I am in the very early stages of planning a trip to Germany by train.

After visiting Nuremberg, I would like to spend a few days in Schwäbisch Hall. The DB website doesn't seem to default to this station, and I see references to Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental, which appears to be some distance away from the town station.

The line also seems to split, so can't assume the next stop is the main town stop, which on map is the town one I presume I want.

Not sure what I am missing?

If you want to go to Schwaebisch Hall, go to Schwaebisch Hall:
Nuernberg dp 6.36, 8.33. 10.36, 14.36, 16.36 with train change at Schwaebisch Hall - Hessental,
Nuernberg dp 7.39, 9.39, 11.39, 13.39, 15.39, 17.39, 19.39 with train change at Crailsheim.

The trip to Schwäbisch Hall requires a change of train, either in Crailsheim or in Schwäbisch Hall-Hessenthal, depending on whether you left Nuremberg on an IC train or a regional train.

Maybe the pull-down menu is giving you trouble? If you type in Schwae- or Schwä- then Schwäbisch Hall will appear as one of the options you can select. Schwa- won't do it. What date are you using? The sample dates I tried all yielded a successful journey find to Schwäbish Hall.

Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental is on the Line from Nürnberg via Crailsheim to Stuttgart, the town station of Schwäbisch Hall is on the line from Sch.-Hessental to Öhringen and Heilbronn.

Now, the rule of dumb is:

(1) If you leave Nürnberg on an IC bound for Stuttgart or Karlsruhe, you will to have transfer in Crailsheim to a train bound for Heilbronn, which will pass through Schwäbisch Hall town (the IC itself continues along the southern route via Aalen, bypassing Sch.-H. at a distance of approx. 50km).

(2) If you board in Nürnberg a RE bound for Stuttgart, you will have to transfer in Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental to a train bound for Öhringen or Heilbronn; the following stop is Schwäbisch Hall.

Timewise there is not much difference, the IC will save just 10 min or so. But if you can commit to a specific train and book in advance it will be cheaper. Since you are crossing from Bavaria into Baden-Württemberg you would need a Quer-durchs-Land ticket for the regional trains. Checking for a random date in May the comparison is €19.90 vs. €44 for one or €38.80 to €50 for two in favour of the IC.

Thanks all for replying. Very helpful and detailed information, just what I needed.

It was confusing when I first tried as the drop down menu for just 'Schwaebisch Hall' said 'your input yielded several stops, please select desired stop' and wouldn't allow me to click on Schwaebisch Hall, but did allow the second choice of Schwaebisch Hall -Hessental, yet now I can select it...

I obviously did something wrong last night, and I had another try it worked, showing me the change of train.

Thanks again, great to have all this help at hand.