Baden
Baden
(Image credit: Baden)

Hot springs, outdoor sports, delicious local produce and Pinot-based wines make this pretty corner of Germany a real draw, discovers Sue Style. Published in the June 2012 issue.

Baden: Where to stay, shop, eat and relax

Hotels and restaurants

Franz Keller

Schwarzer Adler Ideal Kaiserstuhl base in Vogtsburg- Oberbergen combining boutique hotel, Michelin-starred restaurant, gastropub, winery and wine import business. franz-keller.de

Hotel Bareiss

Five-star, family-owned hotel in Baiersbronn. Several restaurants (including three-star Bareiss with huge wine list and award-winning sommelier Jürgen Fendt), great buffet breakfast and state-of-theart spa. bareiss.com

Hotel Engel

Charming hotel-restaurant on the main street of Sasbachwalden with Badisch cooking served by waitresses in traditional dress. Well-priced wines, including from noteworthy co-op Alde Gott. engel-sasbachwalden.de

Hotel-Restaurant

Ritter Classy Durbach hotel in a recently revamped historic building with glimpses of steep vineyards on every side. Creative cuisine in Michelin-starred restaurant and Badisch/Alsatian dishes in the bistro. ritter-durbach.de

Hotel-Restaurant Traube

Michelin-starred restaurant in the tiny village of Blansingen with outstanding wine list and rooms.

traube-blansingen.de

Landgasthof Rebstock

Pretty country inn in Egringen with a succinct wine list, asparagus in spring, game in autumn, and a few rooms. rebstock-egringen.de

Schlafen im Weinfass

Have supper watching the sunset over vines in Sasbachwalden then snuggle up under a red-checked duvet in a converted wine cask. schlafen-im-weinfass.de

Shops

Geldermann Privatsektkellerei

Traditional, bottle-fermented sparkling wine made since 1904 in vaulted cellars beneath the town of Breisach. geldermann.de

Hardthof

This farm shop is a favourite of top chefs and local gourmets for asparagus (white and green), seasonal salads, vegetables and fruit. hardthof-pfrengle.de

Weinhandlung Kreis

Stuttgart-based wine merchant and online shop by former sommelier with eclectic range including top Baden names. shop.wein-kreis.de

Activities

Cassiopeia Thermal Baths

Baden equals bathing, and Badenweiler offers 3,800m2 of gorgeous indoor and outdoor pools with natural hot springs, four different saunas, Roman-Irish bath and countless spa treatments. badenweiler.de

Electric biking

Tour the vineyards on an electric bike, with strategic stops for tastings and to recharge batteries along the way. ihringen.de

Kaiserstuhlpfad

21.5km hiking trail that starts in Endingen or Ihringen and goes through the heart of the Kaiserstuhl vineyards – a regular bus service at either end returns you to your starting point. schwarzwald-tourismus.info

Museum Frieder Burda

Luminous Richard Meier museum in Baden-Baden where a modern and contemporary art collection alternates with visiting exhibits. (Anselm Kiefer, William Copley, Gerhard Richter etc.) museum-frieder-burda.de

Vitra Design Museum

Originally conceived to house the Vitra design company’s furniture collection, now an astonishing architectural complex in Weil-am- Rhein (Frank Gehry, Tadeo Anda, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron etc). design-museum.de

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Sue Style
Decanter Magazine, Food, Wine & Travel Writer

Sue Style is into food, wine and travel and writes about all three – sometimes separately, often in combination. She comes originally from Yorkshire and has migrated over the years to London, Madrid, Fontainebleau, Mexico City and Basel. She lives in southern Alsace, within spitting distance of the region’s vineyards and conveniently placed for cross-border raids into Switzerland and across the Rhine to Baden/Germany, both of whose wines and food she explores at every opportunity. She also travels regularly to Catalunya, where both her children have had the good taste to settle. She's the author of nine books on subjects ranging from Mexican food through the food and wines of Alsace and of Switzerland to creative vegetable cookery.