There´s a quote in the center of Baden Baden by Bill Clinton that reads, "Baden-Baden is so nice, you have to say it twice." Its a cute quote, but it doesnt quite convey just how "nice" it is here. Let me explain why this place should be re-named: Baden-baden-baden-baden.

First of all, why did we decided to bike out of our way to Baden-baden? Well, of course, after viewing Rick Steves Travel Show in which he raved about Baden-baden´s Roman-Irish bath house spa. And since this city inspired writers like Mark Twain and Dostoevsky, we had high expectations for this city. We were not dissapointed. Here is why:

A Long Awaited Change of Scenery

Before we arrived in Baden-baden, morale was low after a few rainy nights and few deep inhalations of industrial fumes. We were happy to leave the uninspiring route along the Rhein and turn toward the first hills of the Black forest. We immediatly felt a change in ambiance from the Rhein path as we followed a rivervalley toward the city. Baden-baden is not large and urban, nor is it small town. The main center and several little neighborhoods are nestled in between forested hills in bold fall colors.

An Elegant Little City

Although our (very cheap) hotel was a bit outside of the city center, it was a pleasant commute. Cruising on our delightfully unweighted bikes, we could follow a park along a babbling brook right into the center. Romantic foot bridges led to dramatically lit mansions across the brook.

The Inspiring Topography

Baden-baden is cradled by beautiful, gold and green hills. The first thing we wanted to do here was hike up on top of one and see even more hills. Maybe we just miss the Northwest. We started our second day here hiking up Merkur, a popular viewpoint. We skipped out on the well-used cable car taking visitors up to the top. The summit had a little restaurant and a look out tower with a 360 degree view. Beautiful. But most importantly, way over on the next hill, we saw intruiging cliffs that looked climbable. And whats more, there were castle ruins just left of these cliffs...only in Europe.

We were so curious about these cliffs that we spent an extra day here to check them out. We took a bus into the highest neighborhood on that hill and got off. Then we just walk which ever way went uphill into this random neighborhood and somehow we found a trail head that led to the cliffs. I really can´t believe we didn´t get lost. We walked along the trail and discovered that these cliffs are well developed for sport climbing. There are bolted routes everywhere and we found many that inspired us. After spending all afternoon feeling the rock and wanting to move here, we hiked a few meters to the local, yes, castle ruin that we had spotted from Merkur. It was larger than we expected. The old tower offered more inspiring views and the dungeon below was a bit chilling.

Well, that should be enough reason for us to want to simply stay here in Baden-baden...but hold on! I havent even gotten to the best part!!!

Roman Bath Culture

(aka. Spa day like you wouldnt believe!)

Baden-Baden is perhaps best known for its bathing experience. There are two spas: 1) Caracalla: a modern spa experience in a stunning glass building 2) Friedrichsbad: a large and decadent Roman-irish Bathhouse built in the late 19th century on top of ancient Roman Bath ruins. It is the site of a natural hot spring with therapudic properties.
The Friedrichsbad brochure proudly quotes Mark Twain: “At Friedrichsbad you lose track of time within 10 minutes and track of the world within 20…” I would agree mostly with Twain exept that it took me a little more than 10 minutes to loose track of time. We were admittedly nervous about having to be naked through all 17 stages of bathing, some of which were mixed, male and female. But we ended up really enjoying the experience. Freidrichsbad is a sanctuary, a space where, becease no one has clothing, everyone is at the same level, the same status. Everyone just lounges around in calm bliss, inhaling the therapudic steam, swimming in natural mineral baths while looking up at the hand painted tiled domed ceiling, reveling in the soap and scrub brush massage...there are 17 different stages! Afterwards, I felt like a Roman goddess.
And finally, guess how much this costs...thats right, less than 30 Euro.

Now you understand why it is silly not to live here. Hills, babbling brook, climbing next to castles, Roman bath house...

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