South of Frankfurt Itinerary
 

Hey All,

I wanted to run my potential itinerary by you all to get suggestions. My longtime GF and I have a wedding in Stuttgart on 7/19, and we are flying into FRA on a redeye 7/12 to have a little Black Forest vacation beforehand. She has never been to Germany before, and I have only spent time in Frankfurt and slightly north visiting extended family who are no longer in the country (while I like FRA very much not interested in spending time this trip). Our goal is to relax, eat, and drink well, and do some low key hiking/exploring. The original plan was to drive all around, but we both feel it will be more fun to stay at places longer and enjoy the hotels.

We will have a car, so we prefer to find places that are a little more remote.

Current Itinerary:

7/12 – 7/14 Get to the rental car at 8am-ish. Drive to Baden-Baden. Two nights at Brenners Park. This is the most expensive (on what was supposed to be a cheap Euro vaca…), but from what I have read it seems awesome. I am not sure I want to drive further than Baden-Baden on the first day, so I think this makes sense. Yes, I realize B-B is touristy, but we both want to check it out.

7/14 – 7/17 (Hopefully) Take the Badische Weinstrasse down to Hotel Dollenberg, three night of whatever you do at this place (it also looks very nice). Eat, drink hike. It will also be my girlfriend’s birthday in the 16th.

7/17 – 7/18 One night at Hotel Traube Tonbach.

7/18 – 7/20 Wedding hotel in Stuttgart. I cannot find the name, but it looks very nice.

7/20 – TBD (prob near Frankfurt).

7/21 – Fly Home.

My general sense is we are staying in pretty similar places, but I am OK with that. I love to eat well, but the fact that all three have Michelin starred restaurants feels a little overwhelming, but we obviously do not have to (but probably will) eat at all of them.

What do you all think? Everything can be changed, but I feel it seems like a nice trip. Thanks in advance.

NKB & TEK

The hotels in Baden-Baden and in Baiersbronn should be very nice. Note both places are primarily visited by old people.

Baden-Baden traditionally is visited by many Russians of all ages. But apart from that, it's mostly old folks. Baiersbronn and particularly the five-star hotels Traube Tonbach and Bareiss are full of pensioners. It's not like, say, in NYC, where fine dining attracts all kinds of people.

I'd check out the excellent Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden.

If the weather plays along, the whole Schwarzwald area is certainly great for hiking and cycling. Obviously, there are also the somewhat clichee half-timbered houses, old town squares, cuckoo clocks, ruins of castles and cloisters etc. to visit.

Disclaimer: I never had a real vacation in the area. I've been there for work regularly, and had the chance to take a few hours for sightseeing or for a restaurant dinner here and there.

I will admit I am not an expert in that area (it's too close for me to take a vacation there :p) but I think your reasoning is sound and the places are solid. I can add that Freiburg/Breisgau and Strasbourg (France) are nice cities to visit as well in that area, if you do want a couple extra places nearby.

As well as Colmar France. Smaller than Strasbourg. Quaint.
We were just in Freiburg for dinner. Interesting place. Wish we could have explored more.

A couple off the wall suggestions.
1. If you like amusement parks/roller coaster - Europa Park. Way cheaper than US parks with shorter lines. Fun rides. Set in a pretty natural setting.
2. Feeding Barbary Macaques in France at La Montagne des Singes https://www.montagnedessinges.com/en/
3. Alpine Coasters. I think there are a couple in the black forest.

Swabian here. You'll enjoy your trip no matter where you go, but the original, home-cooking Swabian cuisine is usually much more authentic at small, farm-style restaurants, rather then at Michelin rated places. Baden-Baden and lots of other locales around the region offer Thermal baths. The castles and ruins on the Swabian Alb are worth a visit, as are the limestone caves.

Just over the French border from Baden Baden is the Roppenheim retail outlet for high class goods ... continue on and visit Soufflenheim for traditional slipware decorated Alsacian pottery and Betschdorf for the blue and white decorated local pottery. Au Boeuf in Soufflenheim is a nice place to eat ... but choose from the regular full French menu and not the shortened "touristy" English one.