Baden-Baden Itinerary

I have recently been to the Rhine/Black Forest region of Germany...

Could you please narrow this down a little? The Rhine is 800+ miles long and the Black Forest is quite large too. What specific towns/places have you visited? I can think of many great destinations within just 3-4 hours of Baden-Baden, but there's no point in boring you with places you've been already.

And what is your main interest? Are you looking for nice natural scenery, like that in Lauterbrunnen, for walks/hikes? Any cues would be helpful.

Triberg, Titisee, Friberg, Strassbourg, France

Are you planning on spending a night in Lauterbrunnen? It looks like the rail trip is over 4 hours each way, over eight hours round trip. Wouldn't leave you with much time in Lauterbrunnen if you did it all in one day. Travelling eight hours for a four hour visit seems counterproductive.

Freudenstadt, Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum (Open Air Museum), Bad Herrenalb, Gengenbach, Heidelberg, Calw (hometown of author Hermann Hesse), Tübingen

If the mountains look iffy for weather, or regardless of weather, I would recommend Freiburg (Freiburg im Breisgau), just South on the main rail line. Charming town, nice old center and church, some easy hiking, good food options.

Going North, Heidelberg would be a good option, then over on the French side, Colmar is a favorite of many.

All are easy to get to by train, though you may have to go South to Basel, Switzerland, or North to Strasbourg to cross over to the French side. There are buses though from both Baden-Baden or Freiburg, to get you to Colmar.

If you want a smaller (and more wonderful, imo) place, you might want to check out Gengenbach. I stayed there for 4 nights in 2022 and absolutely loved it. The town is very charming with beautiful half-timbered houses (it's frequently called a "chocolate box" village) and has a beautiful Altstadt, with quite a few restaurants and cafes to choose from. Gengenbach makes a good base as it is right on the main train line, and gives you the options of some interesting day trips, including taking a day trip to Strasbourg, France, which is a quick 40 minute train ride away.

One nice benefit if you stay there is that you receive a KONUS card, which entitles you to free public transport throughout the Black Forest region. There are many charming villages in the region that you can visit along the Black Forest Railway, and there is also the Vogtsbauernhof (open-air museum) that is a joy to visit and easily accessible by train.

The town church (Saint Marion) is quite beautiful, and the medieval gates to the city are really interesting. The Benedictine Abbey is also worth a visit, and behind it are some cloistered gardens that were a joy to wander through. This was one of my favorite places. It was peaceful and inviting and I could have stayed for hours. There were little signs of inspiration scattered around, and some children from a nearby kindergarten playing on one side.

Also don't miss a walk through Engelgasse and Höllengasse streets (near the TIC). Here you will find cobblestones and half-timbered houses, flower pots and cats resting on doormats and quaint dolls in the window. I felt like I had walked back in time when I strolled through these quaint and narrow streets. There is also a nice hike you can take that will get you above the town with some absolutely beautiful views of below. The hike ends up at a church called St. Jakob auf dem Bergle that sits above town. The TIC in town will have maps showing you how to get there. it was a really nice hike and as I said, the views are just lovely!

I think I have settled on flying in and out of Frankfurt, two nights in Baden-Baden (non-negotiable, the reason for the trip is to visit the baths here), and 3 nights in Strasbourg with day trips to Colmar and Freiburg or Gengenbach. We'll take a few hours in Heidelberg on our way back to Frankfurt from Strasbourg. Does this itinerary seam reasonable? It's only a 7 day trip. We want enough to do, but don't want to push too much.

If you plan to travel by train from Freiburg to Frankfurt with a detour to Heidelberg you will want to book the ICE to Mannheim, then take the S3 regional train to Heidelberg. Do not get off at the main station, but go two more stops down the line to the Heidelberg (Altstadt) stop. From there's it's a 5 minute walk into the main part of the old city and the major tourist destinations. From there you can walk west down the main shopping boulevard (Hauptstrasse, you can't miss it) to Bismarckplatz, which is where all the trams and busses meet. Just see which tram is going to the Haptbahnhof and ride that 2-3 stops back to the train station and continue to FRA.

I suggest Trier.