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5 days in Baden Wurttemburg. Your recommendations?

Well, we decided to move 5 days in Alsace across the border because our firstborn was excited to visit Germany. The "kids" are 21 and 19. We've found a nice little FeWo in Lauf, which is between Baden Baden and Offenburg. (May 23-28 of this year) Between dh's bad knee and my twisted ankle that's healing slowly, we are not going to be hiking, which seems to be a big part of the area's marketing.

So now what? We had originally researched going slightly further east, around Rothenburg, so haven't really looked at Baden-Wurttemburg very closely. (Dh lived in Lahr for a year, 30+ years ago.) Honestly I like exploring by car (and we will have a rental), but I'd like the destinations to be within an hour or so, so Rothenburg is probably out. Are we likely to find any of those little medieval villages in this part of Germany? Kids still get excited about castles even if they are mostly ruins. Ok, I do too...

When dh lived in Lahr, I visited and we did part of the Romantic Road--the vistas of river and ruins were breathtaking. Anything like that you'd recommend in this area?

We will be eligible for the Konus card, and taking a little local train ride sounds fun (especially if it's scenic), though I am at a loss to untangle what appears to be several different regional providers and schedules.

So far, Offenburg and Freiburg are on the list, Lahr for old time's sake, and probably a daytrip to see Strasbourg. Also the Open Air Museum in Gutach.

I don't need to tick off a list. Would rather just relax and absorb the local culture. Wine, beer and schnitzel?

Posted by
3938 posts

High on my list of places in Germany I’d like to visit is Tübingen which is 1.5 hours from you by car. Beautiful buildings, a river orientation and a university liveliness make it sound interesting. We have relatives who’ve been there and really enjoyed their time.

Posted by
6590 posts

The KONUS card you get in Lauf allows you to take ANY regional train on any of the Black Forest rail lines - the ones in purple on the map at this flyer page:

https://prospektbestellung.toubiz.de/media/prospekt/file/5736289_KONUS_GB_2022.pdf

Offenburg > Donaueschingen and Donaueschingen > Freiburg are the scenic "Black Forest Railway" and "Hell's Valley Railway."

Are we likely to find any of those little medieval villages in this
part of Germany? Kids still get excited about castles even if they are
mostly ruins. Ok, I do too...

On the BF Railway besides Gutach's open-air museum (Station is Gutach Schwarzwaldbahn) I would recommend a stop in Haslach (costume museum, flat, easy walking around town.) Triberg is hilly. Villingen is a very attractive old town with flat, easy walking. Titisee (Hell's Valley Railway) gets a lot of "too touristy" comments on these forums - true, but its also a very scenic spot with easy walking.

Old walled town with towers: Gengenbach on the BF railway also, involves flat walking as well and a few good things to see too. A couple of Michelin-guide restaurants reside there.

Schiltach, also accessible by train, not far from Hausach (which is a rail junction on the Black Forest Railway)

If you're heading further afield in B-W, also consider...

Tübingen
Esslingen: lots of very handsome old-world buildings, not far from Stuttgart. Scroll through this page.
Wasserschloß Glatt (Sulz)
Besigheim is an award-winning medieval wine town.
Burg Hohenzollern

Posted by
233 posts

Russ, that's a wonderful summary, thank you. I will spend some time with dh this evening clicking through links. (Sounds like a great time to me!) Also the Konus card info is a bit of a rabbit hole in my recent experience, so thank you for a great resource.

Thanks also Mona, have heard the name Tubingen also, nice to know it's a favourite in your family.

Posted by
2376 posts

Tuebingen and the Swabian Alb are a possibility for outside the Black Forest Look at posts by Marcopolko on the tripadvisor germany forum for great ideas, especially with a car.

Posted by
7181 posts

It is at the limit of your daytrip time, but I want to mention the Vitra Design [Architecture and furniture} Campus in (Edit: Corrected) Weil am Rhein, because it is so unusual. I went there mainly to see Zaha Hadid's first constructed project, the Vitra Fire Station. You have to book the architecture tour (only way to see the buildings ) well in advance. The furniture museum is open all the time. This is a unique and worthwhile destination. Note that the famous modern art museum in Basel, Fondation Beyeler, is very close to the Rhine, so you don't have to drive into the city for it.

Don't forget the Ronchamp Chapel by Le Corbusier.

Some other ideas, about the same distance away:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/stein-am-rein-and-schaffhausen-switzerland

On a more mundane level, if you can't hike, you might want to visit Titisee. It is unbearably touristy, and hated on this board. But it caters to people with bad knees, even a lake boat ride. I found my car useful for BF waterfalls, but it's like driving in Vermont - a lot of curvy and slow hills, and each waterfall is pretty but modest.

Posted by
233 posts

Thanks Stephen, more research to do. It sounds like we'll be well able to fill the 5 days without going much further afield, but I am always open to research and options!