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24 hours from Stuttgart to Black Forest - itinerary thoughts?

Posted by (Seattle, WA) on

Despite suggestions already received, I am still in a bit of a quandary over this one day. We plan to rent a car in Stuttgart in the afternoon and 24 to 30 hours later we will spend one night near Schiltach in the Black Forest. What to do and where to stay during that 24+ hour day?

Sights I am considering:

  • Tubingen and its university’s museum
  • Schloss Liechtenstein
  • Burg Hohenzollern

Overnight in

  • Esslingen?
  • Boblingen?
  • Tubingen?
  • A couple of nice looking hotels nearer to the Black Forest, which would involve some backtracking by car but does not seem too far.

So, sights I may be overlooking? Hotels you would recommend in the €150 range?

Before this one day and night, we will have cycled the Mosel downstream from Trier and turned the corner at Koblenz onto the Rhine. Then we go to Geislingen an der Steige for two nights. After that, we will stop by the MB museum in Stuttgart and then pick up the rental car.

After this day in question, we have the night near Schiltach, BF Open Air Museum, perhaps the Triberg waterfalls, cuckoo clocks, definitely the Ravenna Gorge and 2 nights in Freiburg.

Any museum or other sight thoughts for Schiltach, Wolfach, or elsewhere in the central to southern Schwarzwald?

We lose the car on arrival in Freiburg. After that, Alsace, Burgundy, Lyon and Paris are all set.

Posted by
1877 posts

Okay, first, I've been to all the places you mention. And most in the past 12 months. So here's my advice, go someplace you've probably never heard of: Ludwigsburg. It's just north of Stuttgart, but well worth the visit if you have any interest in seeing a excellent set of palaces and gardens. It's much better than either the Schloss Liechtenstein, which is closed to the public, or Burg Hohenzollern; more along the lines of Schloss Nymphenburg or Versailles. The Ludwigsburg Schloss is huge, and it will take hours just to walk around the castle gardens. And right across the street is Schloss Favorite; another, smaller, palace. Just a 10 minute ride away you also have Monrepos Palace, which is set on the shores of a small lake. And if you still have time, the old part of the city is also very interesting.

The Residenceschloss Ludwigsburg was started in the early 1700's and finished about 100 years later. The king built this in the middle of a forest, and the town was built up around the palace as it was constructed. You have a great blend of styles from the Baroque on. There are tours in English multiple times a day. There are 5 museums on the palace grounds, and even more places to sit and have a bite to eat and a beer. Parking is easy.

Posted by
492 posts

Thanks, KGC.

Interesting thought. The gardens look lovely. Not so sure about the baroque 452 room castle. (We were actually underwhelmed by Versailles and found chateaux in the Loire Valley were generally more enchanting.)

You mention

It's much better than either the Schloss Liechtenstein, which is closed to the public …

From the Schloss Liechtenstein website, it does appear to be open, though the limited information is noteworthy. https://www.schloss-lichtenstein.de/en/

Thanks again KGC for your earlier advice about the Mosel, which we have incorporated into our larger plan

Posted by
1877 posts

Fred, the two times I've been to Liechtenstein the family's been in residence and while you could walk around the castle you couldn't go in. personally I found the drive from south Lake Konstanz to be much more interesting than the country/castle.

But if you're going to go that far south you may want to visit some of the stuff around Lake Konstanz. The castle at Meersburg, Mainau, the fossils in the museum at Bodman, old Konstanz, the Rhine Falls...even take a Zeppelin ride over the lake.

Posted by
492 posts

Thanks KGC. Your real life experience is most educational.

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