Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen

Schwäbisch Gmünd

Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen lie on the “short” road from Stuttgart to Nuremberg. Here the Swabian Alb ends, passing into the hilly Swabia, with deep winding valleys in which tributaries of the Neckar flow – three tributaries begin near Aalen. Previous generations fully appreciated the landscape: the Romans and medieval Swabians left in the region the remains of ancient Roman fortresses and a chain of half-timbered towns with city walls.
The region is suitable for excursions from Stuttgart or Ulm or for short holidays.

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High Black Forest map

Freiburg Black Forest

The High Black Forest is the southern part of the mountain range around the Feldberg mountain. This part is named high for a simple reason – here is the highest point of the Black Forest. The set includes narrow mountain roads, high, albeit thin, waterfalls and gorges.
After the Triberg waterfall, Lake Titisee and Feldberg are the second point of attraction for the largest number of tourists, which is facilitated by the only convenient federal road from east to west in the Black Forest, passing from Freiburg past Titisee, and a greater amount of snow on the mountain in winter.

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Schwäbisch Hall. Pie and Spring Festival

Schwäbisch Hall Pie and Spring festival Kuchen und Brunnen Fest

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.

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Local public transport in Germany

Local public transport in Germany / Nahverkehr in Deutschland

The Deutsche Bahn website, of course, shows a lot, but still not everything. It does not show local public transport tariffs, and local tickets will also have to be bought from regional transport associations.

Federal railway fares apply if you are traveling to another region. Therefore, it may turn out that traveling with the family for 10 minutes to a neighboring city will take as much money as 40 minutes to a neighboring region, because Deutsche Bahn included children in an adult ticket, but local public transport system requires ticket for them.

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From Ulm to Ellwangen. Albtrauf and Bavarian Swabia

Swabian Alb Albtrauf Schwäbische Alb

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.

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Bad Teinach Zavelstein castle and crocus fields

Zavelstein Krokusblüte / Zavelstein 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.

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Trains in Germany

This topic is all about trains in Germany: how to buy a ticket online or from a vending machine, what signs can be on the platform and on the train, what tickets are available for local trains, and what discount tickets you can buy for day trips. The topic is divided into two parts. In the first federal railways, the site bahn.de, buying tickets for long routes. In the second part, everything related to Regional transport in Germany

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Schwetzingen. Cherry blossom garden

Schwetzingen

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.

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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.

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