Baden Baden Germany: a Spa Town in the Black Forest

This will be our last stop of our trip to Germany. On our drive back home to France we hit up the city of Baden Baden and spent a few hours there eating breakfast and walking around the city.

It wasn't quite a half way point from Nuremberg to our home, but it did help break up the drive, at least a little.

Baden Baden is a resort town and spa city, that is located in the Black Forest region of the country. It's about a 20 minute drive from the border of France and about 3 hours from Nuremberg, where we were coming from.

Among the town's notable attractions are its casino and even more so, its Roman baths. Some of baths date as far back as year 211. Source. in the city you will notice a lot of fountains and water features scattered all around town. Its as if they've done that intentionally to give you a hint of what the town is all about.

The cities water springs and baths also contributed to the town's name. Baden means to bathe and bad means bath.

The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of 11 Spa Towns found throughout seven countries in Europe.

These are are towns with natural mineral water springs where large bath houses have been built around them and essentially turned into tourist attractions. Source.

There are multiple baths located in the city so if that's your thing you could do a "bath crawl" during your visit.

One famous bath house is the Friedrichsbad Spa. Its located in a historic building that dates back to 1877. It has 17 different stations inside set up like a circuit. It may not be for those that are conservative or of a shy disposition though, since its a "textile free" facility, which means no clothes or swim suits are allowed. Source.

Would you do a naked soak or swim indoors among strangers?

For the Foodies out there, Baden Baden definitely has you covered as well. The town boast 17 Michelin star restaurants, which is really impressive given its small population size of only around 55 thousand people.

We saw at least two Michelin restaurants during our walk but we didn't go inside.

We mainly just wandered the parks and green spaces and streets, to stretch our legs before the five hour drive ahead of us.

Baden Baden actually feels like a resort town as you tour through it.

It's Full of flowers, it's clean and fancy and just feels like there is a lot of money flowing through it - often the case with town's that host a casino.

The atmosphere is relaxed as well and almost tranquil.

Donating all of your money to the casino may be stressful but you can always relieve your tension and worries by getting a massage and then soaking in a warm bath. It's all about balance, isn't it?

We had great weather that day. It was nice and sunny and warm. Perfect for laying around.

Many of the buildings in town were built in a sort of Neo-Renaissance architecture style.

They housed a variety of artisinal shops and cafes and restaurants, so there was plenty to view and explore.

I really liked this tree lined street that we stumbled upon. If I'm recalling correctly, it had some nice high end stores that were fun to window shop at. To be honest though, I mostly just liked the small park running down its center.

One of my favorite things that we did was tour the Trinkhalle (Pump House).

It a 19th century building that was one of the first things that we saw when entering the city. It really stood out. It looked as though it was built to reminisce about Badens old Roman heritage.

The structure had a 90 meter long arcade lined with Roman style pillars.

Within the walkway were 14 elaborate murals that depicted water features and attractions found in the surrounding Black Forest region of Germany.

Be sure to stop for a moment and admire the artwork. That's what we did.

The pumphouse was built around a natural hot water spring that was once believed to hold many healing properties. Today it is just a symbolic feature and it is suggested that visitors do not actually drink the water there. By today's standards it isn't considered suitable for human consumption Source.

Well would you look at that, I think it's time to wrap things up. What else can I say about Baden Baden other than its a really nice location in the Black Forest region of Germany, a great place for treating yourself to a spa day, gambling, fine dining, or just reminiscing on its Roman past.

Well thats it for now our trip to Germany. Until next time, thanks for stopping by.