marytini

Husband and I are planning to visit Southwest Germany in Sept 2012 as part of our trip to Europe. We are interested in basing ourselves out of one location and taking day trips from there. Will likely stay 4-5 nights, more if needed. We will be traveling by train. My initial thought was Heidelberg, but I wanted to get opinions on that. We are interested in visiting the following:
Black Forest,
Stuttgart for the car museums
Strasbourg, France
A KD day cruise on the Rhine

Do you think Heidelberg would be an ideal home base, or do you have any other suggestions. We are in the very initial stage of planning, so any ideas are appreciated. Also, is there some sort of train pass that we would benefit from, or just buy single tickets as we need them?

Thanks
Mary

Russ

Heidelberg's a pretty large city, and while its old town is nice enough, it is pretty modern and uninteresting if you plan to stay near the main station for train outings.

If it were my trip, I would try to include a Rhine Cruise ON THE WAY to or from your Strasbourg/Stuttgart/Black Forest area of interest. A short cruise of the most scenic section from Bingen to St. Goar will cost you about 2.5 hours. (That said, the cruise is highly overrated. The train follows the river exactly and you can see the same sights more quickly and possibly get out to see a real 800-year-old castle, like Marksburg in Braubach: www.marksburg.de )

Where to stay further south? I'd pick adorable Gengenbach. It's an old walled town with cobblestones and fairytale houses on the scenic Black Forest Railway line, few minutes ride off the main north/south train line at Offenburg. You'd have easy and access to the heart of the BF and to Strasbourg by train, each under one hour. Stuttgart would be about 2 hours away, doable on a long travel day if you get an early start.

http://www.gengenbach.info/en/tourism/

annesherrod

Russ - just reading your response makes me want to go back to Germany!
You actually helped me plan by first trip to Germany many years ago!

I agree that Heidleberg is nice in the old town and the castle certainly warrants a visit - but I would not want to stay there for 5 days.

Gengenbach is very picuresque medievel town with the half timbered homes and and it is in wine country too. It offers a good home base for what you want. We did not stay here but we stopped here as we had a car and did a LOT of exploring.

Have fun.

bettyk

We stayed in Gengenback a few years ago and loved it. We stayed at the Hotel Sonne right by the town square.

We have also stayed in Staufen in the Black Forest which I can highly recommend. Just don't know about train access as we had a rental car.

We were just in Heidelberg in September. It was our first trip there and will probably be our last. Not as interesting as I had hoped. I thought it would be more like Bamberg. It wasn't.

mokka4

I vote also for Gengenbach. Stayed there in a Ferienwohnung 2004 for 10 nights-wonderful! And September -October will be New Wine (Neuer Suesser/Federweisser/Vin Noveau) season--the best!
Try to visit the Vogtbauernhof (outdoor museum of centuries-old German dwellings) in nearby Gutach.
I also visited both Stasbourg and Colmar form this base--just loved smaller Colmar! Wine Festivals everywhere the second half of September.

tom18

Just got back from Gengenbach and, like the others, I would recommend it. We stayed at the Hotel Pfeffer und Salz, about a mile outside of the town. If you want to go farther south, you could stay at Freiburg or one of the little towns near there. One possibility is Denzlingen, which is on the main rail line 10 minutes north of Freiburg and about 45 minutes south of Offenburg. Enjoy the area!

valtor

We just return from our vacation in Black Forest. While I agree with other who said that Gengenbach is very picturesque and nice, I have to make a comment. You said that you want to travel by train, as we also did. \if you will stay in Gengenbach you will have to change trains almost for avery trip.
Our vacation was of 2 weeks; one week we had a car, another was without car (by train). We stayed in offenburg, as it has very good train connections.

We arrived in Germany at Frankfurt, took a direct train to Offenburg and this was very convenient. From Offenburg you reach by direct trains Strasbourg, Colmar, Stutgart, Gengenbach, Lahr, Triberg...

We were very happy to make these day trip by comfortable trains, without any worries about parking, directions, etc.
We stayed at Hotel Central (it offers a very large and good breakfast) and it is located in the city center, 5 minutes walking from train station.

Russ

"...if you will stay in Gengenbach you will have to change trains almost for avery trip."

This is true for Stuttgart and Strasbourg. You will change in Offenburg. But the ride between Gengenbach and Offenburg takes a mere 9 minutes, a very small price to pay for staying in a unique place like Gengenbach instead of the rather dull and characterless Offenburg. And for your trips into the Black Forest, there are no additional changes involved if you stay in Gengenbach.

mokka4

I agree with Russ. We travelled exclusively by train to all of our destinations and did not find it cumbersome.
And it was heavenly to return each evening to "our" town, stroll the picturesque central square with all the other locals out for their evening promenade, get an Eis or Schoko, or to go our favorite bakery in the early morning for delish treats...oh, to return! The Narenmuseum in the tower has a great exhibit on Fasching costumes through the ages and GREAT views of the area. Walk up to St. Jacob's Chapel through the vineyards for other fine views!

marytini

I knew I could count on you all! This is good information and now I have some research to do...the fun part!

bettyk

Here are a few of the photos we took of Gengenback in 2006:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/554...yxotU?start=24

Russ

Research help:

Use the German railways itinerary page to find train/bus connections:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Mokka4's suggestion for the Vogtsbauernhof museum is a good one:
http://en.vogtsbauernhof.org/

To get there from Gengenbach, take a train to Hausach and walk (30 min., easy) or catch the 7150 bus. The 10:12 and 11:12 trains from Gengenbach connect to the 7150 and get you to the museum, which opens at 11 a.m., in 30 minutes total. The trips are free with the Konus card:

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

Use the rail page near the top to find these and other connections.

Should you need a room for the Middle Rhine - it's wise to spend some time there - this page will be helpful:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommo...hinemosel.html

Ben's pages also include three lodging options in Gengenbach, which may or may not be what you're looking for:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommo...hwarzwald.html

valtor

If you stay or visit Gengenbach, go to Cafe Michelangelo and try a profiterol. It is the best we had in the last years.

iris1745

We found Tubingen to be a great place to stay for six nights. Had little damage in WW2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubingen

tom18

Just to elaborate on what Russ said. If you stay in one of the little towns in the Black Forest, you receive a KONUS card, which lets you ride free on any public transportation. However, you do not get the KONUS card if you stay in one of the larger cities such as Freiburg or Offenbach.