jentrav

My husband, 17-year old daughter and I are flying round-trip Frankfurt at the end of March to visit our son, who is studying in Tubingen. We will rent a car, and we plan to spend the first half of the week focused on the Tubingen area, then we are thinking of driving to Strasburg and doing some trips in that area. Our hope is to stay in two hotels (perhaps a third in Frankfurt for our final night before departure), and to do some scenic touring in the area. We like small towns, castles and museums, and our daughter also likes shopping, cafes, etc. We have travelled quite a bit in Europe, but not in that area. We'd love any helpful hints on places to visit, family hotels, etc. Thanks to anyone who can help.

Pegontheroad

I stayed in an inexpensive hotel called Meteora. It is a hotel-restaurant. It was clean and quiet, and I liked it.

I mostly just walked around town. It's a pleasant, youthful-feeling town, with its attractive architecture and the many students.

bettyk

We visited Tuebingen, the nearby town of Herrenberg and the lovely Burg Hohenzollern a couple of years ago. Here is an excerpt from my trip report that may be of interest:

<<We arrived in Herrenberg around 12:30 PM. At the center of the beautiful market square is one of Herrenberg’s numerous fountains, Market Fountain dating from 1347. The market square is a wonderful example of medieval architecture. Most of the half-timbered buildings were built after the great fire of 1635. The town hall with its bell and clock towers dates from 1806. Towering above the town is the Foundation Church, which was built in two phases between 1276 and 1493. Setting off many of these buildings are the beautiful flower boxes so typical in Germany.

We made our way to Tübingen and the Hotel Hospiz (110E). After getting settled in we stepped outside and up the cobbled Burgsteige to Schloss Hohentübingen. Parts of the castle date from 1078 but most of it was built in the 16th century. Some nice views overlooking the red tile roofs but the Castle itself wasn’t much – at least from the outside. We decided to have dinner at the Am Schloss Hotel Restaurant Mauganeschtle just a few steps from the castle.

We walked around for a bit, ending up in front of the Rathaus, probably one of the most photographed buildings in Tübingen. The Rathaus dates from 1435 with an amazing painted façade and a still functioning astronomical clock erected in 1511. There was a large crowd of people in the town square for the “Umbrisch-Provenzalischer Markt” being held this weekend. Stalls had been set up with vendors selling wine, food, flowers, spices, fruits and vegetables and many other goodies.

The next morning we went looking for the Tourist Information office for a map and any info in English I could get. It was right across the Eberhardsbrücke, the bridge that crosses the Neckar River. The views across and down the River from the bridge were beautiful. We also discovered the Platanenallee (Avenue of Plane Trees), a grove of 200-year old trees that line the River. The Plane trees look like our Sycamore trees. It was quite lovely. We went to Weinstube Forelle for dinner. It was our best meal yet.

The next morning, we left the Hotel Hospiz in Tübingen for the relatively short drive to Burg Hohenzollern, a breathtakingly beautiful castle perched atop a high hill overlooking the lush Swabian countryside near Hechingen. While little of the original castle from the 11th century remains, the current castle contains St. Michael’s Chapel, which was consecrated in 1461. Over the centuries, the castle had been destroyed by war or allowed to fall into ruin but its last reconstruction was finally completed in 1867. As each successive reconstruction was built atop the old castle, it wasn’t surprising that in 2001 builders stumbled upon several medieval secret passageways and rooms filled to the ceiling with rubble and debris that until then had been completely forgotten. Visitors now have access to these storerooms where china, glassware and silver are displayed. To get to the castle, you drive to the parking lot (2E) and walk for about 20 minutes up the rather steep footpath to the castle entrance or take the shuttle bus (2.80E per person round trip). We opted for the shuttle bus. There is also a souvenir shop, WC and imbiss at the parking lot.>>

Russ

Small, attractive Black Forest towns you might enjoy in the area to the west of Tübingen:

Calw
Schiltach
Vogtsbauernhof (open-air museum) in Gutach:

http://www.black-forest-travel.com/p...bauernhof.html

Try Triberg for cuckoo clocks and other BF stuff.

If you stay a night or two with innkeepers in Schiltach or numerous other BF towns, you can ride the Black Forest Railway and other rail lines in the region at no cost with the free "Konus" card. Very scenic!

http://www.black-forest-travel.com/p...t-railway.html

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus

hausfrau

How lucky you (and your son) are! Tuebingen is a marvelous college town with a gorgeous historic district. bettyk always beats me to it, but you MUST visit Burg Hohenzollern. There is an excellent restaurant at the castle (the Burgschenke). Another lovely castle in the area is Schloss Lichtenstein near Honau. It does not have the history of Hohenzollern, but it looks like something out of a fairytale, perched high on a cliff over a beautiful valley, and there are nice walking trails in the area.

We also really enjoyed Kloster Bebenhausen, a very well-preserved 800-year-old Cistercian monastery just outside of Tuebingen. The guided audio tour sounds cheesy (it is told from the perspective of a monk) but is actually very good.