Gengenbach, where is it?

Southeast of Strasbourg, per Google Maps , 37 minutes by car (41km) 73 minutes by Public transportation.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Strasbourg,+France/77723+Gengenbach,+Germany/@48.4314497,7.6077918,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x4796c8495e18b2c1:0x971a483118e7241f!2m2!1d7.7521113!2d48.5734053!1m5!1m1!1s0x47912a8cb07868d9:0x41f6bb7a5df5cf0!2m2!1d8.0095997!2d48.4098117?entry=ttu

Gengenbach is in Germany.

If you are in Strasbourg (I assume that's what you mean by Stratsburg?) there is a train from Strasbourg station to Offenburg in Germany (via Kehl), across the Rhine river. Change there for a train into the black Forest and Gengenbach is the first stop.

If you have a car drive across the border (watch out for your speed on the bridge, well really everywhere, but the border folks tend to watch the traffic crossing) (your choice of 2 bridges and a Bac ferry) and head towards Offenburg, getting onto the yellow signed B33 road and watch the signs. Total drive time maybe a bit over half an hour.

whoever said Gengenbach is nice was correct but understating the beauty.

If going to Gengenbach, don’t go on a Sunday as everything will be closed unless it’s a festival day. It is worth visiting for a day. The main part of town is fairly compact.

A couple of weeks ago I was based in Strasbourg and did a day trip to Baden Baden and Gengenbach, both in the Black Forest. I thought Gengenbach was a charming small town and preferred it over Baden Baden. It was easy to reach by train.

Gengenbach is one of my favorite places! I stayed in Gengenbach 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. There are lots of things to do on a day trip there and it's very quick (and easy) 40 minute train ride from Strasbourg.

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!

That St Jakob auf dem Bergle chapel is one of the many Jakobswege pilgrims paths in Germany towards the end of the Camino de Santiago in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

For a look at the paths - Gengenbach's chapel is on path 22C... https://www.deutsche-jakobswege.de/wege-uebersicht.html

Nigel, I didn't know that. Does that mean I can tell people that I walked the Camino de Santiago? 🤣

Yes you can. When we were in Bruges and Brussels I was surprised to see many brass Camino shells embedded into streets and plazas. Ditto for Ribeauvillé, France. The Camino de Santiago extends much further than most people realize.

The Camino runs through many cities and towns, in many countries, including Germany.
A lot of the churches along the Rhein will offer stamps in your Pilgrim Pass. I have collected them in Speyer, St. Goar, Worms, and Rüdesheim. There is a route that runs from Fulda to Mainz, going through Frankfurt, that is popular with Germans and where you can also get your stamps. You can buy guidebooks for some of the routes here. There are 2 churches in Frankfurt that offer stamps, so have those too.

That's very interesting! I told my daughter this last night - she lived in Spain for a year and walked part of the Camino and would love to go back and do more.

I look for Camino markers wherever I travel in Europe. Kinda a nice past-time. Sometimes there are official signs and other times, just depictions of the shell in places I serendipitously noticed.

Edit: thanks for explaining that Gengenbach is a fine place to visit.

Thanks everyone for the advice. It sounds like a winner.