Baden-Baden

Months ago I posted about my Easter vacation plans (here), I also planned to update my blog to share my experiences once I returned but haven't gotten around to it until now so I shall begin in earnest with the gorgeous German town of Baden-Baden.

The first stop on my Easter, Alsatian vacation was Baden-Baden, a renowned spa town in Baden-Württemberg, south-west Germany near to both the Black Forest and the French border, notably near to Strasbourg. The town is absolutely beautiful boasting a park and river that runs right through the town's centre; gorgeous architecture, some of which dates back to the Romans and lush plants and flowers galore. The town is popular with tourists for its beauty, for its aforementioned spas, its many museums (including a fabrage museum!) and the plethora of sportsactivities available, particularly golf.

Getting there
From Montpellier, we took a flight to Strasbourg and then we took a train from there to Baden-Baden. The Strasbourg to Baden-Baden journey is really simple and really affordable, and to boot it was totally unaffected by the SNCF strike! We had only one change at Offenburg, we didn't wait long for the connecting train so I can't comment on that city. All in all, the train journey took around 50 minutes and costs around 20€ per passenger.

The Baden-Baden train station isn't in the town centre so we had to take a bus which thankfully an easy and cheap task. My partner's rudimentary German skills were enough to get us where we wanted to go but I generally found that many people in the town speak English well and are friendly and willing to help struggling tourists! The bus was actually a great opportunity to see many of the sights as it purposefully passes all the main tourist destinations.

Hotel
I won't spend too long describing the hotel as I've already reviewed it on TripAdvisor (here) but I can't talk about my Baden-Baden experience without heaping some more praise on our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Quellenhof which is located in the town centre, at the heart of that pretty park, shops, bars, etc plus it's literally just around the corner from the spa. Our stay was really inexpensive yet you get so much for your money! Very clean and comfy and there are so many freebies including a free mini bar in the room and a discount card for reduced prices to so many of the local tourist attractions. The breakfast was also really good, so overall a really, really good hotel for such a low price. Check out my TripAdvisor review for more info.

Local cuisine
We were only in the town for a day so opportunities to eat as much as possible were rather limitied but we did manage to eat and drink the best local fare at a really nice little bar not far from our hotel called La Bottega (read my TripAdvisor review here). It was here that I tried an Alsatian classic, the flammekueche (German, tarte flambée in French) which is kind of like a pizza but in some ways so much better. It's bread dough rolled out really thinly and topped with fromage blanc or crème fraîche with thinly sliced onions and lardons. The result is a super crispy-thin base with a creamy and sour sauce and smoky-meat topping. So delicious!

To wash down my flammekueche, we asked for a local beer and our waiter recommended a beer made in the Black Forest called tannenzäpfle which turned out to be an excellent choice as it has a really crisp, grassy flavour (something to do with pinecones I think) which complemented the food and the gorgeous, sunny day we had.

Activities
We spent most of the day in Baden-Baden walking around and exploring its lusciousness. We started by heading to the river that flows through the town and follwed it whoch took us to beautiful buldings, parks and a huge rose garden, though it was sadly too early for there to actualy be any roses! The thing that struck me, apart from the sheer beauty of the town, was that so much was being offered for free from water to shelter to communal spaces for convivial activities. This little walk alone was enough for me to decide that I had to return some day to really take the time to explore this town in more detail.

The thing that brought us to Baden-Baden was the spa, it is a spa town afterall! Caracalla spa is host to 12 thermal baths with everything from hot and cold water grottos, waterfalls, water currents, bubbles and so much more, for my first thermal bath experience it seriously wasn't bad! We went in the evening, after 7pm, which means that it's cheaper and there were fewer people. The price for 3 hours is 19€ but after the late hours discount plus the discount from our hotel we paid closer to 13€ and, again, you get so much value for your money. The complex is enourmous and the water is so, so relaxing. My favourite part was hanging out in the hot, bubbling baths outside under the night's sky.