Rothenburg ob der Tauber Travel Forum

i am going to rothenburg on nov. 4-6 and i already know i will love the town based on all the comments and photos i've seen here. but i also notice all the tour buses that ply the romanctic road stop their run oct. 31. does that mean there's nothing to see when i'll be there??? actually if everything would still be open i am thinking of adding a day to our stay and just relax, maybe visit dinkelbuehl and nordlingen as they are the nearest. since the hop on-hop off buses wont be around the time i'm there, how can i get to these towns? think biking is too far. is there a bus service or should i rent a car? i've never driven in a foreign country. is it an easy drive? hope i wont have to go on the autoban. i hear they drive like 200 miles an hour! any help would be good. i have to decide soon!

On Sundays (e.g. 6th November) the shops are closed. In touristy places (like Rothenburg) some tourist related shops (e.g. souvenir shops) are open also on Sundays.

> ... run oct. 31. does that mean there's nothing to see when i'll be there
They wrap everything in big cardboard boxes and unwrap it the next spring ;-)
No - this is just a question of demand. There are not enough tourists to offer such tours. There maybe also reduced opening times of museums in the Winter and fewer offered guided tours. But it's not so that the things close totally. And low season with fewer tourists has also its positive aspects.

You can reach Dinkelsbühl or Nördlingen also by normal public transport. But not on the most direct route. These are fairly remote places (for Germany). One of the reasons they are so well preserved.
The DB timetable knows about ALL public transport in Germany. You can check for connections from any train, tram, bus and even some boat stops. And if you go to the "Advanced search" folder even for any address.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Car would be definitly faster in this case. Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen are all on the Romantic Road, which follows mainly secondary country roads. Thus you don't have to use the autobahn.

A nice city you can reach basically in the same time by train from Rothenburg is Bamberg. The city with the most old/listed buildings in Germany.
http://www.bamberg.info

Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen are more similar to Rothenburg, also of similar size. Albeit with fewer tourists (which is anyway true for nearly every place in Germany). Nördlingen has an interesting location in the mid of an meteorite impact crater. The crater is however huge, so you cannot easily visualize this.

Sticking to local public transport is however cheap if you use the Bavaria Ticket. This ticket is valid one day and covers all local trains (S-Bahn, RB, RE, IRE). On weekdays however only past 9am. Covers also in some places all local public transport (buses, trams, U-Bahn).
Bavaria Ticket Single (1 person) EUR 17,00
Bavaria Ticket (2-5 persons) EUR 24,00

Rothenburg, Nuremberg and Dinkelsbühl are all inside the area of the local public transport network of Greater Nuremberg VGN
http://www.vgn.de/media/static/verbundraum.pdf?language=de
Here the VGN tariff applies: a TagesTicket Plus (a day ticket for 1-6 persons, but only 2 of them can be adults) is EUR 13,50.
Covers all local public transport (local trains, U-Bahn (Nuremberg), buses) in the VGN area. No time restriction on weekdays like with the Bavaria Ticket. But if you buy it on a Saturday it covers the whole weekend, i.e. also the Sunday.

Romantic Road
http://www.romantischestrasse.de/?lang=uk

By car you have just to follow the Romantic Road signs (in southern direction) to reach Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen.

http://www.rothenburg.de
http://www.dinkelsbuehl.de
http://www.noerdlingen.de
http://www.nuernberg.de/english/tourismus/tourismus.html

oct 31st is the end of the summer-season at many places in Europe, BUT it does not mean that Rothenburg will be closed afterwards !! Some of the timetables of museums etc will adapt to the fact that it will get dark earlier and that less tourists are in town, that is all. I cannot think of anything that will be totally closed !

thanks you guys for your advice and info! will add another day. never drove in the countryside and to do so with stops to picnic would be a thrilling experience. we usually join tours so would really relish being on our own and enjoying simple pleasures. if i rent a bike would there be much to see outside rothenburg? can explore the surrounding area if there's nice scenery, etc. dont want to bike too far. just half an hour out would be ok. any help would be great!

I would say that november is not the best time to bike, it is better to take the train or bus to other places along the "Romantische strasse"

If you want to bike you'll have to ask at a bike shop if they still have bikes for rent. You may be lucky and have a nice, sunny weekend, but in early November the chances are a lot higher that it will be wet and cool. Not the best weather for biking.Good luck.