Rothenburg ODT good place for final night in Germany?
 

Currently we're booked in a hotel in Heidelberg for our last two nights before we depart from the Frankfurt airport, but for some reason Heidelberg is just not capturing our interest.

Would Rothenburg be a good place to spend our final two nights instead? Our flight does not depart until 2:30 pm that day, so I'm hoping the drive from Rothenburg to the airport wouldn't be too grueling a drive for the last day - plus we have to drop off our rental car.

I would prefer Rothenburg and the drive is feasible. Have fun !

Hi Jen,

Figure close to a 2.5 hour drive and sometimes the traffic around Frankfurt is jammed. I'm not sure I would want to be that rushed.

You could check to see if you could drop your car off in Heidelberg and then take the airport bus to FRA. Spend your last night in Heidelberg. Good places to eat, a nice stroll along the Philosopher's Way, or a visit to the castle. Try some of the nice ice wine from the region.

Jen, Viamichelin says it's only 188 km, and an hour 48 min but autobahn from Rothenburg to Frankfurt airport so you can do it handily, though I'd start out plenty early to give yourself ample time just in case you run into a problem on the autobahn. At any rate it's very doable, and I too think Rothenburg much superior to Heidelberg as a last night in Germany.

In Rothenburg, the two most frequently cited hotels are the Eisenhut and the Markusturm and I'm sure they're both very nice--and inside the walls if that's important to you. but before you book them, if you have a liking for places with trendy style and a bit of classy quirkiness, check out www.mittermeier.rothenburg.de They have very reasonable rates for their regular double rooms and though I didn't see them in person, they look kind of cute on the website. Even if you don't stay there, consider them for your dinner. We found the food excellent and the atmosphere quite fun.

Hi Jen,

I agree with Dutch about the traffic around frankfurt, I love Heidelberg and also Rothenberg however I think you should spend your last night somewhere close to the airport, I got back last monday from Frankfurt and stayed in Express by Holiday Inn which was supposed to be very close to the airport and the drive at 6:30 in the morning was about 20 minutes, so think about it you don't want to miss your flight.

Our family's inflexible rule is to always spend the night before a (nonchangeable, nonrefundable) flight in a place with at least two ways of getting to the airport.

Heidelberg would fit this description (train or bus), but ROdT would not (a taxi would cost more than re-booking your air).

With a 2:30 pm flight, you can easily stay in Rothenburgh. Just allow yourself plenty of time for the journey.

When returning your rental car to the Frankfurt airport, be aware of the Terminal your flight departs from. Both terminals have car rental/return. BTW, it won't say car rental "return" so just follow the signs for car rental.

http://www.airportcity-frankfurt.com...tal_return.htm

Also, the check in lines at Frankfurt are very long, so the process could easily take an hour or longer. Then you have to snake through the security lines.

We took the train from Wurzburg to the Frankfurt airport and that worked really well. So if you want to spend your last night in Rothenburg, you could arrange to drop your car off in Wurzburg at the train station and train from there. Be sure to book the train to Frankfurt airport and not Frankfurt in town.

This would satisfy your interest in spending your last night in cute, quintessentially German Rothenburg while still ensuring that you can get to the airport even if there are traffic jams. It would just take a bit more planning.

I too would do Rothenburg, and unless you are a family that really sleeps in I think you should be perfectly fine.

We have stayed at the Hotel Klosterstuble twice and absolutely loved it.

Tracy, we are staying in the Klosterstuble based on your rec. :) We currently have a room booked for earlier in the trip, but now that we've made some changes to our itinerary, we checked w/the hotel and they still have availability for the two nights at the end of our trip.

<i>With a 2:30 pm flight, you can easily stay in Rothenburg[]. Just allow yourself plenty of time for the journey.</i>

Don't forget to include a margin for accident, flat tire, jump start, mechanical breakdown, detour, and hassle dropping off the vehicle. Twenty hours seems about right to me.

I like Rothenburg a lot, after 5 p.m. and before 9 a.m. when the town isn't overrun with tourists. I think it would be a lovely place to stay, but be sure to allow an extreme amount to time for getting to the airport and catching the plane. I have seen some incredible traffic jams on the Autobahn.

We had a bad experience at the Eisenhut, and I don't recommend it. I suspect that the problem was that we took them up on their offer of a special deal--a two-night special $249 per night with dinners thrown in, and also 2 tours.

I had always wanted to stay at the Eisenhut, but I was disappointed in the accommodations, and I didn't think much of the dinners, either.

Or room was just not that great. I expected something really elegant, and our room couldn't be described elegant. Granted, we had the &quot;special,&quot; but $249 isn't chopped liver.

Jen, so glad you booked the Klosterstuble! We just really like the rooms; both were cozy and pretty. And the breakfast is wonderful!

Definitely do the nightwatchman's tour if you can. It's touristy but really entertaining and lots of fun.

Happy planning!
Tracy