Visiting in December

We will be visiting a relative who lives in Friedrichshafen in December for a week. Does anyone have ideas for day trips or overnight trips? We have been there previously and have visited some of the nearby cities, but always in the spring and summer.

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There is easily enough to see and do around Lake Constance for several weeks. Meersburg ( www.meersburg.de ) is the loveliest town on the lake and has Germany%26#39;s oldest castle. Close to it is the prehistoric fishing village built on stilts in the lake, and the lovely church at Birnau. Lindau is another excellent old town. By Konstanz is the garden island of Mainau (however I don%26#39;t know what it would be like in December) and the UNESCO three monastery churches on the island of Reichenau. Of course you can go up into the Alps in either Switzerland or Austria. You can stop in restaurants, hotels, and tourist offices and get free information on the many sights and also boat schedules.

The falls of the Rhein are down stream from the lake by Schaffenhausen, Switzerland.

Not too far north of the lake is the Swabian Alb ( www.schwaebischealb.de ), my favorite area of Germany, with its numerous castles and caves and excellent cliffside scenery. The drive west from Sigmaringen ( www.sigmaringen.de , nice castle/palace too with large collection of armor and medieval weapons) along the idyllic Danube River is excellent with many castles and palaces sitting perched atop the cliffs. You could stay in the youth hostel in a castle from the 1100s there, Burg Wildenstein ( www.jugendherberge-burg-wildenstein.de ). There is also a nice monastery at Beuron.

Also north of the lake is my second favorite area of Germany, Upper Swabia ( www.oberschwaben-tourismus.de only in German), with Germany%26#39;s highest concentration of beautiful Baroque churches and monasteries, and home to the Baroque Road ( www.barockstrasse.org only in German). The largest Baroque basilica north of the Alps is at Weingarten, what I believe to be rightfully called the most beautiful village church in the world is at Steinhausen. Bad Schussenried has the old monastery with a nice church, its lovely library unfortunately now without books, and Germany%26#39;s first beer mug museum at the brewery.

A little further north is the very pleasant town of Biberach an der Riss, where my favorite church is, a nice blend of simplicity and ornateness, perhaps because I was married in it a few years ago. Cafe Kolesch there is an excellent Konditorei, one of Germany%26#39;s best, their Wielandstorte is superb!!!!! Nextdoor is a house that has a claim to being the oldest residence in Germany. Just to the east is the village of Ummendorf, where my wife is from. The restaurant at the brewery there has Germany%26#39;s best Maultaschen!!!!!!!! and also excellent beer (in www.braugasthoefe.com ). They also sell beer schnapps, excellent chocolates with beer and beer schnapps centers, and the magnificent 3 liter presentation bottles of their Placidus Cobaldus beer (think celebratory champagne).

A little further north is Ulm with its record height cathedral spire, climbable if desired if there is no snow or ice.

The church at the former convent of Gutenzell has many excellent old creche figures, and starting this year there will be a permanent exhibition of such creche figure in Oberstadion, which also has a church with the unbelievable number of 11 or so Gothic altars and 3 or so Baroque ones.

If you are there before Christmas, Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) has one of Europe%26#39;s largest, oldest, most visited, and most beautiful Christmas Markets ( www.stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de ) with the stalls all being highly decorated, and a lovely setting by the Old Palace, New Palace, and Stiftskirche (old church). It also has excellent big city sights such as the Mercedes Benz and Porsche Museums (Stuttgart is where the automobile was invented), large mineral baths, and excellent ballet and opera. 15 minutes away by S-bahn are two other large themed Christmas Markets that each attract over a million visitors: Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) Medieval %26amp; Christmas Market in the well preserved medieval center of this town, particularly nice at night when lit up by torches; and Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) Baroque Christmas Market, close to Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de along with lots of other excellent places to visit), the Swabian Versailles, with several days worth of things to see and do including the longest and best palace tour that I%26#39;ve been on in Europe.

Anywhere I%26#39;ve mentioned can be accessed by the use of a Baden-Wuerttemberg day train ticket which also includes all local transportation (S-bahn, U-bahn, trams, buses) for 28€ for a group of 2-5 people or 19€ single ticket. There are two restrictions, no travel before 9AM on a weekday, and no fast long distance IC, EC or ICE trains can be used. If you go to www.bahn.de , and change it to English near the top of the page, and select only local transportation, you can see what your train options are.

Although theoretically possible to visit by public transportation, many of the places I%26#39;ve mentioned are more easily visited by renting an automobile. Also, traveling around Stuttgart or Lake Constance may be less expensive by using a day ticket on the local transportation system.

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Thank you for so many suggestions. We had previously visited the area, and have been to Meersburg, Konstanz and Lindau.

Your suggestions regarding the Swabian Alb and Upper Swabia give us much to look into.