MYA is heading to Deutschland for an incredible eight day adventure of thermal soaking, forest bathing, fairytale castle exploring, beer imbibing, train riding, yoga flows, vegetarian food, and more!
Adventurers will meet up at the Frankfurt International Airport (flying out on Monday, May 9th to arrive the next day) and make our way to southerly realms. We’ll hop onto the train, our favored mode of travel for this adventure, en route to a spa town surrounded by the black forest for two nights, the infamous Baden-Baden, home of therapeutic waters.
Our first accommodations are located in the heart of Baden-Baden’s picturesque Old Town. We’ll stay in two apartments in a beautiful historic building with a terrace and a kitchen for MYA to work their magic. Most breakfasts and dinners will be sourced locally & vegetarian. If you have dietary needs beyond food allergies/sensitivities which will be honored, lunch will be the time to satiate those cravings. Adventurers can walk everywhere in this enchanting town; including a mere five minute stroll to the best soaking venue in town, Caracalla Spa.
MYA loves a good soaking after a long flight! Baden-Baden thermal water comes from a depth of 2000 meters and is the most mineral-rich in Germany. With temperatures between 32° and 68° C it regenerates and stimulates the whole body contributing to health and well-being.
The Caracalla Spa offers up space for soothing relaxation and bathing pleasure in the hot thermal water. A combination of water areas and saunas of five different types, an outdoor area in the picturesque castle garden including two marble pools, a lazy river, massage jets and two whirlpools will surely intoxicate adventurers. There’s even a brine inhalation room.
After a good night’s sleep we’ll take more time to enjoy the fairy tale village. An adventurer option could be to take on another spa, the Friedrichsbad is a nude spa, which focuses on the more classic roman bath culture features. The experience relies on the completion of a 17-step circuit which combines soaking in Roman baths of varying temperatures, with Irish steam baths, and a full-body scrub and massage. There are plenty of hiking trails to take us out of town and into the forest, visiting the old castle will be on our to-do list. From thermal bathing to forest bathing :)
With a traditional breakfast, fruhstuck, in our bellies (coffee or tea and bread presented with various toppings such as butter, nutella, cheese, jam, and honey - perhaps a boiled egg added in as well, yum!); adventurers will get ready to move on to Stuttgart.
Our next accommodations will be close to the super fab old town in a historic hotel with a whole lot of character and coziness for the group to put their feet up and relax. Adventurers will pour into two nicely appointed suites. This will be a night out for dinnertime and taking in the scenery, the culture, the beer…
Sweet spots to investigate in the city are St. John’s Church, a stunning Gothic which can be seen reflected in Lake of Feursee which surrounds it, Old Castle is a must, located on the Schillerplatz, a cobblestone square, and if adventurers are up for it, we may get on the outskirts as well to Schloss Solitude.
From Stuttgart, MYA will be traveling by car to stay in Dornstetten at a lovely home with lots of character and a hot tub and sauna! Plenty of space for adventurers with six bedrooms, an open kitchen, and a terrace with a garden that captures the perfect view of sunsets. For music lovers, there’s a piano in the cottage and plenty of books to linger over. We’ll be close to Freudenstadt, the city in the Black Forest with Germany's largest marketplace. In addition, Strasbourg, France, Lake Constance, Stuttgart, Pforzheim, Freiburg and Karlsruhe are just 1 hour away.
Hohenzollern, a magical fairy tale stunning beauty of a castle will be on the itinerary as well as Lichtenstein castle, the gothic revival built upon an escarpment on the edge of the Swabian Alps looking quite dramatic and otherworldly. We’ll definitely be enjoying some hiking trails throughout these jaw dropping environs.
Another option adventurers can decide upon is trekking down to Titisee to partake in the bathing paradise at Schwarzwald - there will be a bit of yin and yang happening here with galaxy schwarzwald thrills (water slides!) and the palm oasis and palais vital targeted towards ultimate relaxation including themed saunas and textile-free water worlds. We may want to spend some time on the lake kayaking or stand up paddleboarding as well.
Back onto the train, we’ll head to our next locale, Bacharach, a picturesque village in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley but not without a stop in the romantic cityscape of Heidelberg on the river Neckar. Adventurers will have an opportunity to stroll through the historic city center's Gothic streets, visit Heidelberg Castle, and Alte Brucke, a beautiful 18th-century bridge. It’ll be the perfect spot for lunch and a beer tasting before heading back on the train to suffer through more beautiful Deutschland!!!
Our final accommodations will be a two night stay in the center of the quaint jewel of a village called Bacharach. A five minute walk from both the train station and the River Rhine, adventurers will stay in a beautiful hotel right in the center of town with a couple of balconies, access to the garden, and traditional Germany breakfasts.
The medieval village of Bacharach surrounded by steep hills planted with grapevines is entered through a gate in the old town walls. The Burg Stahleck fortress looks onto the village of cobbled streets from above. Adventurers will have plenty of time to explore beyond the village - we can pop on and off the hiking paths on the Rheinburgenweg (Rhine castles trail), visit Oberwesel’s Schönburg Castle for a lunchtime excursion, perhaps Pfalzgrafenstein Castle as well and a short train ride to St. Goar for Rheinfels Castle. This area is jam-packed with magical, fairytale beauty and as a group we can go where our hearts lead us…
