Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden is a grand spa town on the edge of the Black Forest, where the most expensive thing to do is the one you can skip. The Lichtentaler Allee, a long tree-lined park promenade along the Oos stream, costs nothing to walk, and the elegant town center with its colonnades and old casino building is free to admire from the outside. From here it is a short trip across the Rhine to Strasbourg in France or south to Freiburg, so Baden-Baden slots neatly into a budget loop through the region. Shoulder months in spring and autumn bring milder walking weather and lower room rates than the summer peak.