Ingolstadt, an urban district in the state of Bavaria (Bayern), Germany, is “influenced” by the Danube River (since it flows through it! :-)) It’s somewhat famous as it accommodates the German automobile manufacturer Audi.

In the beginning it was much like a citadel city, when it turned into an enclosed defensive wall in later years.

In the midst of an affluent and significant past record, it is considered as a historical city in the spirit of Bavaria. It has some fascinating sights and landmarks!

The city’s most celebrated milestone is the Minster of Our Lady (Liebfrauenmünster), hailed among some of the biggest and most striking Gothic hall churches in southern Germany. The Maria de Victoria Church, built around 1732–1736, is a jewel of Bavarian rococo architecture.

The Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus), which saw its foundations in the 16th century, could only be completed at the end of the 19th century. The extended amount of time however was utilized effectively to redesign it in the way of the Renaissance. It was only from the time of 1985 that the town hall got off to its original function as Ingolstadt’s Mayoral residence.

Ingolstadt’s schedule is jam-packed by means of events throughout the year. There are certain supreme tourist attractions that cannot be missed.

For example, at the period of the celebratory time, the Christmas market stands for an incredible atmosphere. It’s crammed in the midst of the charming fragrance of Glühwein and roasted almonds.

Or the City Carnival, which starts in summer in the group of some widespread programs of cultural events. It keeps the momentum till the autumn by the jazz festivals which jazz enthusiast from around the world spellbound the crowd.

As for museums and arts, there’s the Toy Museum, a mesmerizing interactive museum where guests are specifically encouraged to get involved and have fun. Then the Alf Lechner Museum, dedicated to Alf Lechner (a renowned steel sculptors), is an inclusive museum of present-day art. Or what about the Museum of Concrete Art, which is brought into play as a site for concerts, discussions and talks.

Also, in Ingolstadt, there are innumerable private galleries, providing art aficionados an occasion to witness effort by regional artists together with some nationally and internationally acclaimed names.

The Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald District in the south of the state of Baden-Württemberg is where you’ll find the best of the best of the Black Forest area (a.k.a. Schwarzwald). OK, some might argue with that, but at least that’s based upon my own experience. ;-)

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald District Map

Where should I start… with the two incredible lakes, Titisee and Schluchsee, inviting to relax, walk, swim, and fish? Plus, the nearby incredibly cute town of Titisee-Neustadt. Or what about the countless small, curvy streets leading through the Black Forest, which are covered by snow in winter?

Ah, of course there are also some townships in this district, and they’re all awesome. This is all there is to it. Awesome.

Of course, you’ll find countless cuckoo clocks here since the Black Forest is the “Headquarter” of that item. :-)

The favorite hang out spot of Europe’s royal authorities in the 1800s, Baden-Baden is arguably Germany’s most popular resort town smack in the middle-west of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), attracting thousands and thousands of tourists every year that come to bathe and relax.

Built on a series of hills in the state of Baden-Württemberg, close to Karslruhe, the area is full of green parks, towering architecture, and concert halls. And it owns an impressive collection of marble spas and fresh mineral water along with steam baths and massage parlors.

In addition, it comes lush with vineyards and ancient type settings which makes it an ideal wine region.

In order to get to this town by plane, you usually must take commuter flights from larger cities like Frankfurt, Munich, or Berlin (unless you own your own plane). Or some direct flights are offered through certain low-cost airlines from Rome, London, Dublin, and other major European cities to the local Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport [FKB].

Traveling by train? Any major metropolitan center dispatches trains to and from Baden-Baden on the house.

When it comes to nightlife and shopping, it all starts with the 150 year old Baden-Baden Casino. It is Germany’s oldest gambling establishment and looks familiar to the Palace of Versailles. And as an upper scale casino, it requires actual suits and ties — something even Las Vegas and Atlantic City don’t ask of its patrons!

In addition, there are plenty of bars to choose from. The town also comes with nice boutiques and stylish shops, especially on Lange Straße and Lichtentaller Straße where popular brands like Chanel and Prada have set up shops. Side streets also come with cozy shops that sell antiques, arts & crafts, and jewelry.

But this spot is most renowned for its spas and bathing programs. Males and females are also separate, and spas come equipped with attendants that pamper you to the fullest. There are two major spas, the Caracalla spa and the Roman Irish spa in the Friedrichsbad.

The Caracalla spa is rumored to be the ex-bathing place of the Roman Emperor Caracalla and comes with 12 natural springs rising from depths of 2,000 m (6,500 ft). Included are whirlpools and waterfalls along with massage water jets that would turn a construction worker’s body soft. Both spas won’t put a dent on your wallet as their prices are very reasonable.

All in all, the Baden-Baden resort town at the border to the Black Forest should excite you, too. :-)

Karlsruhe is a German urban district city with 308,000 inhabitants. It is situated close to the French-German border in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. Together with its metropolitan region, it is the center for shopping and cultural events for about 1 million people.

And the city is famous for two Supreme Courts, the Federal Constitutional Court and Federal Court of Justice. Because of this it’s also being called as Home of German Justice.

The city was established by Margarve Karl Whilhelm in 1715 (yup, that late) after a clash with the general public of his earlier capital, Durlach. The origin of the city is closely linked to the establishment of the palace. It became the principal capital of Baden-Durlach until 1771, afterward the capital of Baden until 1945.

The Ständehaus was the first parliament house in a German State constructed in 1822. In the consequences of the democratic revolution, a republican government was selected here.

The city has one of the most famous transport circles around the globe for establishing the plan of operating trams on train tracks, to reach a more efficient and attractive public transport system. This helps us to reach other towns in the regions like Ettlingen, Pforzheim, Bad Wildbad, Bretten, Bruchsal, Heilbronn, Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt in the Black Forest right from the city center!

Karlsruhe is linked using highways and rail, with Autobahn and ICE high-speed train links going to Frankfurt, Stuttgart/Munich and Freiburg/Basel.

Frankfurt International, one of the major airports in Europe with every day direct connections to the United States, Australia and Asia, can be reached within an hour. Same with Baden-Baden, the city with Roman-era spas and Germany’s largest opera house, can be reached with public transportation from Karlsruhe’s city center within 15 minutes only.

The city is a nice and pleasant one and a joy for shoppers. The main city offers a magnificent blend of small fashion boutiques and large department stores.

And there are excellent parks and woods all over the city. More than 800 hectares of public parks and green spaces provide a wide range of calm places in which you can relax and slow down. Some of the city’s highlights are the palace gardens, botanical gardens, as well as the city park and zoo.

For example, from Turmberg hill and Karlsburg Palace in Durlach, accessible by funicular, you can enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the entire city and the Rhineland Plain as far as Alsace.

The surroundings are not being affected by heavy industries. We can see many interesting places like, The State Theater of Baden, a large concert hall, jazz clubs, several museums, art collections, and galleries. The globally famous Center for Art and Media Technology (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) displays the huge collection of German modern-day media art.

In the main city, we can find market square and the popular Pyramid, which can be found on most postcards. The Renaissance-style Gottesaue Palace and Karlsburg Palace in Durlach are also very famous.

At the end of July, there is happening Das Fest, one of Germany’s biggest open-air music parties. Many people around the world gather for the three-day event to watch the several top international pop and rock bands — for free!

Looking for a bed?

There are several famous hotels like the Best Western Queens Hotel, Elite ALFA, Hotel Blankenburg, Allvitalis Traumhotel, Ringhotel Residenz, and Ambassador.

Karlsruhe has an active nightlife and club scene, and many bars and restaurants offer joyful hours on food and drinks to attract people — including YOU. ;-)

The Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis represents one of the best areas of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald)! It is located in the south of the state of Baden-Württemberg, connecting to Lake Constance (Bodensee) in its south. It has astonishing beautiful towns and villages, which I listed below…

Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis Map

Wanna bring a popular, cute German cuckoo clock back home? Or are you aiming for a relaxing spa vacation in one of the Black Forest wellness resorts? The healthy and stimulating climate of the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis is what attracts the most.

Whether it’s the Sole Health Bath (Soleheilbad) in Bad Dürrheim, the German Clock Museum (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum) in Furtwangen, the world famous Triberg Water Falls in Triberg, the Jazz-festival “VS swingt” in Villingen-Schwenningen, or the närrische Fasnet taking place throughout the district, these are all “brand names” and must-see discoveries in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis.

Freiburg im Breisgau is located at the southern part of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), near to France and Switzerland, in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. OK, some say it’s really in the Black Forest. Just go up the hills and you’re in there, right. ;-)

It’s famous for its universities, churches, and its medieval treasures. The city has a flourishing artistic scene that includes street musical group and artists, concerts and plays. From music festival to Carnival to wine festival, Freiburg’s abundant festivals and fairs presents something for all kind of people.

Freiburg is ideally located among the Kaiserstuhl region and the Rhineland Plains. There are also an abundance of green oases in the city itself, magnificent estate and parks, Schlossberg hill, the cautiously tended public gardens, the botanical gardens, and the Mooswald woodland with its thermal mineral baths.

As a matter of fact, the city is considered an Eco City since the Greens (a German party focusing on keeping our world-wide environment intact, so to speak) have a very strong hand here. Even the city’s major is of that party. The citizens have a vital interest in making good use of “green powers.” And the solar power industry have a couple headquarters here.

This is also due to the fact that Freiburg is a city with the most sun hours of all of Germany.

The botanical gardens are skillfully administered. They are chiefly used nowadays for education and research reasons and for the protection of uncommon flora, although the attractive and broad range of plant selection is also open for viewing.

The city’s building and culture are outstanding, too. You can get, of course, cuckoo clocks here but for the most part, you may wanna enjoy the elements that make the city so rewarding to visit… Chronological buildings, tasty wine, very comfortable climate, and the region’s natural attractiveness.

And in Old Town (Altstadt), there’s a small canal running through that area, providing water “for whatever reason.” Just take care not to step into that small “river.” ;-)

All in all, it is a very pleasant spot for traveling around the nearby towns and trails of the southern Black Forest, in addition to the vineyards of the nearby Breisach area, and in addition to the Eco City itself.

You’ll certainly enjoy your time here; so do I, always. :-)

Villingen-Schwenningen, which is to be found in the south of Baden-Württemberg, is the largest city of the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis. It lies on the eastern periphery of the stunningly beautiful (and world famous) Black Forest (Schwarzwald), about 700 meters above sea level.

The city’s history, which takes pleasure in a range of industries, goes back as far as to the year 817. Villingen was a town under Austrian lordship in the Middle Ages and throughout the Protestant Reformation, it stayed put as Catholic. It hogged limelight when overwhelmed by marshal Tallard in 1704. Schwenningen lingered as a village until the 19th century.

The first watch factory was set up in 1858. Both the towns, Villingen and Schwenningen were combined by the part of the Baden-Württemberg territorial reform of 1972. At the time of the merging, a number of surrounding villages were taken together to form the city of Villingen-Schwenningen.

The two halves of the town however are estranged by a flat terrain or plateau. The town enjoys a type of status in a range of industries and specially well-known for its cuckoo clocks which are manufactured here.

Not only for the watches, it is even fairly trendy for its way of living. In this twin town, you could get to the other part in about 10 minutes by car or train or 20 minutes by bus.

The German Clock Route, which starts and ends at Villingen-Schwenningen, is a spherical tour of discovery. This route runs in the region of 300 km (186 mi) in the course of the most good-looking and scenic parts of the Black Forest and Baar holiday regions.

Few of the places which feature along the route are Rottweil, Waldkirch and Titisee-Neustadt. The route, which could be the ideal introduction to the Black Forest clock making convention, boasts of some captivating museums and places of interest all along its length. Clock industrial units, workshops and clock face painting studios all present a revealing insight into their daily work.

Villingen-Schwenningen offers a number of places of interest to look out for. The Town Wall and the Municipal Art Gallery are places to spend some time in. Museums, as the Franziskaner Museum and the Schwenningen Clock Museum are accepted world wide.

The Minster of Our Lady is yet another significant building in the city. If you’re an art lover, and take a special interest in theater works, the Theater am Ring is there to quench your desire.

The Wanne Observation Tower, an elevated tower right in middle of the city, comes among the oldest towers built of iron.

The Biberach District, which lies in the south of Baden-Württemberg, is the symbiosis between an commercial economy and rural area, unlocked for innovative technologies.

Biberach District Map

The first licensed general-purpose biotechnology plant in Europe is here in this district, having one of the lowest unemployment rate of Germany.

But the Biberach district has not only technical attractions. It is considered “The Holiday and Leisure Region Between Danube (Donau) and Lake Constance (Bodensee).” This is due to its extensive use of lakes and baths, courses for riding bike in summer or skiing in winter, or simply experience and enjoy pure nature as it’s supposed to be.

For example, the Öchsle Schmalspurbahn, a legendary old train that had its first day in 1899 and, as a museum train, is still running today — between Warthausen and Ochsenhausen.

Or what about wellness… The Adelindis Therme, a spa in Bad Buchau, is a paradise when you’re looking for recovery and relaxation. It has a bath with 47°C (117°F) hot water, coming out of 800m depth, and containing health-promoting minerals.

Are you interested in beer? I know, Germany without beer is like tomato soup without tomato. Then go ahead and visit the Beer Mug Museum (Bierkrugmuseum) in Bad Schussenried. It has astonishing beautiful and funny mugs, and the beer is just amazingly good.

Last but not least, the Biberacher Schützenfest (Shooting Festival), a unique costume and carnival “party” in Biberach an der Riß is one of the many attractions taking place throughout the year here in the Biberach district.

So let’s get here! :-)

Alb-Donau-Kreis surrounds the urban district Ulm and lies in the south of the state of Baden-Württemberg, being permeated by the Danube (Donau) river.

Its towns and villages are listed below…

Alb-Donau-Kreis Map

The Alb-Donau-Kreis has many faces and is a region where you can spend some active holidays and enjoy a lot of fun. There is much to discover between the Swabian Alb and the Danube Valley.

Here you’re going to find the deepest accessible cave of Germany (in Laichingen), some exciting caves with enormous stalagmites and far branched out courses, deep mystic springs, essential archaeological findings, and those nearly 40-thousand years old ice age art figures.

Take advantage of all the historical towns, centuries-old monasteries, manorial castles and palaces, because they offer the frameworks for a surely unforgettable vacation here in this district.

The Paderborn District is a district in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), which offers countless opportunities for leisure and fun.

Paderborn District Map

Enjoy the Senne landscape with its pine trees and heath lands. Or what about the Delbrücker Land in the North-West with its generous fields and meadows. Not to forget, of course, the Karst landscape of the Paderborner plateau and the adjacent Egge Mountains. Last but not least, the Northern Sauerland with the Aabach reservoir.

Since it’s of a flat country, you’ll find plenty of opportunities for cycling and walking here. Or do you enjoy activities for pampering your body and soul? Well, here’s the place to do so!

Sure enough though, if you like shopping (like I do), the first go-to spot is certainly Paderborn, the districts capital, which they call themselves a “cozy small town with city character.” :-)

And if you love spas and fitness, then put Bad Lippspringe on your itinerary, too.