Black Forest Sasbachwalden
I’m a travel writer and not a tour operator, but occasionally I get friends asking me for itinerary ideas for upcoming trips. A friend in the midwest with some family in Germany is preparing to take a journey back to the “old country” with her husband, who has never been, and asked for some ideas. They were not looking for an organized guided tour, but wanted to explore on their own, and interested in doing her own planning. She now thinks she may be taking the trip of a lifetime.
Her family is in the Stuttgart area of the Swabian part of south west Germany. She had an interest wine tasting, food and some history and had about three weeks available for a trip. This seemed set up ideally for a road trip of the wine roads of the area, some time in the romantic Black Forest, and the change to explore a couple of countries with some time in Alsace, France and Switzerland.
Obviously, the first part of the adventure would be about a week around Stuttgart, for some time with the family. Stuttgart is the “motor city” of Germany, with two incredible car museums to visit, the Mercedes Museum and the Porsche Museum. Just a bit to the north of the city is one of country’s most impressive palaces of the Baroque age, the Palace of Ludwigsburg, which unlike many others of its kind which have been emptied, seems as if the noble owners have left for a trip and may return at any moment. A visit to the Wilhelma Park Zoo, once a royal garden, can be added to the list and the Schlachthof Pig Museum, a combination of the most remarkable collection of porcine memorabilia and a restaurant is well worth discovering. If in town during the Octoberfest season in late September or during the Sprulingsfest of Spring, the Canstatter Festival Grounds are a must.
After the local area, is time to rent a car and head out into the countryside. Driving in Germany is a treat, aside from the road signs which can be a bit of a challenge. Most have picture grams which are easily understood, and once you learn Einfahrt (entrance) and Ausfahrt (exit) and Stau (congestion or accident ahead) you ‘ll be fine. Just get a GPS device so you don’t have to stare at a map.
To the east of Stuttgart is the German Wine Road area which follows the plain of the Rhine River through the Palatine and Baden regions of the southwest and into the Alsace of France. Set to GPS for a stop at the Maulbronn Monastery, a Unesco Heritage site and one of the best preserved of its kind in the country. Follow the wine road (weinstrass) south then cut back to the Swabian eastern side of the Black Forest, with the GPS set to the Hohenzollern Castle. This hilltop edifice set link an imperial crown in the mist of the mountains was a showplace for the Hohenzollern imperial family. They never actually lived there, but it holds treasures in its vaults and look for the genealogical line of the German Emperors ordered by the last Kaiser Wilhelm II, before the whole empire thing crashed with the end of World War I.
Now, cut deep into the heart of the Black Forest to Baiersbronn, the home to three Michelin Star chefs with their restaurants and rustic elegant hotels among the thick woods. Cross over the ridge of the mountains to the little town of Sasbachwalden, surrounded with wine vineyards and fruit schnapps tasting. Take advantage of what they call “Jump Dining” a four course meal with each course at four different restaurants, or sleep overnight in a wine barrel hotel in the midst of the vineyards. Stop to sample some Black Forest Cake or even take a pastry lesson. as this is a romantic trip for two, definately stop for the nude baths at Baden-Baden.
Cross the Rhine River into the Alsace region of France for the Alsacian Wine Road, stop at the fairytale Chateau Haut Koenigsbourg Castle, or explore the amazing French Railway Museum and Schlumph Automobile Collection in Mulhouse. Then back through Switzerland, from Basel with its culture on the Rhine River along the lakeside Riviera of Lake Contanz and the Rheinfalls at Schaffhausen or sailing on the Bodensee at Arbon, the on to the Baroque Abbey of St Gallen, maybe a stop in picturesque Liechtenstein at the Prince’s winery. Then head back up through Germany with a stop at the most famous castle of the Mad King Ludwig, Neuschwanstein, the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Disneyland castle. Then back to Stuttgart.
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