This topic is about the Moselle and Rhine Valley boat tours, welcome cards in the region and the rather complicated public transport tariff system around Frankfurt to Koblenz. The difficulty lies in the fact that the tourism region is divided into Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, and they have very different attitudes towards public transport.
South-West Germany
Attractions around Frankfurt am Main, along the Rhine to Koblenz
Map of attractions around Frankfurt am Main and along the Rhine from Frankfurt up to Koblenz.
Rhine castles from Kaub to Koblenz and Lorelei rock
We continue the story of the Rhine castles. In this part, we will explore the central and most picturesque part of the Rhine valley from Kaub to Koblenz, where the Lorelei rock is located. Here the banks of the Rhine become higher, and each castle has its own romantic history.
Schwäbisch Hall. Pie and Spring Festival
The first part was about Schwäbisch Hall picturesque old town. Not only buildings here are old, but also the traditions. Pie and Spring Festival (Kuchen- und Brunnenfest) dates from 1316.
Already the Celts discovered a source of salt in these places and founded the first saltworks. Thanks to this source, the city flourished in the Middle Ages.
From Ulm to Ellwangen. Albtrauf and Bavarian Swabia
Let’s see what is interesting in the Swabian hinterland. Swabians live both in Bavaria (Bavarian Swabia region) and in most of Baden-Württemberg. On this map, it will be an extension of the Swabian Alb – an upland that abruptly breaks off towards Stuttgart – and its spur Albtrauf, passing into the Danube valley.
Bad Teinach Zavelstein castle and crocus fields
Once the inhabitants of the small town Zavelstein thought about the fact that the use of the land kills wild crocuses, and decided to fix it. First, they fenced off a piece of the fiel. Then they achieved that almost the entire field near their village fell under protection. They did not give it away for the construction of houses, did not build a nursing home, did not plow it up for rapeseed. But simply guarded so that once a year you could look at purple fields.
Schwetzingen. Cherry blossom garden
Not far from Speyer or Mannheim, on the way to Heidelberg, is the city of Schwetzingen.
There is a summer residence built for the electors of the Palatinate in the 18th century. The palace with the rococo-style theater has been partially preserved, but the main attraction, which claimed to be included in the UNESCO list, is the palace park, modeled after Versailles. In my opinion, UNESCO is maybe a little too much for them, but the park is really picturesque.
Tourist and guest cards of Lake Constance
Around Lake Constance there are three countries, three cantons (five if you count the sub-cantons), three federal states and God knows how many smaller administrative units. In general, they try to cooperate in the field of tourism and this cooperation has resulted in the form of guest cards of Lake Constance. But they are not always as profitable as we would like. So plan carefully if you’re on a budget.
Public transport around Lake Constance
Lake Constance is large, and the road that goes around it is narrow and there is only one. The speed there is severely limited almost everywhere, and for those who are too fast, not noticing the signs, there are radars. There is almost always a traffic jam from may to september, because of too many people.
Public transport can help, but it is not cheap. This page is about what public transport around Lake Constance is available. Read more about guest and tourist cards – Tourist and guest cards of Lake Constance
Schiltach in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald)
Preparing for the travel I rated for myself Schiltach in the Black Forest as “a particularly picturesque city” from the descriptions and photographs. Reality confirmed it: Schiltach is indeed a very picturesque town, very half-timbered and very floral. Unfortunately, we got into a midday break and could not go to the pharmacy museum, but we had a wonderful walk und visited another museum.
The town is located at the confluence of two rivers. To complete the picture, some kind of castle is missing. The castle was, but it is all over. There is only the castle hill, a covered wooden bridge and ruins remained – the rest was sold for building materials at the end of the 18th century.