Tübingen October 2018

I would rent an apartment, much cheaper than a hotel. The city website has lists. We stayed in the suburb of Weilheim because in-city ones were not available ( special event in Sept. )

If the stocherkahn ( punts ) are operatng, take a ride in one. The Tourist Information Offce at the Neckar bridge is very helpful.

Bebenhausen - a few miles north is worth a trip.

If you have a car there are several interesting places to visit in the Swabian Alb. On the TripAdvisor Germany forum, Marcopolko has several good suggestions for the area.

My husband's family is from Tübingen (you have to go back several generations, but still) our first trip together to Europe was for a family reunion. We loved it.

I would second trying to do a punting trip on the Neckar river. It is so peaceful. When we were there, a ton of swans and "mud hens" (that is what we call them) were swimming on the river.

In the town square there was a little food vendor that made crepes. YUM! I am trying to remember the restaurants we ate at. The first night we were ate at the Wurstküche. Cute little place with typical Swabian cuisine. It was funny, as the family told us we needed to try this very special kind of Swabian noodle called spätzle. I laughed and said, I make them at home for dinner sometimes. My grandmother taught me how. They were floored. If you have never had spätzle, I highly recommend trying some while you are there. It is my favorite comfort food.

Bebenhausen is an UNISCO world heritage site. So I second that place too. It is also very peaceful there.

In December, (I know you are going in October, but your daughter might like this) Tübingen has a Chocolate Festival. They bring in chocolatiers in from all over the world and illuminate the town square to look like gingerbread houses. We attempted to go to the festival on a different trip. Wowsa I have never seen so many people. It was like salmon trying to swim up stream we couldn't even get to the tents to buy chocolate. our lesson from the festival is don't do it on the last Sunday. The following weekend is when they set up their Christmas Market.

Stuttgart isn't too far. The car museums there are fantastic. Mercedes is my favorite and I am not a car person.

If you fly Lufthansa, you can get a Rail&Fly ticket when you buy the airline ticket for an added 29 EUR. Take any train after you land to Tuebingen. That saves time and money. No need to reserve or worry about flight delays.
https://www.lufthansa.com/uk/en/rail-and-fly-in-germany

The R&Fly ticket is available through many other airlines too. For an acual list look up

https://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/services/mobilitaet_service/rail_fly_airrail/mdb_274276_20180628_railandfly_airlines.pdf

If you don't fly Lufthansa, Delta has a non-stop flight from the US (Atlanta) to Stuttgart (STR). From the Stuttgart airport, you are close to Tübingen. You can buy a Bahn ticket to Tübingen via Herrenberg (1H08, 2 changes) for 13,50€ pP, or from Naldo (local Verkehrsverbund for Tübingen) a direct bus (54 min) for 7,15€ pP.

You don't say what part of the country you live in. From the SE, flying via Atlanta might be feasible; from other parts, maybe not. I took that flight in 2002, and it seemed a waste to fly for an hour to get over the NE US from which there are many airports I could have used.

Tübingen's list of accommodations is here. It's mostly in German, although there is a list of abbreviations used on pg 60 which includes English. Stadtteile is in the town itself; umbegung is in the surrounding area. For apartments, the area is given in sq meters, which is 10¾ sq ft.

The listing includes both apartments and rooms in a private homes. When I traveled by alone, I could never justify an apartment for just one person, but I often stayed in private homes. I waited for years until I was traveling accompanied to try an apartment. I'm not sure it is more economical than a room in a private home. I've always received breakfast with my room in a Privatzimmer; in an apartment, I have to fix my own. Even if I only use it for breakfast, there is a considerable investment in basic foodstuffs to begin a stay in an apartment. Twice I've bought the smallest package of coffee and left half of it behind. Then there is butter, of which I only used half. In the last place, I had to buy sugar and something to put it in, both of which I left. Breakfast rolls are sold individually, so that is not a problem, but I've always left some meat, cheese, jam, etc. The list goes on.

It's also time consuming to have to find a local grocery store and carry food home, but I have always enjoyed going into grocery stores in Germany just to see what they carry and for how much - wine at 3,99€/liter!

Susan, if your grandmother made Spätzle, chances are she was Schwäbisch. Although Spätzle is more ubiquitous in Germany today, in her days it was probably a very regional dish. My mother told me my grandmother made Spätzle so I guessed she had Schwäbisch roots. When I finally did the genealogy, I found that both her parents were from Schwaben.

The Rick Steves forum folks are amazing-of course! Thanks for all of the great tips!

We live in Columbus, OH. We will be flying United, since my husband is a frequent flyer with them. We’ll either come via Dulles or Newark. Since United is part of Star Alliance, I’ll double check to see if they participate in the fly/rail program.

Getting excited!

you can get a Rail&Fly ticket when you buy the airline ticket for an added 29 EUR.

I wonder if that offer is up to date. The Rail&Fly page on the Bahn website says it's 34€ per person and direction. Either way it's a great deal.

It might take some digging to find anyone at United who has even heard about Rail&Fly. Since you can collect United miles on Lufthansa, you might look at booking the the flight through the Lufthansa site. Anyway, something to think about if prices and routing are the same or very close. For the flight to Frankfurt, I'd take Lufthansa any day over United.

For the flight to Frankfurt, I'd take Lufthansa any day over United.

Amen. When I look at codeshare flights I always look to see if they are operated by United or Lufthansa.

Hi,

Tubingen is a very nice Uni town famous for its university. In 1989 I stayed in small hotel listed in the travel booklet on Tubingen I got from the Tubingen Tourist Office, just called them up right then and there to ask if a single (EZ) was available. You did not have to make reservations back then. This small hotel is located in the Zentrum. It took at least 40 mins walking that distance with luggage from the train station.

If you are there to see the farmers' market on Sat or Wed mornings, that is worth your time culturally.

“Amen. When I look at codeshare flights I always look to see if they are operated by United or Lufthansa.”

Haha! Thanks Lee and Sam. Our daughters (experienced Europe travelers) say the same thing. I think I’ll handle the ground and let the hubby handle the air.

Update: We ended up booking United to Frankfurt, and, as predicted, there was much confusion on Rail&Fly. Still working on that.

We are treating ourselves to the Hotel Krone Tübingen. Looks lovely and the interaction with the staff has been very welcoming so far.

Definitely want to go on a punt, and to Bebenhausen. Maybe we will have our own student expert by then!

Thanks again for all of the tips, and I’ll try and remember to post our details when we come back.