Both of us spent much time of our lives almost 15 years ago in Germany and never went back. And, what’s most, we never went there together. Funny thing is that one of our first dates, if not the first, was for me to help Guillem to refresh his German as he was joining the language school without warranties about it. This time, we spent 10 days in der Schwarzwald, the Black Forest, which we have heard and read a lot about being Winter Wonderland and indeed it is. We dreamed with snow and Weinachtmatkts, and it was all of it except for the snow (which could have been a pain for us as we weren’t really prepared for it).

Day 1: Freiburg

We landed in Basel (mostly known by me as the paradise of art expos and especially, luxury watches expos) and we landed there around 11:30, we took a Flixbus to Freiburg Central Station and as it was severely delayed, it was free of charge for us. As this trip included many baths, we went straight away to a shopping gallery to purchase bathing suits and sandals. We discovered Galeria Kaufhof, and it’s amazing (we didn’t even dare to visit shopping spaces when we spent some time in Germany in the past as we were students). We had lunch at the incredible Dean & David for 30€ (amazing salads) and bought some basic stuff in Kaufland for 23€ (sandals were purchased here together with breakfast stuff and fruit). We took a small trip in U-bahn for 1,70€ each and had some Glühwein in the Weinachtsmarkt for 4€. Very important to know the concept of “Pfand”, which is the diposit you pay for every glass you take (around 3€) and will be returned to you once you hand it back.

Day 2: Freiburg + Titisee

We went straight to Titisee, a very picturesque plac e because of its lake. Had breakfast for 13€ at a local coffee place and the train tickets were around 6€. The entrance fee to the baths were 71€ for both of us and I can tell you it was totally worth it. The space has hot baths, cold baths, dry saunas, wet saunas, slides, restaurants, bars, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Lunch for both was 29€ and we had some pasta and couscous. Then we went back to Freiburg for 6€ and had dinner at a brewery called Feierling for around 30€, the ambiance was amazing and they served local food. Simple and good.

Day 3: Offenburg & Gengenbach

We had breakfast at Freiburg in the Liebes Bisschen. A coffe, a hot and spicy chocolate and a couple of croissants were around 13€. Later, we took the train to Offenburg, left our stuff there and went straight away to Gengenbach, the dream town. It really was one of the highlights of this trip, for real. The train was 2,9€ per person and it took us 8 minutes to get there from Offenburg. We had lunch at a kebab for 18€ and some Glühwein for 4€ at Gengenbach and went back to Offenburg for 2,9€ again. We had dinner at the Weinachtsmarkt there for 20€, which included one Rotewurst, 2 glühweins, fries and a crazy kinder bueno doughnut. It’s very important to highlight that all of that was purchased with cash as credit card isn’t accepted at most of the stalls in the markets.

Day 4: Offenburg & Strasbourg

We took the train from Offenburg to Strasbourg and it has to be purchased via the French app SNCF and it can be troublesome, please be careful. It takes 30 minutes from Offenburg and it costs 22€ for the both of us. We took a nice 6km walk and went to the Lafayette Galleries, which I loved and before it we had a very nice breakfast at Dreher 1959 in Offenburg, which possible was the best and most worth it of the trip. We had lunch at NYP Burgers, a super cool place, very American, with nice music for 30€ and then walked around the beautiful Strasbourg. Keep in mind that it was the 24th of December and everything was closed or about to close, so spazieren was our only choice from 15:00 onwards. We happened to discover the Strasbourg Parliament in the way of our trekk and it was a very nice finding.

Our Christmas night dinner took place at Le Metheor for 50€ and we had the famous tarte flambé and some pork knuckle (bad for us, we still remember the polish pork knuckle and comparisons here aren’t favorable).

Day 5: Heidelberg & Karlsruhe

We took the train from Offenburg to Heidelberg and decided to stop midways (as the train ticket doesn’t force you to do it all the way at once) at Karlsruhe, where we left our luggage at the station luggage lockers for 5€. We also had a fast breakfast at the station for 9€. The train was one of the ICEs, which are the high velocity ones, and it was 74€ for both of us. Here we had one of the coolest experiences of the trip: a trek in the Obenwald park, a natural park with plenty of wild animals in their very ample sections. We saw reindeers, camels, goats and other animals. We later had lunch at the only open place that day, which was the 25th of December, McDonalds for 18€ both. Later we took the U-bahn to the Hauptbahnhof, which was 6,5€ both and went straight back to Heidelberg, where we spent a lot of time looking for a place to have dinner and our only chance ended being a Rewe at a gas station for 13€. A couple of salads and something for the next day’s breakfast.

Day 6: Heidelberg

A surprise for us: the 26th of December is also celebrated hugely in Germany!! Another thing in common with Catalonia. We left the hotel at 11:00 and visited the Heidelberg’s Schloss at 12:00. It was crazy full of people and the tickets were 9€ per person but we loved the mix of the town, the castle, the restaurants, etc. Unexpected experience: the Playmobil expo at the castle. Shoutout to the Altstadt and the Weinachtsmarkt there. We had a crazy big schnitzel and full meal for 48€ in a restaurant in the main street and we really needed it, so it felt amazing. We had one of the best coffees of the trip here, at Ettli, I had a pistachio coffee and my partner had a macchiato, both of us for 9€. Later we took a stroll around the Philosopher’s Path (careful, the way up is quite hilly, but you can take some breaks up there and take a breath). Again, for dinner it was mission impossible, so we went to Rossmas 365 (as we had an aparthotel we could cook a bit) for 9€.

Day 7: Baden-Baden

Well, well, well… the craziest stop of the trip. Warning: you will feel like a povvo in this town, but it’s really worth it. On our first day, we took a train there for 31€, later a bus to the station which was 6,2€ for the both of us and had a fast breakfast at a bäkerei and coffe in the town for 10€. We took a hike up to the Wasserparadis, checked the main streets, went to the Trinkhalle and had lunch at the Weinachtsmarkt for 27€, but careful: it was one of the biggest markets we ever saw, just in front of the iconic casino of Baden Baden and we had 1 glühwein, 1 beer, 1 stick of meat and bread, 1 pommes frittes, 1 rottwurst and 1 waffle. I mean… you can’t get it any better in the f***g Baden Baden. From there, we went to Caracalla, where we had an offer that gave us 1 extra free hour for staying at our hotel. The baths are really nice in general, but please pay for the saunas area!!!!! It’s a fully naked space but don’t be scared at all, you need your towel to protect your ass from the hot wood and all of that and everyone does the same (some people also cover themselves with it). The forest area of Caracalla (where the saunas are) is amazing, why? Because it’s quite cold out there and you must do the path with your towel only and then feel amazing in the 85 degrees sauna (there are 3 of them with different temperatures and an exterior jacuzzi). Inside there are also many enjoyable routes you can follow, so have fun. It’s only 24€ per person. When we got out, we had dinner at an Italian osteria for 40€ (pizzas and beer) and went to Netto to buy some stuff for breakfast the next morning.

Day 8: Baden- Baden

Breakfast with what we purchased the next day and, later, a coffee in a Michelin starred coffee place: Kafeehaus, for 10€ only 1 coffee and 1 hot chocolate. As it was raining cats and dogs, we went window shopping (stores there weren’t affordable for us) and ended up spending more than 2 hours and 30€ in an amazing bookstore: Thalia. I happened to know Thalia before as I purchased an e-book from them before, but their stores are just crazy!!! The best books have handwritten recommendations by the shop assistants, and you just want to buy everything. Prices are really affordable too, and I thought I wouldn’t get such a good chance of getting real good German novels physically, so I got 2 of them. We had dinner at Doneria for 27,5€ and another couple of coffees at the main street for 10€, we loved it as well, Böckeler. We walked up and down the river and main park getting just mesmerized by the crazy mansions with their own bridge to the river at the other side of it and the rich people walking around. We even saw a girl riding her horse at the park.

That night we decided to go to the Casino. Careful here, men need a blazer and if they don’t bring it, the Casino can rent you one for 10€. The entrance fee is 5€ per person and you can bet if you want. We did and only lost 4€. The casino is just gorgeous, very Renaissance style and classic, but the best is seeing people walk around with their looks and how they get obsessed with some roulettes or games.

Day 9: Baden Baden + Stuttgart

That morning we went straight to the Friedrichsbad, our third and last thermal bath of the trip. It was 35€ per person but totally worth it. It’s way more classic and Roman than Caracalla, they give you towels and sandals the whole time and you only need to be there naked and enjoy the experience. The whole route is quite easy to follow and at the end, you can even take a nap at a room full with beds and covers!!! Everything is very hygienic so don’t worry about it. We had lunch at an Italian place called Pepe for 37€. everything was ok, but the coffee and croissant alone were 10€, which made us not entirely like the place.

The train connection to Stuttgart was via Karlsruhe again and just there there was an issue which made us stop for 2 hours there. Let’s see if we get a refund, but if not, we spent 6,2€ in the bus and 31,5€ in the trains to Stuttgart in total. Once in Stuttgart, we had a shower and went straight to shop and have dinner. We went to One Sushi and had some dishes and beers for 27€ (not bad at all) and went to Rewe to buy our usual breakfast for 3€. Our hotel was Park Inn Radisson, a real amazing experience.

Day 10: Stuttgart

We had breakfast at the Moustache caffe for 14€ (croissant, pain au chocolat, chai latte and a machiatto), later we visited the flagship stores in the city like Globetrotter, the Zalando outlet etc. We walked around the old city and the Theaterhaus and the lake with the beautiful ducks. Had dinner at our favourite Dean & David for 30€ and coffee at Mela for 19€ (4,5 each coffe, so we guess the slice of cake was 10€, a complete ripoff). Later we went up the hill to visit the Chinesichesharte, which was quite small and a bit dirty. We had dinner at an amazing Vietnamese place called Madame Hao for 39€ and did another supermarket shopping at Rewe for 2,6€.

Day 11: Stuttgart

Our last useful day at the city was another half-useful day as it was the 31st of December and the Germans stop working at 14:00 that day. We took a nice and long walk across the forest (as most families do those days in order to make the kids have fun in the nature) that we found in Komoot. It rained a lot so ending it was a real releaf. Had lunch at a very popular franchise, Hans im Glück for 32€. It was packed and we understeand why, the decoration is really cool and the menu quite attractive, even though it isn’t cheap for a burger place. From there, we went to the hotel and took a nap as we wanted to stay awake at 00:00 and see how the locals celebrated it. We had dinner at Greek Cuisine for 73€ (meat platter + bottle of wine) and saw the amazing fest at the lake park. From our room’s window we were able to see the celebrations, the Germans do fireworks individually, so from our window in Marienplatz we could see quite a bit of it and we felt really privileged as it was our last night in Germany.

Day 12: Way back

On you way back to the airport from Stuttgart you can just purchase a ticket to the airport which will be 4€ per person, it was 8€ for us and it took us 40 minutes only.

In total, this trip was 2.467€ and below you can find the split:

Restaurants: 664€

Supermarket shopping: 77€

Entrance fees: 236€

Transport: 194€

Hotels: 974€

Flights: 292€