zur Stadt Mainz
Oct 1 - Rothenburg - Hotel Gotisches Haus
Oct 2 - Nordlingen - not sure yet
Oct 3 - Schwangau - Alpenstuben Hotel

Also, would it be better to stay in Augsburg instead of Nordlingen?

Thanks!

I just responded to another post on this topic but I will repeat my Romantic Road itinerary here. We did this the week before Christmas 2005, so it was cloudy, cold, and snowy the whole time, but wonderful!

Day 1: Stuttgart to Wurzburg
Walked around the city in the afternoon, stayed at Hotel Zur Stadt Mainz (it is charming, walking distance to the major sites, and has a very nice traditional Franconian restaurant)

Day 2: Wurzburg to Rothenburg
Walked around Marienberg Fortress, stopped in Bad Mergentheim for lunch, checked in at Burg Colmberg (a fabulous castle-hotel about 12 miles from Rothenburg), walked around Rothenburg and had dinner there

Day 3: Rothenburg to Augsburg
Spent the morning in Rothenburg, stopped at Dinkelsbuhl and drove through a couple other towns on the way to Augsburg. We stayed in Augsburg but I would have preferred Dinkelsbuhl or another smaller town (like Nordlingen!). I might have felt differently if it wasn't the middle of winter, but I prefer smaller towns anyway.

Day 4: Augsburg to Hohenschwangau (just beneath Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau)
Shopped in Augsburg in the morning, stopped at Landsberg-am-Lech and the Weiskirche. You might consider staying at Hotel Mueller in Hohenschwangau - it is amazing to walk around at night and see the castles lit up against the sky. The hotel was wonderful and we got excellent, friendly service. They made all the arrangements for our castle tickets and we got a free round of of Sekt before dinner.

Day 5: Hohenschwangau to Stuttgart
Toured both castles in the morning before heading home to Stuttgart

Despite the pain of packing up every morning, the linear nature of the Romantic Road means that it makes the most sense to stay in a different place each night, particularly if you are restricted to the timeframe you have listed. We found that we had just enough time in our 5 days to see the major attractions, but still didn't get to a few places that we wanted to see (partly that was because of the short days in the middle of winter).

Have a great trip!

Nordlingen is a great smaller town - very old looking - Augsburg is a neat but much much bigger town - not as thoroughly old looking as Nordlingen but much more a real town - with a great cathedral and university.

I'm thinking now that we will stay for the first two nights in Rothenburg at Hotel Gotisches Haus. It looks like a really nice place! And then take a trip up to Wurzburg during the day. Is it very far to go between them?

No, they are very close and you will go through some really nice small towns on the way. I woud recommend Bad Mergentheim for an hour or so, it has very pretty architecture.