Coach & Minibus Hire in Germany

Rothenburg and the Romantic Road by Minibus

Rothenburg ob der Tauber sits inside a complete ring of walls and towers, and it is the best-known stop on the Romantic Road. A minibus with a driver lets your group follow the road town by town, at your own speed.

The walls set the rules

Day visitors arriving by coach are not driven into the old town. Set-down and parking happen on the big car parks beyond the walls: P1 on the Friedrich-Hörner-Weg or P3 on the Schweinsdorfer Straße, each a short stroll from a town gate and roughly 2 km from the A7 exit 108, "Rothenburg/Tauber".

A 7.5 t weight limit applies at the third, P2 on the Nördlinger Straße, which may suit a smaller minibus; the operator checks your vehicle against the limit.

Minibus with side door open for boarding
Minibus with side door open for boarding

Staying inside the walls

If your hotel is in the old town, a coach company holding a BusVignette may bring guests and their luggage in when they arrive and when they leave, keeping to a fixed route as far as the Schrannenplatz. In the innermost core it is the hotel, not the city, that requests the permit.

Nothing taller than 3.90 m may enter the old town at all, and the core is closed to driving overnight, 19:00 to 06:00. The permit does not count on closure days either: Stadtmosphäre, Pentecost, the Reichsstadttage and the whole Christmas market, plus occasional closures at short notice. On those days, plan to walk in with light bags.

Landing near Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Favourite stops in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

  • Würzburg Residenz — Prince-bishops' palace at the northern start of the Romantic Road, a UNESCO World Heritage site
  • Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen — Two more walled towns on the Romantic Road to the south
  • Reiterlesmarkt (Christmas market) — From 20 November to 23 December 2026, closed on 22 November (Totensonntag)
  • Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) — Holiday route of 29 places and 460 km from Würzburg to Füssen, running since 1950; Rothenburg is its best-known stop
  • Walled old town — Medieval town inside its complete ring of walls and towers; the Marktplatz with the town hall is the centre

Good places to be picked up

  • Dinkelsbühl or Würzburg for larger groups
  • Just outside the gates near the large car parks
  • Inside the walls (Altstadt)

Christmas inside the walls

The Reiterlesmarkt, Rothenburg's Christmas market, runs from late November until just before Christmas. It makes a lovely evening for a club or a family party, but the old town is closed to traffic throughout, so the minibus waits outside the walls.

Following the Romantic Road

The Romantic Road links 29 places over about 460 km, from Würzburg to Füssen. Heading north, Würzburg and its Residenz are under an hour away; heading south, Dinkelsbühl is 40 minutes or so, and Nördlingen a little more than an hour.

Creglingen and Weikersheim in the Tauber valley are short hops, and Harburg castle about 1 h 20 min. Füssen, at the far end, is about 2 h 25 min by motorway, so the whole road works best over several days with overnight stops.

Questions travellers ask

Which airport is best for Rothenburg?

Nuremberg Airport, about 82 km (about 1 h 20 min). Frankfurt is about 1 h 50 min and Stuttgart about 1 h 55 min.

Do we need a green sticker?

No. There is no low-emission zone in Rothenburg.

Can the minibus take us to our hotel inside the walls?

Only under the BusVignette scheme for hotel guests on arrival and departure days, never on closure days. Ask your hotel early.

Who supplies the vehicle?

A licensed partner operator; we arrange the booking and confirm the details in writing.

Other trips we can arrange

Other vehicles with a driver