My husband and I are leaving for a 2 week trip next week. We will spend just a few days in the London area, and then be flying to Munich for the majority of time in Germany/Austria. We are spending 5 days in the Bavarian area, and 2 days along the Rhine River. For the remaining 2 days we are not sure which of these towns would be better to see. Thanks for any insights.

I suppose you mean Rothenburg, not -berg?

If you are in Bavaria, Colmar will be quite a bit out of your way. This makes a clear vote for Rothenburg.

Yes, Rothenburg will be more convenient for you and if I had to choose, I would pick Rothenburg over Colmar.

If the Rhein visit comes after Bavaria, than Colmar could be much closer than Rothenburg. Rothenburg isn't my favorite place to stay overnight anyway, so I'd go for Colmar.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry about the spelling of Rothenburg. We will be flying into Munich first and spending the first several days around Salzburg and then into Fussen to see the castles, before heading to the Rhine River area. So as far as distance we could go either way heading toward the Rhine, and the distance is not that different between Colmar or Rothenburg coming from Fussen and going to the Rhine. I am torn because I hear how great Rothenburg is, and especailly the Nightwatchman's tour, but in the same breath everyone says to be sure and come in the evening after the tour buses are gone and leave early in the morning before they roll in. That does not seem to leave much time to really enjoy it. Colmar does seem very pretty in the pictures I have seen, and we can get the small thrill of getting my daughter "something from France" which she harps about daily. Are the canals in Colmar very clean? Some pictures it looks beautiful and others it looks like the canals are very dirty. These were the main towns we thought about between Bavaria and the Rhine, is there another town that is better than either of these?

Hi C,

Tough choices.

We very much enjoyed 2 nights in Rothenburg. We stayed at Haus Karin.
www.haus-karin.de/engl.htm and http://www.bensbauernhof.com/hauskar...enburgodt.html

You might want to consider staying in the wine country in Kientzheim rather than Colmar. It's about 13 min center to center by car. There is also bus service.

We very much liked our stay at the http://perso.orange.fr/schwendi/index.htm, and will be visiting again in May, 2008.

You won't make a mistake either way.

I have been to Colmar many times and never had the impression that the canals were dirty, I am not drinking the water or even swimming in it.

>> everyone says to be sure and come in the evening after the tour buses are gone and leave early in the morning before they roll in. <<

I'm not one of the "everyone". We spent a full day there (including the Nightwatchman's tour) and enjoyed every minute of it. Yes, there were a few tourists besides ourselves but it's a fairly big town and it's quite easy to get off on one's own.

I much prefer Rothenburg over Colmar. We stayed in Rothenburg for 4 nights last December and really enjoyed it and have been there in October as well. We were in Colmar for 4 nights 2 Aprils ago and I thought it was nice but has some worn down parts. Not as nice as Rothenburg in my opinion. If I would go back to the Alsace, I would stay in a different town. My opinion could have been skewed by the time of year, however. Early spring was cold and dreary that year.

I have been to both places many times and I prefer Colmar, although there are many, many people who prefer Rothenberg.

Rothenberg will probably look and feel more like Bavaria and the Rhine. Although Colmar has some German influence, you will know you are in France. If you want to add something a little different to your trip, I would vote for Colmar. You'll have the opportunity to try different food and drink. The Unterlinden Museum and the Dominican Church are both worth a visit.

You may also want to consider Strasbourg.

In either location, you should have the opportunity to enjoy a colorful autumn landscape.

>> You may also want to consider Strasbourg. <<

Now, that's a very good idea!

"A few tourists" in Rothenburg. Now that is the understatement of all understatements!!!!

>> "A few tourists" in Rothenburg. Now that is the understatement of all understatements!!!! <<

Precisely the way I meant it - as an understatement. I also said that it's a large town and the "few" tourists around didn't compromise our enjoyment.

BTW, here's the webcam - useful in counting tourists...
http://www.rotabene.de/webcam/index_e.html