Baden-Baden is so nice they named it twice, as the old joke goes, though the doubling actually comes from distinguishing it from other places called Baden. Romans soaked in its hot springs, and the remains of their baths lie under the old town, but the town's golden age came in the nineteenth century, when European royalty, aristocrats, writers and gamblers flocked here to take the waters, stroll the avenues and lose fortunes at the casino. Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Brahms all spent time here. Baden-Baden is one of the eleven Great Spa Towns of Europe, listed together by UNESCO in 2021.
The town is elegant and green, with the Lichtentaler Allee, a long park along the river Oos lined with old trees, villas and museums, and the Kurhaus with its grand casino, often called one of the most beautiful in the world. The Friedrichsbad, a nineteenth-century bathhouse, offers a Roman-Irish bathing ritual, and the modern Caracalla spa has pools fed by thermal water. The old town climbs the hillside behind, with narrow lanes and the collegiate church.
For riders, Baden-Baden is the northern starting point of the Black Forest High Road, the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse, which runs south along the ridge of the northern Black Forest toward Freudenstadt, passing the Mummelsee, a small dark lake below the Hornisgrinde, the highest peak in the northern Black Forest. The road has long sweeping bends, good surfaces and great views over the Rhine plain to the Vosges, and it is very popular with motorcyclists, so expect police checks, speed limits and noise controls, especially on weekends.
Baden-Baden has fuel, food and every service, though prices reflect the town's upmarket image. Cafés serve Black Forest cake, cherry gateau with cream and kirsch, and the vineyards of the Ortenau and the Baden wine region on the slopes nearby produce excellent Pinot Noir and Riesling.
May and October are the gentle months, with fresh or golden forests and fewer visitors in town. Summer brings festivals and horse racing at nearby Iffezheim, winter can bring snow to the high road. Ride the high road in the early morning, when the mist lies in the valleys below, then come back down for a soak and a slice of cake in the afternoon.