Hello folks,

I am back from a trip to Southwest Germany, Freiburg, with day trips to Colmar (France) and Basel (Switzerland). I thought I give you a brief ;-) overview, and you might ask if you have any questions.

Hotel: 3star hotel Minerva www.minerva-freiburg.de Central but relatively quiet location. Only 3 - 5 minutes from the railway station and the city centre (old town). It is a family running hotel, built in the early 20th century I think. Some remains of Art Nouveau style. A renovation here and there would be nice. My room was quite small, but had all things I needed. Rate was 69 Euro per night incl. breakfast (single). Breakfast was excellent. Staff was very friendly.

Departure Dresden Sunday, 23 May 8.44 pm - night train (CityNightLine) to Zurich. The train ride was a nightmare. The train stopped in 10 (!) cities, in each folks got on/off the train - noisy. Lights were on till after midnight. In Fulda e.g. we stopped for more than an hour, and every 10 minutes they pushed the car forth and back. You can imagine that I could not even think of sleeping ...

Arrival Freiburg 7.05 am. Short walk to the hotel. Stored my luggage there and headed right into the old town. Breakfast at Kolben Café, right next to the Martinsturm city gate. You stand around small tables, have your coffee and croissant, sandwiches/baguette with ham, salami and tomatoes and stuff or even cake or pastry. Excellent quality, very friendly folks, familiar atmosphere.

Did a leisurely stroll through southern old town. Along Salzstrasse to Oberlinden, a small square, probably the most picturesque place in Freiburg. Medieval houses, among them the oldest inn of Germany - "Zum Roten Bären" (1387) - many facades beautifully decorated with frescos and finally the city gate "Schwabentor". I continued with a walk up towards the Schlossberg hill, but did not get farther than to the Greiffenegg restaurant. The views from there are gorgeous. You can see the entire old town, dominated by the city gates and the cathedral. I was very fortunate weather wise, so the Vosges mountains across the Rhine in France were visible too.

Back down to the city gate. I walked on via Insel, Fischerau and Gerberau - charming narrow streets beside a creek to the Martinstor city gate and continued to the university quarter. Freiburg's university is one of the oldest in Germany (founded 1457). Most buildings which you see nowadays were constructed in 19th/20th century. Very lively area, never before I had seen so many bicycles in one place! A very charming and peaceful place is the yard of the old university, a former Jesuit convent, built in 1725/26.

I walked back to the hotel, passed the small Colombi castle with its beautiful garden. My room was available now (11 am), so I took a shower, unpacked and slept 2 hours.

Afterwards I walked back into the old town. First stop was the Rathausplatz. Both old and new town hall are absolutely amazing. Both were built in the 16th century, the new town hall reconstructed 1896 - 1901. Also on this square you find Freiburg's second oldest church, St. Martin. It was built in Gothic style - nice, but nothing special. Much more spectacular are two nearby Patrician houses: Basler Hof and Haus zum Walfisch. Very beautiful facades, portals, decorated with coats of arms and frescos.

Time to head for THE sight of Freiburg - the cathedral (Münster). I went to the Münsterplatz square and dropped on a seat in front of one of the restaurants on the northern side. Soaking up the view of the Gothic cathedral and its famous tower I had very good lunch: Maultaschen (a local specialty, stuffed noodles) with spinach and a glass of white wine from the region (Pinot gris). The visit of the cathedral was disappointing, the reason: scaffolding and construction works. The famous entrance hall with Gothic sculptures was not visible at all, large parts of the western and southern facades, the main tower and the southern Hahnenturm spire were under scaffolding and partly netting. The main nave was surprisingly dark and so not very appealing, the famous choir only accessible with a guided tour - which I missed by minutes (only one per day). Hmm. Took some photos, however, which did not turn out well.

So, on to the tourist office to get some information and brochures. Purchased a museum pass ("Oberrheinischer Museumspass" www.museumspass.com) which is good for more than one hundred museums in the region incl. Germany, France, Switzerland. Chose the short-time version, valid four days within a month for 25 Euro. Bad luck with museums that day, though: Augustinermuseum - closed, city museum - closed. Urgghhh. So back to the hotel and a nap again, I was still tired from the sleepless night on the train.

Up for dinner. Decided to follow the recommendation of my guide book (Dumont) - Gasthaus zum Stahl. Location is in the outskirts, Kartäuserstrasse 99, Freiburg-Ebnet, towards the Black Forest, near the soccer stadium. I took the tram No. 1 to the stop "Stadthalle", turned left and it took another five minutes of walking (nice area). The restaurant has a beautiful garden, but I decided to have dinner inside (a bit chilly). Staff was very friendly and attentive. I opted for the three-course menu - free choices from the menu list! A Cremant d'Alsace with orange juice as aperitif. Not ordered, and not charged came brioche, ricotta and olives. First course was a green salad with asparagus and strawberries plus Italian dressing (very good). Main course was beef steak (medium) with roasted potatoes and French beans (very tasty). I had a local red wine (Pinot Noir) and mineral water. Dessert was Tiramisu with strawberries. An espresso finished the meal. I highly recommend this place - everything was perfect, the quality of the food outstanding. The bill was 35 Euro incl. tip.

Tuesday, day trip to Basel. Took the regional train to Basel leaving Freiburg 8.08 and arriving Basel Badischer Bahnhof 9.12. Getting around by tram/bus in Basel is easy. Ticket machines at every stop. My Swiss Half Fare Card gave me a reduction on the fares. Short trip ticket was 1.20 SFr. (good for 4 stops), the standard ticket 1.80 SFr. (valid one hour within the city). I took the tram to Wettsteinplatz. I visited the former convent there, now an orphanage. Asked at the entrance and the very friendly lady handed me three keys: for the church, the refectory and the Gothic room called "Zschekkenbürlin-Zimmer". Absolutely amazing! Wooden panelled rooms, beautiful stained glass windows, the church and the remains of the cloisters gems with frescos and other works of art. I then enjoyed a stroll along the river promenade upwards the Rhine river (Schaffhauser Rheinweg) and took the funny little ferry across the Rhine to St. Alban "suburb". This is a very charming quarter which remained medieval small town ambience. I strolled through the narrow cobbled alleys, saw the beautiful St. Alban city gate, the remains of the city wall, had a glimpse of the oldest Romanesque cloisters in Switzerland. The museum of papers, printing and writing was closed unfortunately, so I continued with lunch. I picked one of the oldest restaurants of Basel, Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen. Seats in front of the restaurant under the trees with view of the Rhine and the city were available. I had an excellent salad with flowers (eatable), salmon, king prawns, saffron sauce and Italian dressing. Yummy! A glass of white wine from Lake Geneva and a coffee were obligatory.

And on I went for more sightseeing. Up to St. Alban Vorstadt, followed the street (very picturesque) to the Art Museum. My museum pass allowed free entrance. A highlight of the trip!! Beside medieval (mostly religious) art it houses an amazing collection of 19th/20th century pictures. Impressionists, Expressionists ... Picasso's Harlequins were simply breathtaking. I was very fortunate to see the Schwitters/Arp exhibit as well for free. This exhibition is devoted to the work, the development and the dialogue of Hans Arp and Kurt Schwitters, two extraordinary geniuses. The 150 collages, reliefs, assemblages, paintings and sculptures on show cover the period from Arp's early Dada creations to his last works of the 1960s, and from Schwitters' first collages to sculptures and pictures dating from 1947, shortly before his death. Audio guides were available. In the entrance hall there are seats equipped with recordings of Schwitters and Arp reciting their own poems, musical contributions and a modern recording of Schwitters' greatest literary work, the Ursonata. An unique exhibit, a must see if you are in the area, closing 22 August.

Next I walked to the cathedral - another amazing sight. It is the most important late Romanesque building in the Upper Rhine region. Pure architecture in combination with outstanding works of medieval art, sculptures, tombstones, the unbelievable Gallus portal, the beautiful cloisters, a crypt with frescos. I also enjoyed the terrific views from the terrace towards the Rhine, overlooking the city on the right bank, with the Black Forest in the background. Quite exhausted I dropped on a seat outside a restaurant on the Münsterplatz (which is unfortunately a parking lot, but this might change soon). Had an ice cream (coupe Romanoff) which was disappointing and some water. Felt a bit ripped off, but it was my mistake ... Walked to the Antikenmuseum, expecting to see queues at the entrance for the King Tut exhibit ? what a surprise that there were not crowds at all! So, although quite tired, I gave myself a kick and went in. My museum pass gave me a reduction - 14 SFr. instead of 28 SFr. full price. The exhibit was very interesting, but I guess I was too tired to enjoy it. Besides, there were at least five guided tours at the same time inside - noisy and confusing. I think only about a third of the pieces were from King Tut, the others from different periods and graves ? but still beautiful.

Afterwards I walked along the Freie Strasse (shopping centre!) to get my head clear and was finally stunned by the extremely beautiful façade of the town hall. Red colour, sculptures, stained glass windows, the tower very impressive and beautiful. Mostly late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, some parts added 1898 - 1904 in historical style. I took a tram to the railway station SBB, bought some bread, cheese and salami plus orange juice and water at the MIGROS grocery and took the regional train back to Freiburg. Arrival 9.42 pm. Went straight to my hotel and ate the food from the grocery. Sleeping!!

Wednesday, day trip Colmar. Connections are not as good as expected. Left Freiburg by S-Bahn train 9.25, changed for the bus at Breisach and arrived Colmar 10.26. Well, Colmar ... German architecture (timber-framework) in France. I found Colmar to be quite similar to Strasbourg. Definitely smaller and less lively (read: crowded). And not as much to see as in Strasbourg (which I did not mind!). First I went to the Unterlinden museum, a former convent, with the famous Isenheimer Altar, one of the most impressive works of medieval art. My museum pass again gave me free access. The audio guide, however, was 1.50 Euro surcharge. And the second floor was closed for construction works (heating). Urgh. Restoration works also in the former church which houses the Isenheimer altar. Two pieces were even removed for restoration. Yikes! The paintings of Grünewald and the carved wooden figures of Hagnower, however, were still breathtaking. The temporary exhibit of 20th century French painters was nice also (non-religious art).

I had lunch in the brasserie Unterlinden, right next to the museum. Was surprisingly good. I chose the tourist menu (menu classique). It started with a green salad with asparagus, strawberries and pate de foie gras (fantastic), main course was pasta and salmon (fair), finally a selection of cheese (excellent). I had a quarter of good local white wine (Riesling) and water plus a café au lait. The bill was 32 Euro incl. tip.

Afterwards I strolled through the old town, along narrow cobbled alleys, passed plenty of picturesque timber-framework houses ... Maison Pfister e.g., decorated with frescos. Another highlight was the Dominican church, home of the famous painting Madonna im Rosenhag (don't know in English) by Martin Schongauer. A touching, lovely picture. Entrance fee of 1.30 Euro again and not allowed to take pictures. The Bartholdi museum (created the Statue of Liberty) was closed. Urgh. St. Martin church was nice, but not nearly as beautiful as the cathedrals in Freiburg or even Basel. The Koifhus (old merchant house) was partly under scaffolding, the square in front undergoing construction works. I continued via Quartier de Tanneurs, picturesque alley with - you guess it - timber-framework houses. Lovely was Little Venice with small canals. I was tired ... Back to the railway station where the bus departed 5.20 pm to Breisach, where I changed for the train to Freiburg. Arrival 6.32. I ate the remains of my food brought from Basel the day before. Fell asleep right away ...

Thursday, Basel again. A GTG with Fodorites was scheduled for noon. This renewed my spirit and convinced my aching feet to move ... I took the EC train 8.04 from Freiburg and arrived 8.46 Basel SBB. Took a tram to Barfüsserplatz and climbed up the narrow alley to St. Leonhard church, which is one of the most important late Gothic churches in the Upper Rhine region. Indeed very beautiful, with frescos, magnificent pulpit and font and an impressive crypt. I was lucky enough to be entertained with organ play. I walked down to the main post office, sent some postcards, stumbled across an internet terminal (cheap!) and posted a greeting on Fodors. Continued to St. Peter church ... again up the stairs ... I happened to see the charming Andreas square, surrounded by medieval houses, a place for recreation with a coffee. St. Peter is also an beautiful church. Again I was fortunate to listen to organ play - the same lady had played in St. Leonhard an hour ago! The side chapels are stunning - excellent frescos and tombstones. Down to the market square where I hopped on a tram to Barfüsserplatz. An hour was left until the GTG, so I decided to see the historical museum in the Barfüsser church. My museum pass gave me free access again. It is a must see IMO. It houses lots of medieval works of art (sculptured fountains, stained glass windows, gobelins, altars, parts of the cathedral's treasure) as well as magnificent interior from patrician houses (entire rooms were moved into the museum). They also showed a temporary exhibit "Switzerland and WWII" which was very interesting.

I got by tram to the railway station and arrived right at noon. Phil was already there, S arrived a couple of minutes later. We had a great time. Phil took us to a restaurant in the neighbourhood, where we had an excellent lunch. Salad first, then a parsley soup (hmmm) and risotto with mushrooms (great). White wine was obligatory (very good). For the details of the GTG I'd like to direct you to S's trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34502993

After S had left Phil guided me to some excellent stores where I could buy chocolate and Basler Leckerli, and then I got on the train. When I arrived at Freiburg I decided to change my reservation for the train back home. I cancelled the night train ticket (cost: 10%, 6 Euro) and purchased a ticket for the ICE train - fare was 80 Euro. Means I had to pay a surcharge of about 30 Euro. That did not include a seat reservation. By the way, the staff at the railway station was extremely unfriendly and incompetent.

Friday, final day, Freiburg. I packed and checked out, stored my luggage in the hotel. Decided to do a short excursion to Freiburg's nearby mountain in the Black Forest, called Schauinsland (1284 m). Took tram No. 4 and then bus No. 21 and arrived at the valley station of the Schauinsland cable car after 30 minutes. I had again a discussion with the staff - they did not want to accept my REGIO - card offered by the hotel, which is good for a reduction on the cable car fare. After five minutes arguing I finally got the reduction ? paid 7.70 Euro in spite of 10.50 Euro standard fare. The cable car ride was quite long and enjoyable. I walked to the viewing tower, about 15 minutes. The panoramic views were fantastic: Feldberg (1453 m) and Belchen (1414 m) as well as Freiburg. The air not dry enough to see the Vosges mountains or even the Alps - bad luck.

Back down and to Freiburg. Added a short visit of the Augustinermuseum, which was partially under reconstruction. Nice exhibits (medieval religious and modern pictures and original figures of the cathedral), but not very spectacular. Had seen better ones in Colmar and Basel in particular. I then headed to the Münsterplatz, where the daily food market was held. Tasted and bought some cheese and salami from France. A very pleasant thing is that you can taste wine at the "House of Badener Wines", buy a glass, drop on a seat in front of that house and eat your brought food (like the salami, cheese and baguette).

Well, I also bought two bottles of local wine (Pinot Noir), went back to the hotel to get my luggage and walked to the railway station. Took the ICE train 3.56 pm to Frankfurt, where I changed and arrived in Dresden 9.35 pm. Had good luck with a seat to Frankfurt, but no luck Frankfurt - Leipzig. Urgghh. In Leipzig I found a seat in the dining car, had a beer and surprisingly good food.

I hope this trip report entertained you, and maybe it is useful in any way for your future plannings.

My pictures will probably be online on Sunday, not earlier. I will let you know.

Feel free to ask any questions.

PS: I forgot to mention that my hotel - like many others in Freiburg - provides a free REGIO - card which is a ticket for unlimited use of public transportation in the area (bus, tram, S-Bahn). You can even ride up to the Black Forest mountains or half way to Colmar and Basel (but not in the high speed trains).

Thank you, Ingo! Sorry I was not more patient. So Phil showed you where to buy chocolate and you didn't buy any? What's up with that.

Frieberg is only 45 min. to Basel? Do you have any idea how many min. from Tubingen?

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks so much for your wonderfully detailed info!

Ingo, thank you for your detailed report! It included some destinations (Basel especially) that I'd been thinking of. One question - how do you think this trip would be in autumn or early December - of course, one would concentrate more on the indoor attractions, but would the walking routes you took be o.k. then? I like very much where you "gave yourself a kick"! I have also been very severe sometimes with myself and kept going when I thought I could not. Thanks again for a great report.

Thanks both for your nice comments.

Grasshopper, I DID buy some chocolate. But it was very expensive (Pralinés) - outstanding quality, though. I don't regret, however, to have spent that money!! I think Tübingen is about 2 hours from Freiburg. But we will find out exactly later.

Dovima - autumn sounds perfect. Early December can be tricky. You can have snow - or mild weather, nobody knows. The routes I took will definitely be walkable. The Christmas Markets in all three cities (but especially Colmar and Basel) are said to be wonderful.

Oh yes, I was VERY tired, but I am happy I went on!

Ingo,

Great stuff! As always, your views and your reports reveal so much more of a city than I can see!

s

Hi Ingo, thanks for the very informative report.

We'll be in Freiburg at the end of August - would you have a way of knowing when the construction will be complete and that scaffolding will come down? Also, is the nave dark for that reason or is it inherently so?

Thanks for the detailed report, Ingo. A great way to have my morning coffee. I've been trying to pull up my memories of Freiburg from the 80's when I stayed several nights in Triberg and Freiburg was a daytrip. I thought it was a lovely small city. Funny what one remembers--those little 'canals' with water running through them, and the marketsquare (I seem to recall a colorful fountain or something with a bunch of little figures, but that may be somewhere else) and the Rathausplatz, and of course the spire of the cathedral.

Great details of Basel, as well, and the Schwitters exhibit is something I'd really like to see. and p.s., your culinary descriptions are always a treat.
J.

Ingo,
My German is very basic, my French is even more so. Hopefully my vocabulary in both languages will improve in the next few months, but will I get around o.k. in Basel and other points in Switzerland? My everyday language is English.

Tuck: right the day I left they started removing the scaffolding from the southern facade. I am afraid that you will not be able to see the famous sculptured western portal, and the lower parts of the church tower will probably still be under scaffolding. I heard that they plan to finish the construction works in late 2004.

The nave is inherently dark (colourful stained glass windows).

jw: glad you liked it. That colourful fountain must be somewhere else. Wait for the pictures!

dovima: you won't have problems with your language. The Swiss usually speak excellent English, and Colmar is somewhat touristy, so English is widely spoken too. Audio guide in the Unterlinden museum e.g. was available in English, the menu list in the restaurant was in English too.

S: To answer a former question - I am not a city boy. I love art and architecture, culture and stuff. But I love to stay (live) in a quiet place, in the countryside.

So Ingo, whose chocolate did you buy in Basel? I am very fond of Schiesser, the family chocolate makers on the Marktplatz. Basel is one of my favorite places and thanks for giving it more PR!

BTilke:
He got 100 g of carrés délicats from Schiesser (at my instigation) and some Leckerli from Läckerli Huus

Mmm...Schiesser chocolates! So tasty! I love having Schiesser chocolates with a glass of Etter pear liqueur (from Globus across the square). Did you show him the old map/drawings of medieval Basel by the staircase up to the WC? I took my mother to Basel last June and she was surprised at how nice it was...it's so under-rated, everyone rushing off to Luzern.

BTilke:

Actually I showed Ingo and s' the inside of the Rathaus. Schiesser's maps lost some of their attraction...

Phil, you forgot to mention that I also bought 200g of a mix of the other pralinés at Schiesser, and some more chocolate at Frey! By the way, the chocolate from Frey ended up not as a gift - I ate it myself ;-)

Thanks for your advice, Phil, it was excellent!!

BTilke, the medieval maps sound very interesting ... too bad I had no need to go to the WC there

Ingo:

I didn't forget it, but I didn't want to make you look too gluttonous (my inborn sense of decency ;-) )

Hahaha! How nice of you! But since I will not be back in Basel very soon I had to buy LOTS of chocolate! Believe it or not, there are still a few pralinés left (but unfortunately not many )

Ingo -

Thank you for the very descriptive trip report. We are planning a trip to Germany with a few days in the Black Forest and would like to take a day trip to Switzerland. It's a toss-up between Schaffhausen/Stein am Rhine and Basel. Your report now has me leaning towards Basel. Thanks again. Peace.

Robyn