Tuebingen 2010 ... and still lovely!

Sitting at breakfast and having swans cruising in front of the window… how would that be for starters into a weekend off from home?

I have been in Tuebingen several times before but never in this style. Flight to Stuttgart, car at the airport – we took a detour via Lake Constance which cost us about four hours of driving – but one can estimate a drive of approximately 30 minutes and there you are.

We are staying at Hotel Domizil this time and, oh boy, is it lovely! Bang in the middle of town at the river Neckar – hence the swans – with beautifully decorated rooms of decent size, wifi – ask at front desk for login, nice bathroom, all very clean and absolutely silent. We didn’t hear a single thing all night. Brilliant! It comes with a parking garage (extra 10 Euros per day) a few foot down the street, although it now turned out that one doesn’t really need a car here, everything town is in walking distance. For this trip we had planned for this detour so the car made sense, but it is already decided that next time we just might hop onto the train from Stuttgart which needs an hour or so.

And there will be a next time, not only because our friends live here. This is just a very nice place to be, dropping the mind into holiday mode rather instantly. Detlef hadn’t been here in about 12 years and yesterday afternoon we got stuck in traffic jam on our journey, were tired from a horrible hotel night in Stuttgart and altogether a bit grumpy. So we decided to have a stroll through town to find one of those sweet little coffee places for a boost of caffeine and surely for the fantastic cakes. Once we entered those small uphill streets which lead to the church and market places, my rather technology minded husband couldn’t help but say: This town makes up for every traffic jam and fatigue, it’s just so worth it being here! Believe me, this means something.

I can highly recommend it as a destination for a long weekend! Lake Constance is two hours drive away – really worth a trip, Ulm and the most beautiful countryside of Swabia Alb and Black Forrest are just around the corner. Tuebingen is a university town, so it wonderfully combines old architecture, culture, a vibrant shop scenes and fantastic food. What else to wish for?

Chocolate! From 30th November to 5th December 2010, 70 stalls with chocolates will guide the visitor through a path of chocolate delights, or what about the Christmas market from 10th to 12th December?

I would love to hear your impressions from this – and other – German locations which you really fell in love with. Send me your stories!