Hello!
We would like to spend around 7 days in South-West Bavaria to see a few castles, but not do too much driving each day, and possibly have 2-3 days where we stay close to home and explore the community (ideally historic) where we stay.
Seeking recommendations for towns/cities that may work.
Thank you!
I will put my vote in for Gengenbach in the Black Forest. It's a beautiful and charming "chocolate box" town that sits right on the main train line, and it's easy to take day trips. The town itself make a great base - it's small enough not to be over-touristed and overcrowded, but it has a number of beautiful and historic sites, good hotels and very good restaurants. There's some wonderful hiking nearby and you are a short distance from other charming towns in the area, and also the Vogtsbauernhof, an open air museum that is a must-see.
And as I said, it's a good base for day trips. First, if you stay in Gengenbach, you receive a free KONUS ticket, which entitles you to free public transportation in the KONUS region, which is fairly large. In addition, the Alsace is very near - Strasbourg is a quick 30 minute trip by train.
I loved my stay in Gengenbach and would easily go back there again. Also, there are a number of castles in the vicinity, including the Hohengeroldseck Castle, Waldkirch Castle, Husen Castle, and many more.
ETA: I just noticed that you will be driving, and that's fine - I know the hotel I stayed at had facilities for parking and so do some of the others. You might want to consider getting the KONUS card anyway, since it's free, and use it for travel to places like Strasbourg, which like many other cities, is not car-friendly.
Mardee, I think you misread the original post.
Oh no, Gundersen, I did do that, didn't I! I read South-West Bavaria but South-West Germany made its way into my brain.
Sorry, synapse!
The southwest corner of Bavaria is referred to as the Allgäu or Schwaben, regions which overlap. The map below shows towns in the area and the rail connections between them and to the larger cities of Munich and Augsburg.
Based on what little we know of your interests, I'd probably send you to the very attractive town of Lindau, on an island in Lake Constance and near the shared borders with Austria and Switzerland, where you'd have access to lakeside towns to the west like Meersburg (castle) and Friedrichshafen (Zeppelin Museum) as well as Konstanz. You can see the location of these 3 last towns relative to Lindau on this tourist map that looks south toward Switzerland.
Other outings to the east to Oberstdorf, Füssen and Landsberg ( these last 2 are Romantic Road towns) or to the spa town of Bad Woerishofen might interest you as well. You can find them on the first map above. Augsburg, Donauwoerth, and Noerdlingen to the north are also on the Romantic Road and may be worth visiting depending on your mileage constraints.
Despite the oversight regarding Bavaria, Mardee's suggestion of Gengenbach looks interesting to us because
we are trying to determine if we should be taking a car or using trains, AND we plan to go from the Swiss alps to Southern Germany, to Paris and Gengenbach is closer than Bavaria.
What would you more informed folks recommend for transport? Rental car or trains? There are 4 of us...
Aha, so "Bavaria" actually does mean "Southern Germany." Mardee has psychic powers!
Gengenbach is a delightful town and a good base for seeing the Black Forest and Strasbourg. The Vogtsbauernhof nearby makes for a great visit.
While there are castle ruins nearby, most visitors who want to see castles would find greater satisfaction further north in one of the larger river valleys.
Castles, old-world towns, and other sights on/near the NECKAR River: from here you'd have easy train access to Paris from Stuttgart or Heidelberg. Most places have train stations. But castles aren't conveniently located near train stations as a rule, so if castles are your thing, you may want a car. Places for you to research...
Wasserschloss Glatt (moated castle in Sulz)
Tübingen
Esslingen
Ludwigsburg
Besigheim
Burg Guttenberg (and falconry show)
https://burg-guttenberg.de/en/
Burg Hornberg -
Burg Hirschhorn
Heidelberg (Schloss Heidelberg)
The Rhine and Mosel river valleys are also full of castles and similar delights. You should have no trouble finding information on those.
Russ, Thank you very much for your very informative posts!
I have looked at the towns you listed in the Neckar River region, and there appear to be some good options. This region also keeps us closer to Paris.
What would you consider the most quaint, historical, and lovely of the towns in this region that also offer at least a handful of cafes and restaurants?
Thank you!
Possibly Besigheim.
Film that promotes tourism in Besigheim - German dialog but with ample town scenery
Scroll here for photos around town
Restaurant, cafe, bistro, wine bar listings for Besigheim
No personal rec's from me for accommodations - never stayed in town.
Accommodations search: filter for all kinds ad by town for Besigheim:
https://www.3b-tourismus.de/en/hospitality/index_accommodations.php
Whether Besigheim works well as a single base town for all the places you might visit I cannot say. You'll need to work that out. 2 base towns might be better. I wouldn't hesitate to stay in Esslingen or Tübingen, which are larger places, but not that much larger.
Here's a map of the railways in the state you would be in - Baden-Württemberg.
Additional towns well north of Besigheim that I neglected to mention and which you might want to consider for a visit:
Bad Wimpfen
Michelstadt (not in the Neckar Valley but worth a detour)
Ladenburg and Heppenheim (on the "Bergstrasse" route near Heidelberg)
I have physic powers and didn't even know it! Ha ha!
With regards to the Neckar River area, Russ is correct - there are some charming places there. I have not traveled much in that area, but you couldn't go wrong with Tübingen, Esslingen or even Heidelberg although it's a bigger city.
Here's a nice listing of all the castles in the Neckar Valley: https://www.spottinghistory.com/tag/castles-in-the-neckar-valley/1/
AND as a bonus, you're not that far from the Monastery Maulbronn, which I desperately wanted to visit on my last trip but just could not do it. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and dates back to the 12th century. https://www.kloster-maulbronn.de/en/
Look at Tuebingen. There is the castle in town, nearby Burg Hohenzollern, schloss Lichtenstein, schloss Haigerloch, Sigmaringen, Several ruins along the Grosse Lauter river, the upper Danube, Kloster and schloss Bebenhausen, and the castles in Meersburg on the Bodensee.
Thank you, I was looking at Reutlingen which is close to Tubingen. They both look like good options. Any suggestions as to which may be the better choice?
I haven’t been to Reutlingen but have spend about 10 days in Tuebingen and think it very nice town
