katzen

Flying into Frankfurt, renting car and driving to Rothenburg. On mappy.com and viamichelin.com it shows that it's about a 1.45 hour drive. Our flight will more than likely arrive in the morning (from the states) ... so I hope to be in Rothenburg by noon. We will have from 12:00 on to explore Rothenburg.

Is one night enough time to do Rothenburg knowing that we will be leaving early the next morning .... or 2 nights?

Our plan is to leave Rothenburg and hit a few of the towns on the Romantic Road.

Thanks!

loves2sing

Ditto, curious too

Grcxx3

I posted the stuff we did in Rothenburg and I think some people asked similar questions. Do a search and see what you come up with.

Personally - I think 1 night would be fine - but that depends on what you want to do there.

Betsy

If you're like me, you'll be brain dead with jet lag your first afternoon and evening in Europe, so if you leave Rothenburg early the morning after you arrive, you will have missed its charm. I suggest staying two nights.

In retrospect, it might be good to know your entire itinerary, so we can answer your question in that context.

victoria_reynolds

Stay two nights--the first day will be a short, cranky one and you don't want to be obligated to check out that am. Enjoy walking the wall, soaking up the ever so Bavarian atmosphere,do the Evening Watchman's tour the second night, climb the town hall tower. Beautiful views. It will be a good place to get over the jet lag...

Grcxx3

betsy and victoria have a good point -
I had forgotten about the jet lag factor. We live overseas and there is only a 3 hour time difference - so it doesn't impact us as much.

We just did Heidelberg, Rothenburg and Munich over Christmas, and they were all wonderful!

Definitely do the Nightwatchman's Tour. My husband usually hates this kind of thing (we did it mainly for the kids) but he really enjoyed it. The Medieval Criminal museum is also interesting - scary - but interesting!

katzen

Thanks everyone! I was leaning more towards 2 nights as well.

Betsy, my itin. is all up in the air (if you click on my name you'll see I'm all over the place). I've made about 5 itineraries now .. none of which I've been 100% satisified with. My Itin. below is the latest, but there is still something that is not sitting right with me.

I think the more research I do, the more places I want to go and the more confusing it gets.

7/28 Depart Dulles

7/29 Arrive Frankfurt - To Rothenburg -sleep Rothenburg

7/30 Rothenburg and possible side trip to Nurnberg

7/31 Depart Rothenburg to Munich making stops in Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingin possibly some other towns along the Romantic Road - Arrive Munich

8/1 Munich - Dachau - sleep Munich

8/2 Depart Munich - head for Fussen - sleep in Fussen

8/3 Castles and Fussen - sleep in fussen

8/4 Depart Fussen with possible stops in Meersburg and Lindau head to Appenzell - sleep in Appenzell

8/5 Appenzell and area - sleep in Appenzell

8/6 Depart appenzell make way to Luzern - sleep in Luzern

8/7 Luzern - Sleep in luzern

8/8 Luzern (possibly daytrip to Bern?)

8/9 Depart Luzern make way to Cochem, Germany (I realize this is a long haul)
Sleep cochem

8/10 Cochem, Burg Eltz

8/11 Husband departs Frankfurt. My sister flys in and we head to France (that is another itinerary).

I realize this is ambitious ... 2 nights in each place but we are young and don't mind the pace. It's still in draft and has been since October. We probably shouldn't stay the extra night in Luzern and make our way to cochem a day earlier. I also wasn't sure if we needed two nights in Appenzell or fusssen ...

So as you can tell I'm up in the air on a bunch of things (as my other posts will confirm). I was at one point going to knock out Munich and/or 1 day in fussen.

Thanks!!

tcreath

I know you are leaning towards two nights, and I think that is a great idea, but I will say that we had a similar situation in May and stayed one night and were generally pleased. We got into Rothenburg at about 12:00 (drove from Nuremburg). We had enough time to walk around the city walls, take in the sights, and we made it to the Nightwatchman's Tour (which I highly recommend!). We left the next day for Berchtesgaden. We felt like we saw and did the things we wanted to do in Rothenburg without feeling too rushed. But I think all that depends on your jet lag threshold. DH and I both take Ambien on the flights overseas so we usually arrived feeling refreshed and can stay awake easily for the whole day.

By the way, I think your itinerary looks great! We stayed in Appenzell for a couple of nights and loved it! The town and setting is lovely. We stayed at Haus Lydia, a B&B, and loved our room.

Good luck!
Tracy

RufusTFirefly

Depends on what your interests are. Places like Rothenburg aren't our cup of tea, but many people love them. It is very well maintained, and we spent a worthwhile morning one day and evening the next day on daytrips.

We wouldn't go to Disneyworld either, but that doesn't seem to have particularly diminished the crowds there.

SAnParis

I, myself like Rothenburg, but only in the evenings after the tourist hordes have departed. I would opt for at least two nights & would probably allow a little more time wandering the Mosel, & skip Luzern until some other time. Try the Goldener Griffin Gasthof (probably horribly mucked up the spelling). You may also want to spend a little more time in Munich.

SAnParis

As I recall, Dinkelsbuhl is also very near Rothenburg & worth a stop.

katzen

RufusTfirefly, you made me laugh I guess Rothenburg may be my cup o' tea ... I love Disneyworld!!

DeeW

My opinion is that one afternoon and evening in Rothenburg was just right. Our flight arrived in Munich in the morning and we drove to Rothenburg, arriving early afternoon. We saw everything that we had planned for including the Night Watchman tour which I also highly recommend. It is a lovely and quaint town to be sure but there are so many lovely and quaint and often less touristy places that my preference would be to see it and move on. Admittedly, we do handle the jet lag and time change quite well, and if you don't then my advice might be different.

bmw732002

Katzen:

I have been to Rothenburg about 7 times over the years. I just find it a great place to get my "land legs" under me after landing in Frankfurt.!

This is your first time ands since you are going in the height of the summer tourist months I would opt for 2 nights just to get the magic flavor of this wonderful town and to let the daytrippers go on to their next stop.

Go to www.bensbaurenhof.com for trip stories about Rothenburg.

John

Michael

One night is enough as long as you plan to leave the following afternoon. Then you can spend the morning reseeing what was in a jet-lag fog the previous afternoon.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34676130

Betsy

Thanks for your itinerary. Itinerary planning is almost as much fun and takes almost as much time as actually going on the trip! You have several months and may "nudge" yours again before you're ready to travel. Keep in mind that you may need to reserve hotel rooms ahead at that time of year. The suggestion above re Ben's site is a good one for any of your Bavarian locales.

This trip is too rushed for me, but no doubt you're younger than I. By my count, you have 13 nights on the ground in Germany with six different stops. I'd want slow down to smell the proverbial roses (or relax over a local bier). I'd extend Munich and cut out Appenzell or Luzern. Keep us posted on your plans!

misscarol

1 night in Rothenburgh?? I agree!

sansman

isn't this evening watchman thingie only in german??

Grcxx3

the early one (8 pm) is in English and the 9:30 pm one is in German - at least that's how it was in December

InSicily06

No, the night watchman tour is in English. We just did it in December. It was a lot of fun.

At the tourist office there is a brochure for Thai Massage with a picture of the night watchman being Massaged!! Apparently, it is run by his girlfriend. Funny.