Baden-Baden
A hidden gem spa town in south-west Germany near the French boarder. The Caracalla Spa
The food
Mummelsee
We left as soon as the kids finished school and went straight to Stansted airport, which was particularly busy because it was the start of the half term break. We were very tight on time, but still managed to sit down at the Italian restaurant and get some pizza and pasta. It was important to grab dinner because we would get into Baden-Baden very late – you lose an hour crossing the time zone. The flight was very short, less than 1.5 hours, but the arrivals experience in Karlsruhe Airport was subpar. We took a bus from the plane to the terminal, and the line took a really long time to get through customs. When we finally got out of the airport there were no taxis or ubers waiting, so we called the phone number on the wall and they said it would be only a 5 minute wait for a taxi for 6 people. Our taxi driver was a nice man, who we assumed was German and spoke to us in German, but it turns out he was Italian. His English was limited, but we were able to understand each other in Spanish. It was about a 25 minute drive to our BnB which was at the top of a hill in a very quiet neighborhood. Our apartment was the penthouse family suite at the top which was very nicely decorated and had everything we needed for our family stay, even a crib for Isaac.
It was late and we were exhausted, so we pretty much just put our things down and went to bed.
The first day happened to be valentine’s day. We went out to explore the city of Baden-Baden on foot. We were impressed with the various restaurants and shops as well as a small shopping mall that had a grocery store, pharmacy and other retail options. We went to see the Caracalla Spa to see if it was something we would like to do. As it was valentines day the line to get in was immense, so we found an information point to speak to someone about the options available, and decided we will go tomorrow instead.
We saw a traditional German restaurant/Bier Garden that looked quite fun with their server in traditional German dress. We ended up going to a vegetarian café that had an amazing falafel platter with hummus and salad. We shared that, and then we went to a fish restaurant that had wraps, fish fingers and fries for the kids, and so many amazing seafood options for the grownups. There were seafood salads and mixes sold by weight. We got some giant shrimp, some shrimp salad, fresh fish from the grill and creamy mushrooms. It was sort of a fast food restaurant but so delicious. We walked around town some more and then went home and picked up some Vietnamese food to eat at our apartment as the kids were too tired to eat out.
The next day was all about the Caracalla Spa. The spa is for ages 7+ with indoor and outdoor pools at various warm temperatures. The pools have massage jets and there are water fountains that look like mushrooms where you can let the warm water run over you. You can swim from the indoor pool to the outdoor pool which is separated by some flaps. This way when temperatures are cold, you do not need to get out of the pool to go outside. It is quite a unique experience to swim outdoors when it was quite a cold day. They also have a hot tub and cold plunge. Lounge chairs with red light therapy, sauna and steam rooms, as well as other massage room that you can book separately. I took the girls with me while Asif walked around town with the boys and got mini pancakes. To get into the spa, you line up to pay and they give you a wristband that can be used to pay for things as well as unlock the lockers. You can pay to rent towels. You can either book for 2 hours, 3 hours, or a full day. We went in and dropped off our things in the lockers and headed to the pools. We really enjoyed the indoor, outdoor, hottub and cold plunge pools, but did not use the sauna, steam room or other treatments. (The steam room is no clothing allowed, but you can wear a towel.) They even have a café inside the spa if you need to take a food break. After our treatments we showered up and met up with Asif. I then took all of the kids for a walk while Asif had his time in the spa. The kids and I stopped at a lovely café. The menu was completely in German, so we told the waitress the kind of food we were looking for and she made it for us. We got sandwiches, vegetable quiche with salad, fresh squeezed orange juice and to finish the kids had hot chocolate and I had a cappuccino.
After a rest at the apartment, we went out to an Italian restaurant. The wood-oven pizza were so fresh as well as the pasta.
Day 3 we wanted to do something different, so on recommendation from the lady at the tourist office, we took a bus from Baden-Baden to a remote place in the Black Forest called Mummelsee. Before we left we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some picnic food as we didn’t know if there would be any food options in Mummelsee. After a bit of help from a local man at the bus stop we figured out which bus to take. They only take cash on the buses or you can pre-book tickets at some offices we couldn’t find using cards. The bus ride took about 45 minutes and the scenery was beautiful as we climbed up the country mountain roads. As the elevation rose, the snow started to come down and we passed by a small ski resort with many people skiing and snow boarding. When we finally reached the town of Mummelsee the ground was covered in snow. It is right on the French border with a beautiful lake and a hotel with a restaurant. The lake was completely frozen over and had hiking trails around it, but we had our stroller with us so we walked up the steep road instead which had been cleared of snow. The kids absolutely loved the change of scene, walking in the snow and making snowballs. We walked a good distance up the mountain, but it was so foggy we couldn’t see the view of the lake so we headed back down and sat down in the covered bus stop to have our picnic in the snow. We were very cold by that point so we went to the restaurant to have some hot chocolates and defrost for a while. After that we walked around part of the lake where they had a playground and then made our way back to the bus stop to return to Baden-Baden.
This night we were quite tired, so we decided to pick up some food from the grocery store to prepare back at our apartment. We got fresh ravioli and gnocchi from their amazing food counter and some tomato sauce to go with it. Some pizzas to put in the oven for the kids, and some ice creams for dessert.
The next morning it was time to pack up our things, although our flight was not until the evening. Our host allowed us a late check-out so we just took it easy as it was raining pretty hard in the morning. We decided to take a bus to the airport, but the main bus station is about 3 miles from where we were staying. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and luckily we pack very light with just a backpack each so it wasn’t difficult to carry everything for this walk. Along the way we could see children and people dressed up in costumes for the Carnival/Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday walking the opposite direction. We eventually came upon the festivities with loud music and dancing as well as food trucks and people dressed up like Halloween. We eventually made it to the bus station and took the 30 minute bus ride to the airport. This was a much cheaper option that taking an uber/taxi.
The flight home was very quick and uneventful. Overall we loved this experience and would love to go back when the boys are old enough to visit the spa. There were many things to do in the town that we didn’t end up doing including visiting the Casino (obviously not an option with kids) and the museums.
