Baden-Württemberg Budget Travel Guide helps you prepare for your trip to this lovely state in southern Germany. All the principal cities are listed out, along with useful information on how you can travel there.
About Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 federal states of Germany. It is located on the southwestern part of Germany, to the east of the Upper Rhine. Baden-Wurttemberg has many of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River. Among these cities include Tübingen, the state capital Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Heidelberg, and Mannheim. With an area of 35,742 square kilometers (13,800.1 sq mi) and 10.7 million inhabitants (both almost equivalent to all of Belgium), it is third largest German state in both area and population.
Baden-Württemberg was created in 1951 out of the historical states of Baden, Hohenzollern and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia. After World War II Allied forces established three states: Württemberg-Hohenzollern, South Baden (both occupied by France), and Württemberg-Baden (US-occupied). In 1949 these three states became parts of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution however allowed for those states to merge. These states were merged on 25 April 1952 to form Baden-Württemberg.
The Rhine (German: Rhein) forms the western border of Baden-Württemberg as well as large portions of the southern border. The Black Forest (Schwarzwald), the main mountain range of the state, rises east of the Rhine valley. The Swabian Alb, a high plateau between the Neckar, the Black Forest and the Danube is an important European watershed. Baden-Württemberg shares both Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the foothills of the Alps with Switzerland. The Danube (Donau) river has its source in Baden-Württemberg near the town of Donaueschingen, in a place called Furtwangen in the Black Forest.
Budget Travel Guide to Cities in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Baden A spa town at the edge of the Black Forest
Calw A little town that is the birthplace of the author Herman Hesse.
Freiburg Regarded as the Jewel of the Black Forest, a major city at the edge of the forest.
Heidelberg Home to the oldest university in Germany and a major tourist destination on the Neckar river valley.
Heilbronn A small city in the state.
Karlsruhe City on the northern side of the Black Forest, close to the border with France.
Konstanz City on the southern part of Germany, on the border with Switzerland and beside Lake Bodensee.
Mannheim City on the northwest corner of Baden-Württemberg, where the River Neckar meets the Rhine.
Pfullendorf Historic city in the state.
Stuttgart Budget Travel Guide Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Get to know the city and how you can explore it on a budget.
T&uum;bingen University town near the very heart of Baden-Württemberg.
Ulm Town near the border of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, with the tallest church steeple in the world.
Budget Travel to Baden-Württemberg
By Air
The Stuttgart International Airport is the main airport for flights to Baden-Württemberg. Frankfurt Airport (FRA), the busiest airport in mainland Europe is, although not in Baden Württemberg, just 1 hour from Stuttgart main station via high speed ICE trains. Low-cost carriers offer services to the local airports of Karlsruhe-Baden Baden and Friedrichshafen.
Take Note: "Frankfurt Hahn", the big hub for low-fares airlines should not to be confused with FRA. It has no train station and is quite remote. While it is possible to get from Hahn into Baden-Württemberg rather conveniently, but is more convenient to go from FRA.
By Train
All major cities in Baden-Württemberg are connected through the Deutsche Bahn rail system. Ulm, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Freiburg are even connected by the ICE high speed trains that travel at up to 190 mph (300km/h)). Tickets can be booked via the Deutsche Bahn Website.
Baden-Württemberg (as well as some other regions in Germany) offers a special regional train ticket (in this case, the Baden-Württemberg ticket). It is valid for one day from 9am. With this ticket up to five people can use all regional trains within Baden-Württemberg for 30 Euro alltogether (18 EURO for a single ticket). That means you can use all trains except InterCity(IC), InterCityExpress(ICE), EuroCity(EC) and some special trains. As it is valid for up to five people you can ask others, if they want to get to the same direction and share their ticket.
Budget Travel within Baden-Württemberg
To fully explore Baden-Württemberg, it is best that you get a car. If you are travelling in the Black Forest or the Swabian Alb during winter, bring snow chains as some smaller roads may not be plowed frequently enough. When travelling on the Autobahn, the same precautions as everywhere on German high speed roads apply: If you're not willing (and prepared) to drive consistently above 80 mph (130 km/h), stay on the right. Make room for people trying to overtake, use your common sense, don't drive faster than you can think.
Where to Stay
Use the Budget Accommodation Guide to look for affordable accommodation in hostels, guesthouses and inns in Baden-Württemberg.
Find lowest price for your Hotel Room
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
