Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [373]
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Entertainment
The tourist office sells event tickets and hands out the free German-language monthly Spazz, listing cultural happenings.
Roxy ( 968 620; www.roxy.ulm.de, in German; Schillerstrasse 1) A huge cultural venue, housed in a former industrial plant 1km south of the Hauptbahnhof, with a concert hall, cinema, disco, bar and special-event forum. Take tram line 1 to Ehinger Tor.
Wiley Club ( 867 04; www.wiley-club.de, in German; Wileystrasse 4, Neu-Ulm; 11am-1am, to 2am Fri & Sat) On a former US military base, this one-time canteen has a restaurant, cafe-bar and stage, and hosts live music and club nights. Situated 2.5km south of the Altstadt; take bus 6 to the Wiley Club.
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Getting There & Away
Ulm, about 90km southeast of Stuttgart and 150km west of Munich, is near the intersection of the north–south A7 and the east–west A8.
Ulm is well-served by ICE trains; major destinations include Stuttgart (€16.70 to €24, one hour, several hourly) and Munich (€24.80 to €34, 1½ hours to two hours, several hourly).
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Getting Around
Ulm’s ecofriendly trams run on renewable energy. There’s a local transport information counter ( 166 2120; www.swu-verkehr.de, in German) in the tourist office.
Except in parking garages (€0.60 per 30 minutes), the whole city centre is metered; many areas are limited to one hour. There’s a Park & Ride lot at Donaustadion, a stadium 1.5km northeast of the Münster and on tram line 1.
You can hire bikes, including tandems, from Radstation ( 150 0231; Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse; per day €5; 6am-8pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat, Sun & holidays), between the Hauptbahnhof and the bus station. Bike paths go along the Danube.
To order a taxi, call 660 66.
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NORTHERN BLACK FOREST
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Green, rolling and almost soothingly beautiful, the Northern Black Forest scythes through western Baden-Württemberg, from the bubbling thermal baths of Roman-rooted Baden-Baden in the north to the Swiss border in the south. Laced with zigzagging roads that make for memorable driving and cycling, this is a back-to-nature region of mossy fir and beech woodlands, cherry orchards and story-book villages, and tight valleys where only tinkling cowbells interrupt the overwhelming sense of calm.
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BADEN-BADEN
07221 / pop 54,800
‘So nice that you have to name it twice’, gushed Bill Clinton. Indeed there’s no denying Baden-Baden’s allure to royals, the rich and celebrities – Obama and Bismarck, Queen Victoria and Victoria Beckham included. Yet nice hardly does bon vivant Baden-Baden justice; it’s without doubt one of Baden-Württemberg’s most refined cities, lined with chichi boutiques, smart pavement cafes, and manicured gardens where fountains dance and locals walk coiffed poodles.
Locked in an embrace between the Black Forest and France, this grand dame of German spas stills turn heads with her graceful belle époque villas, fortunes in her sumptuous casino, and the moods in her temple-like thermal baths that put the Baden (bathe) in Baden.
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Orientation
Baden-Baden’s heart is Leopoldsplatz, which fans out into pedestrianised shopping streets. Most sights, including Lichtentaler Allee, on the west bank of the Oosbach, are within easy walking distance.
The Bahnhof is in the suburb of Oos, 4km northwest of the centre, with the central bus station out the front.
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BLACK FOREST CENT SAVER
In most parts of the Black Forest your hotel or guesthouse will issue you with the handy Schwarzwald-Gästekarte (Guest Card) for discounts or freebies on museums, ski lifts, events and attractions.