Day trip from Frankfurt to Rothenburg. Drive or train? Considering renting a car to see part of the country.

A car may save you quite a bit of grief because there are 2 -3 changes when you travel by train. Rothenburg's a small town off the main train network and the changes are unavoidable. However, there is nothing special about the roads in that area - I know they talk about the Romantic Road but this is a marketing term to tie together a number of interesting tourist towns, and doesn't refer to the actual road.

If you go to Rothenburg then visit Dinkelsbühl also. It's much less touristy with a lot of the same appeal.

Lavandula

>>> Considering renting a car to see part of the country.
How you looked at trip time estimate using Google map or viamichelin? I don't think you have time to stop by anywhere in between. If you don't already have a car on that day and can keep the car after your return, you need to add the rental, return, parking, and gas up overhead which would probably exceed the train travel time while you are on the hook for avoiding traffic tickets and understanding the nuances of Germany's drinking law if you want to drink wine or beer.