Planning to visit the area in September. Probably fly into Stuttgart and hire a car. Looking for a 10 or 12 day itinery. Can anyone suggest a route / areas to visit. We would like to spend a few days in each location. Like some easy walks, sightseeing and staying in smaller villages/towns.
Thanks
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The small town of Appenweier (west of Oberkirch) was very nice. We stayed at Gasthof Engel in Nessel Ried (an even smaller town) -- it was wonderful! There are many vineyards in the area -- just beautiful.
Also, be sure to stop at Dorotheenhutte glass factory. They make beautiful glass there, the tour is interesting and the best part is that you can blow your own glass vase! The Schwarzwalder Open-Air Museum is only a few minutes from there -- also worth a visit.
Enjoy your trip!
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First, there is Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) itself, with many excellent big city sights such as the excellent Mercedes Benz and Porsche Museums, Stuttgart is after all where the automobile was invented. There are three large mineral baths associated with western Europe%26#39;s largest mineral waters; Wilhelma ( www.wilhelma.de ) which is Europe%26#39;s largest combination zoo-botanical garden set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace; the world%26#39;s first modern TV tower has a viewing platform; if you are interested in architecture, Weissenhofseidlung has houses designed by world-famous architects for a 1927 international architecture exhibition; the ballet is world-reknown, and the opera house one of the best in Germany; and the extensive vineyards have pleasant panoramic walks through them (particularly nice in September with the grapes ripening) with wineries and places to eat along the way ( www.stuttgarter-weinwanderweg.de ). There are two very large special events in September: the Wine Village ( www.stuttgarter-weindorf.de ) from 26Aug to 6Sept; and the Cannstatter-Volksfest ( www.cannstatter-volksfest.de ) from 25Sept to 11Oct, the world%26#39;s second largest beer festival and at the same time the world%26#39;s largest fun festival.
15 minutes away by S-bahn from Stuttgart are two wonderful places to visit: Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) with its excellent well preserved medieval center; and Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) with Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque Palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ) with several days of excellent things to see and do including the longest and best palace tour that I%26#39;ve been on in Europe.
At the ends of any of the 6 S-bahn lines, the towns are worth a visit of a few hours, such as Weil der Stadt where the astronomer mathematician Keppler was born, Marbach where the poet Schiller was born, and Schorndorf where the automobile inventor Daimler was born. All have museums dedicated to their favorite sons.
Moving slightly more afield, Metzingen ( www.metzingen.de ) has the most factory outlets of anywhere in Germany for some inexpensive shopping.
The old college town of Tuebingen ( www.tuebingen.de ) is our favorite place to repeatedly visit in Germany with its hilly cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, castle, interesting nontourist shops, and one of Europe%26#39;s oldest universities.
Just north of Tuebingen is Bebenhausen Monastery (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), well preserved and medieval, just a delightful place to visit.
The Swabian Alb ( www.schwaebischealb.de ) is my favorite area of Germany with its numerous castles and caves and excellent cliffside scenery. The largest castle (fortress) ruins of the Alb is Hohenneuffen (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ). Two fairytale-like castles on it are Hohenzollern ( www.burg-hohenzollern.com ) and Lichtenstein ( www.lichtenstein.de only in German) where they recently finished filming Sleeping Beauty. The gorge of the Danube River through the Alb between Tuttlingen and Sigmaringen ( www.sigmaringen.de ) is idyllic, with castles and palaces perched atop the cliffs, and you can even stay in the youth hostel in a castle from the 1100s, Burg Wildenstein ( www.jugendherberge-burg-wildenstein.de ). Sigmaringen has another Hohenzollern Palace ( www.hohenzollern.com ) which has an extensive medieval armor and weapons collection).
Lake Constance ( www.bodensee-tourismus.com ) is another lovely place to visit, with the Swiss Alps just across the lake, and Meersburg ( www.meersburg.de ) being the loveliest town on the lake with Germany%26#39;s oldest castle.
Now the Black Forest ( www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info ) which isn%26#39;t one of my favorite places. The Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauerbhof just south of Hausach is excellent to visit with its many large Black Forest farmhouses from around the area reassembled there. The old spa town of Baden-Baden is also excellent as is the city of Freiburg.
For some other ideas of excellent things to see and do around this part of Germany, just click on my name and look at my hundreds of forum replies. Also, all these places are in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, so look at the websites www.baden-wuerttemberg.de ; www.tourismus-bw.de ; and www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de for the excellent palaces, castles, monasteries and gardens operated by this state.
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I see that I got one of the above websites wrong, for Lichtenstein Castle it should be www.schloss-lichtenstein.de .
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Many thanks acedaughter and Marcopolko. I will look at the websites you have listed in detail and also look at your other responses. Thanks again for your help. Look forward to visiting some of the areas and places you both mention.
Thanks
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