Current plan is to pick up a car as we leave Strasbourg, drive to Baden-Baden for two nights then down to the Freiburg area (stopping to visit the open-air museum along the way) then driving to Burgundy and Provence for two weeks.
Any special suggestions/ notes for the German portion ? We usually take trains, but have rented cars in France twice for Normandy / Loire and once in Tuscany.
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1550 posts
You can't see too much if you spend half your nights in Baden-Baden. Gengenbach is very worthwhile, on the way down from Baden-Baden. Take the slower, scenic route (Hwy 50, I think). Schiltach is a pretty village with the best cake I ever had, the 'Bienenstich,' at Café Bachbeck, different and better to any I tried before or since (nearly all soft cream). Triberg may be worth a trip for the pleasant falls, not so much for the town itself. Staufen is a fabulous little place, the area to the south very pretty for driving or hiking.
Posted by
Southeast US
3851 posts
Just curious... what is drawing you to Baden-Baden?
Posted by
Paradise
6642 posts
You've already been steered properly to Gengenbach, Schiltach - and the Black Forest open-air museum - all nice places. Gengenbach is mostly about spas, casinos...
You can do this all easily and cheaply by train if you wish - in fact if you overnight in any of these towns, you'll get a free visitors card (KONUS) from your hotel, one that's valid throughout your stay and through the final day of your departure as well. So drive - or just take the train if you want - from Strasbourg to Gengenbach for two nights for example, then do day trips to other places by train. If you were carless, then after checking out, you could use the KONUS card to travel to Freiburg as well.
Some more suggestions for you on/near the Gutach-Gengenbach railway line ("the Black Forest Railway") can be found at the linked page.
Villingen is quite nice as well.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
Just curious... what is drawing you to Baden-Baden?
Guide books!
Posted by
OP
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
@Dave -- Baden-Baden was my husband's request. He had visited there when he lived in Germany. And since he will be the principal driver for 18 days ....
Posted by
OP
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Thanks, Russ and Gundersen. Still mulling the rental car, although we will want it for touring Burgundy and Provence, and the cost reduction for picking it up in, say, Mulhouse 4-5 days later is not that much. First-world problems, I know....
Posted by
Columbus, USA
332 posts
Not too far from Strasbourg is Souffelnheim France. It is a super cute village that has a ton of pottery shops. It was like Disney for me as I love pottery and it is beautiful. We drove there, so I cannot speak for public transportation.
Here are some links
http://www.alsace-poterie.fr/
http://www.alsace-poterie.com (was my favorite)
I was so worried about having enough space in the suitcase to buy a lot, but next time I may have to bring an extra suitcase ;)
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1550 posts
Are you going to Mulhouse for the museums? The town itself I found rather depressing.
Posted by
OP
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Gundersen, no, Mulhouse was only a thought if we wanted to just use trains in Germany -- but I did set the rental up to start in Strasbourg, return in Avignon.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7310 posts
I've only seen the southern part of the BF, and light hiking between towns is wonderful. Although there are pretty towns, I found Alsace-Lorraine (which you are apparently omitting) more beautiful - but a car is needed more there than in the BF. If you can possibly fit in Perouges, I thought it was more remarkable than most of the BF or A-L.
It's years since we were there, but note that there is female-owned Michelin three-star in Valence, France (Restaurant Pic), if you can afford the lunch stop. Even nicer dinner experience (more rural setting) was L'Auberge de l'Ill.