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Baden-Baden wellness stay

We are an older couple and want to savor a bit of Germany. We are traveling from Amsterdam to Italy with a stay in Switzerland along the way. We have only three days in Germany and want to relax before more hectic parts of our journey begin (touring Rome). Baden-Baden seems the perfect place.
Do any experienced travelers have any suggestions about things to see or do around Baden-Baden ( outside of the Casino and baths), that they would like to share with us? We know that there are hiking trails, and we will go to the tourist information center to find out more about hiking when we arrive in Baden-Baden. Thank-you in advance!

Posted by
32173 posts

There is a small mountain just outside Baden-Baden that's accessible by Funicular (can't remember the name of it). There's a small restaurant at the top, and I believe some hiking is possible but I can't remember the details. It provides some nice views of the city.

Posted by
299 posts

I can recommend the art museum called the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden Baden. They had some great exhibits. Also can recommend Hotel am Markt in BB - the nicest breakfasts (included) I've ever had in my travels. Run by 2 very nice women and close to the baths. Do both the Caracalla and Friedricksbad baths - very different and each wonderful. I envy you - you'll be wonderfully relaxed before the more hectic parts of your trip!!

Posted by
19052 posts

Ken, I think you are talking about the Merkur.

I was underwhelmed by Baden-Baden. I'm not into casinos and I have visited much more interesting spas in the interior of the Black Forest. Otherwise, it is a nondescript, large city, with a glitzy pedestrian-only shopping street.

Posted by
513 posts

I, too, have never "really gotten" the RS travelers fascination with Baden Baden. A plush casino and mediocre baths are about all I have seen whenever folks I am with insist on going there ...

Posted by
12040 posts

Baden-Baden is not my favorite thermal resort either, but the reason it gets all the attention on this website is easy- it's the only one the RS universe mentions, so the Rickniks probably don't know of the existence of all the others, or they think if the man tauts it, it must be the best.

Personally, if you can only go to one Therme in Germany, make it this one instead.

"Do any experienced travelers have any suggestions about things to see or do around Baden-Baden". The remainder of the town consists mostly of high end shopping aimed at Russians with more money than taste.

Posted by
8934 posts

Have you thought about heading to Bad Homburg or Wiesbaden instead? Both have beautiful baths and beautiful casinos.

Bad Homburg is in the Taunus Mountains and is close enough to Frankfurt that you could visit any of about 30 museums, the English Theater, or musical concerts or the Opera. The palace of Kaiser Wilhelm is in Bad Homburg, as is the Saalhof, a reconstructed Roman fort, once part of the boundaries of the Roman Empire in Germany. The casino here is the oldest, and the Kur park is lovely.
http://www.bad-homburg-tourismus.de/en/

Wiesbaden is on the Rhine, so you have access to all of the castles near by as well as to Mainz and Frankfurt. The spas and casino here are very beautiful and are also very old. The town itself is very pretty as it didn't get bombed badly in the war and the architecture is a wonderful mix of styles popular in the 1800's and early 1900's.
http://www.wiesbaden.de/microsite/mattiaqua-en/kaiser-friedrich-therme/content/picture-gallery.php