Baden-Baden (Germany) is a famous balneological resort in the south-west of the country, near the border with France. The city is located on the banks of the Os River, on the western slopes of the Black Forest.
The city is part of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, from its administrative center, Stuttgart, it is 100 km away, from Frankfurt – 175 km.
Baden-Baden has a relatively small area of 140 km² and a population of about 55,000 people.
In the nineteenth century, a visit to this town was considered obligatory in accordance with the rules of good form, the elite from all over Europe gathered in the soda. The glory of bygone days did not pass without a trace: this still quiet and typically old-world resort is still popular.
Treatment features
Now people come to Baden-Baden to improve their health, because the main local value is thermal and mineral springs. Water is supplied to spas, baths and the Trinkhalle Drinking Gallery.
In total, there are 20 sources, the water in them rises from a depth of 1200-1800 meters. The temperature in individual sources varies greatly: from +33 to +68 ° С. As for the chemical composition, sodium chloride prevails in all waters, giving them a salty taste. The waters are also saturated with sulfur, calcium, magnesium, sulfates and other trace elements.
Water from the sources of this German resort is widely used in therapeutic programs for problems with:
- upper respiratory tract;
- Gastrointestinal tract;
- genitourinary system;
- cardiovascular system;
- metabolism;
- musculoskeletal system.
In medical institutions of Baden-Baden successfully cope with:
- female diseases, including those with disorders due to menopause;
- with stress;
- immunostimulation;
- rejuvenation and stimulation of the whole organism.
Doctors use both natural remedies and the achievements of modern science. They practice various treatment programs: baths and inhalations with mineral water, mud applications, massages of various types, electrotherapy.
Prices at the resort are quite high. A simple medical examination will cost at least 400 €, and for a basic and complete examination you will have to pay 1600-5000 €.
Rest in thermal complexes
Swimming in a pool of thermal water to increase the overall tone of the body is useful even to completely healthy people. Perhaps this is the main component of a good rest in Baden-Baden in Germany. The best solution is to go to the thermal complex, which are two in the resort.
Important! Children under 14 years old are not recommended to swim in thermal pools: water with an increased amount of minerals can do more harm to the child than benefit.
The Caracalla thermal complex is the largest of its kind and has no analogues in Europe. Its total area is 4000 m², directly the baths occupy 900 m².
Several indoor and outdoor pools are equipped on the territory, the largest one is located under the glass dome of the structure and simultaneously serves as a thermal pool and hot tub. In addition, visitors are offered beauty treatments, various types of massage, various saunas (wet, dry, amethyst) and other body treatments.
The cost of visiting Caracalla Therme depends on the length of stay in the baths. You can buy a ticket for 1.5 hours, for 2 or 3 hours, and even for a whole day or 10 visits at once. The cheapest ticket for 1.5 hours will cost 15 €, a daily subscription costs 23 €. You can buy tickets at the box office or in advance on the official website https://www.carasana.de/de/.
In terms of Caracalla must come with a bathing suit, slippers and a towel.
- Caracalla Therme is open every day from 8:00 to 22:00.
- This thermal complex is located almost in the very center of the resort, at the address: Römerpl 1, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany.
Friedrichsbad is a special attraction. This thermal complex is distinguished by a true imperial decoration atmosphere: it was built under Frederick I, at the end of the 19th century, and to this day has retained its magnificent image. The main asset of the complex is the oldest Roman-Irish baths in Europe, which have still preserved their traditions.
The structure of Friedrichsbad includes saunas and baths of various temperature conditions, pools with ice and warm mineral water, hot tubs and much more. According to the relaxation philosophy, which is adhered to in the terms of Friedrichsbad, the human body must go through 17 stages of purification – for this there is everything you need.
There are several types of entrance tickets, their main difference (in addition to price) in the number of procedures out of 17 possible. The cost of the shortest visit (3 hours) is 25 €, longer and richer programs reach 50 €.
Tickets are sold at the box office of the term and on the official website https://www.carasana.de/de/friedrichsbad.html.
Sheets and slippers in Friedrichsbad are given to all visitors, and bathing suits are not customary to wear here. But Monday, Thursday and Saturday are days when men and women visit the baths separately.
- Schedule: from 9:00 to 22:00 (last entrance at 18:00).
- Friedrichsbad Address: Roemerplatz 1, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany.
Baden-Baden Hotels
There are no extra-budgetary options for settling in this German resort. You can stay in rented apartments or hotels of different levels of “star rating”. Choosing a hotel in Baden-Baden (Germany) and booking a room for specific dates in advance is most convenient on Booking.com.
Rental apartments are in increasing demand. Equipped comfortable apartments in the central part of the resort can be rented for 100-170 € per day, at home for 250-300 €.
There are only a few 5 * hotels in Baden-Baden, and their luxurious service is priced accordingly: 200 € per night in a double room. There are a few more 4 * hotels, but the pricing policy is specific: you can find a good room for 100 €, and a mediocre one for 200 €. The best option for accommodation in this German resort is 3 * hotels: this is the most numerous category of hotels, so the choice is very large. As for prices, the average cost of living per day for two people will be 80-120 €, and then closer to the end of the high season.
Advice! To spend a vacation sparingly, you need to come to the resort by the end of October: along with a decrease in the flow of tourists, housing prices also drop. At this time, accommodation can cost 10-20% cheaper than in the high season, which lasts from May to mid-October.
sights
Although there are few who are partying and traditional tourist attractions the main purpose of a trip to the city of Baden-Baden in Germany, this resort still has something to see and where to have fun.
Gambling house Baden-Baden is the oldest and most famous not only in Germany, but throughout Europe. Many celebrities lost fortunes in this casino, Turgenev, Gogol, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky visited here.
The casino is located on the ground floor of the Kurhaus building, which was built in 1824 and recognized as perhaps the most striking architectural landmark of the city of Baden-Baden.
The design of the gaming halls, designed in the style of chambers of French palaces, amazes with its luxury. The largest and most beautiful hall – Florentine – is decorated with silks and gold, many paintings are hung on the walls.
Opportunities for “descent” of money are very numerous and diverse: American and simple roulette, poker, blackjack, 232 slot machines. Only visitors over the age of 21 are allowed to play games.
To enter the casino you need a ticket, it is valid throughout the day. Gaming halls are open daily from 14:00 to 03:00.
And from 10:00 to 14:00 every half hour in the casino conduct tours for 7 €, but only in German. There are descriptions in Russian at the box office.
Famous resort attraction: Grand Casino Baden, Kaiserallee 1, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany.
Lichtentaller Alley is a very unusual landmark of Baden-Baden (Germany). If you don’t know its history, you will see just a very nice walking alley in the city park, stretching for 2,300 meters along the banks of the Os River.
And if you look at the Lichtentaller alley, which in 2005 turned 350 years old, knowing its history, the important aristocratic “vanity fair” of Europe of the 19th century will open to your eyes. To know from all over the world who came to unwind “on the waters” of the famous resort, regularly walked along this boardwalk. But it was not just a promenade, but a hybrid of a catwalk and a star alley where the wealthiest people of Europe went out to show their expensive and fashionable outfits.
Important! Walking through the park, you need to know that some sections are private. They are fenced, and you cannot go over these fences.
Near the Lichtentaller alley there are beautiful buildings with a history, including many museums. Among them is the famous Frieder Burda Museum.
This attraction of Baden-Baden is relatively young: the opening of the famous museum took place in October 2004. Its exposition was created on the basis of the collection of Frieder Burda, which includes various exhibits of the 19th-20th centuries: more than 800 paintings, sculptures, and works of graphic art.
The core of the collection was the paintings of post-war German artists: Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter. Classical modernism is represented by canvases by German expressionists Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, August Macke. The collection also contains works by Picasso, belonging to his late expressive work.
Advice! Museum Frieder Burda often houses temporary traveling exhibitions, and permanent collections are cleaned for this period. Before visiting this attraction, it is advisable to check on the official website (https://www.museum-frieder-burda.de/de/home /) what exactly you can see at the moment.
Museum Frieder Burda of Baden-Baden (Germany) is strictly forbidden to take photos or videos! But the whole family can participate in the work of the children’s art workshop.
The Museum of Modern Art is open daily, except Mondays, from 10:00 to 18:00.
Entrance fees:
- for adults 14 €;
- for children from 9 years old – 5 €;
- for students under 26 years old – 11 €;
- for a family – 27 €.
Attraction address: Lichtentaler Allee 8B, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany.
Mount Merkur (668 m) is the highest mountain of the Black Forest. Its peak is a good place for a walk among the picturesque nature: there are a lot of hiking trails through the Black Forest.
At the top of Merkur, there are many opportunities for tourists to relax:
- sunbathing area with deckchairs;
- organized picnic areas and barbecue area;
- playground with slide and swing;
- a restaurant with national German cuisine and prices lower than in the center of Baden-Baden;
- launch area for paragliders.
A special attraction of Mount Merkur is a 23-meter-high tower with an observation platform, which you can climb to for free. The views from the tower offer spectacular views: the entire resort of Baden-Baden, the valleys of the Rhine and Murg rivers, the Vosges mountains, and the dense Black Forest.
Advice! The weather below and on Merkur can differ significantly, so you should definitely have warm clothes with you.
You can climb to the top on foot, but it can be tedious. On foot you can go down, and make the rise much more convenient on the funicular. Although, MerkurBergbahn, it is rather a mountain railway: 2 cars moving on steel cables, each of which has 18 seats and 12 standing places. MerkurBergbahn is a special local attraction: it began its work in 1913 and still has the longest and coolest route of all cable cars in Germany.
It works daily from 10:00 to 22:00, as well as by prior arrangement.
Advice! Periodically, the lift is closed for preventive maintenance for several days. When planning a trip, it is advisable to check if there are changes in his work schedule. Such information can be found on the official website: https://www.stadtwerke-baden-baden.de/de/mobilitaet-freizeit/merkurbahn/.
The lower station of the MerkurBergbahn railway is located at: Merkuriusberg 2, What3words: Luring.results.fenced, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany.
You can walk from the city to the station in about 30 minutes, but the path runs along a forest path and you must go uphill all the time. You can overcome this distance by bus: from railway station Baden-Baden, flights No. 204 and 205 leave, they go through the city center (make several stops) and drive right up to the ski lift.
A cable car ticket can only be bought for cash, the machine does not accept cards. By the way, you can purchase a combi pass from the bus driver, so the trip and lift will be cheaper. For children under 6 years of age, travel is free, for other passengers the prices are:
- ascent or descent: 2 € for adults and 1.3 € for children under 15 years old;
- Combi pass (round trip by bus, ascent and descent by funicular): for adults 5,7 €, for children under 15 years 3,1 €.
Advice! It is better to plan a walk to the top in the early morning: at 10: 00-10: 30 there are almost no people on MerkurBergbahn, and closer to dinner, there is a line of people who want to go up, and you have to spend time waiting and more.
In the North Black Forest, just 28 km from Baden-Baden, there is an amazing natural attraction – karst lake Mummelsee. It is located on the western slope of Mount Hornsgrind, at an altitude of 1036 m.
Lake Mummel is very small: 800 m in circumference, an area of 3.6 hectares, a depth of 18 m. But the lake looks bottomless, and all because the Black Forest stands around and, reflecting in the water, makes it incredibly dark.
The complete absence of all living creatures in the icy water, the fog often and completely unexpectedly rising above the water surface – all this gave rise to many beautiful legends about Mummelsee water and mermaids living on the bottom of the lake.
Lake Mummel attracts tourists not only for its beauty and legends, but also for its various opportunities for outdoor activities: boat trips, paragliding, hiking and cycling routes.
The lake also has a comfortable coastal hotel, a restaurant with traditional Black Forest dishes, a mini-bakery, shops with souvenirs, and a children’s playground known throughout the area for its delicious bread.
Advice! Going to the Mummelsee, you need to take warm clothes with you. Because of the altitude, it is always colder there than in the valley, and the weather can change several times a day.
- From the Baden-Baden resort to Mummelsee you can take bus number 245, which departs hourly from Leopold Platz. The trip lasts 45 minutes.
- Famous natural attraction: Schwarzwalderhochstrasse 11, Seebach, 76534 Baden-Baden, Germany.
How to get to Baden-Baden
The most comfortable way to get from the post-Soviet countries to the Baden-Baden resort in Germany is to fly by plane to Frankfurt and then go to the final destination by local transport.
Conveniently, the Fernbahnhof train station is located right inside the airport, from which trains leave for Baden-Baden several times a day. You can also leave from the central railway station Hauptbahnhof, and from there trains run more often. The approximate travel time of the German high-speed electric trains ICE (InterCityExpress) or IC (InterCity) traveling in this direction is 1.5 hours.
The type of carriage in these trains can be chosen independently, and the fare will directly depend on this choice – from 19 to 40 €. You can purchase tickets in one of the following ways:
- Buy at the box office of the railway station, and an additional fee of 2 € will be charged.
- Buy in a red vending machine with the DB logo – they are installed at the entrance to the platform.
- Order in advance on the website of the German company Deutsche Bahn. The ticket will be sent to e-mail, it must be printed out and it is with him to go to the gate.
On the website of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.com), you can also see the timetable and check the fare.
Prices on the page are for August 2019.
Those who value maximum comfort can take a taxi directly from Frankfurt Airport to Baden-Baden (Germany). You can order a car at the airport at the information desk, or pre-place an online order on the website Kiwitaxi, Intui.travel, etc. The cost of a taxi ride to the resort center is about 200-300 €. You need to have cash with you, since the terminals are not installed in all cars.
TOP 10 sights of Baden-Baden in Germany:
