The summer capital of Europe, a place where past centuries’ upper classes meandered along the pretty river, enjoyed their baths from the thermal springs and were having romantic affairs…How can I not see it with my own eyes after years of diligent learning from classic literature about Baden-Baden being a place that inspired Dostoyevsky for his novel “The Gambler” (and the place where Dostoyevsky lost his family’s fortune as well) , place associated with such famous people like Turgenev, like Brahms, like Berlioz…
I know that for Brits the name perhaps is more associated with the World Cup of this year, when English team stayed there in luxury hotels. But to me Baden-Baden is more of a past times town, an image of another kind of luxury, of summer balls, of life& death gamble in a dimmed lights of the elegant Casino…
Well…what can I say…it seems like the town managed to preserve everything as it used to be a hundred years ago…Including boredom of a small provincial resort. Yes, of course, it is a beautiful place, gorgeous parks, immaculate clean river, which base even stone paved and I would not be surprised if they say they’ve got a special cleaning team to keep it green-&-litter-less. But there is nothing else to do there apart from spending days walking up and down to the thermal baths or neo-renaissance pump room with the fountain of mineral water. The water is still being pumped there and tastes rather yakky in addition to being unpleasantly warm.
And of course there is also that Casino, where the Famous of this World can gamble their fortune and loose it all…and they did…The Casino was about the only building that lives up to expectations. The exterior extremely gracious in design – white columns and a fine line of stone lace on the façade…the interior looks like a scene from classical gangster movie of 40s, 50s, all in posh style – green carpet on the stairs, gold and crystal chandeliers, deep velvet of the surfaces, rooms designed in a fashion of French royal palaces…this Casino is over 200 years old and it’s still the most beautiful of a kind in the world. (not that I’ve seen many of its kind, but merely according to the words of Marlene Dietrich) at least it is still the most noble, I think, and you require to wear black tie and to have a passport to be able to take a chance with Lady Luck.
Perhaps, I’m too spoilt for the exotics, since Baden-Baden although being as nice as a nice spa resort might be, didn’t appeal to me much. If I’d live in 19th century and have to spend my summers there, I would’ve been so bored and probably even join the nuns of the Cistercian Abbey of Lichtenthal. (Mind you, they do bed&breakfast there as well as provide environment for spiritual reflection)
So unless you love to just sit in the town’s luxury hotel, throw your money to the fate or mend your health soaking motionlessly in a spa with mineral springs, I would advise to make an effort and explore the neighbouring areas of Baden-Baden – there are plenty to see outside of town. Though, this was not what we’ve done. We went to Baden-Baden for a day, but returned back earlier then expected. It was not that close to Heidelberg where we stayed, so we didn’t have much time to take a side-trip to the castles on the hills that surround Baden-Baden. But we’ve seen the most attractions of the town itself in half a day…so we left with the feeling that there was nothing else to do there…
I know that for Brits the name perhaps is more associated with the World Cup of this year, when English team stayed there in luxury hotels. But to me Baden-Baden is more of a past times town, an image of another kind of luxury, of summer balls, of life& death gamble in a dimmed lights of the elegant Casino…
Well…what can I say…it seems like the town managed to preserve everything as it used to be a hundred years ago…Including boredom of a small provincial resort. Yes, of course, it is a beautiful place, gorgeous parks, immaculate clean river, which base even stone paved and I would not be surprised if they say they’ve got a special cleaning team to keep it green-&-litter-less. But there is nothing else to do there apart from spending days walking up and down to the thermal baths or neo-renaissance pump room with the fountain of mineral water. The water is still being pumped there and tastes rather yakky in addition to being unpleasantly warm.
And of course there is also that Casino, where the Famous of this World can gamble their fortune and loose it all…and they did…The Casino was about the only building that lives up to expectations. The exterior extremely gracious in design – white columns and a fine line of stone lace on the façade…the interior looks like a scene from classical gangster movie of 40s, 50s, all in posh style – green carpet on the stairs, gold and crystal chandeliers, deep velvet of the surfaces, rooms designed in a fashion of French royal palaces…this Casino is over 200 years old and it’s still the most beautiful of a kind in the world. (not that I’ve seen many of its kind, but merely according to the words of Marlene Dietrich) at least it is still the most noble, I think, and you require to wear black tie and to have a passport to be able to take a chance with Lady Luck.
Perhaps, I’m too spoilt for the exotics, since Baden-Baden although being as nice as a nice spa resort might be, didn’t appeal to me much. If I’d live in 19th century and have to spend my summers there, I would’ve been so bored and probably even join the nuns of the Cistercian Abbey of Lichtenthal. (Mind you, they do bed&breakfast there as well as provide environment for spiritual reflection)
So unless you love to just sit in the town’s luxury hotel, throw your money to the fate or mend your health soaking motionlessly in a spa with mineral springs, I would advise to make an effort and explore the neighbouring areas of Baden-Baden – there are plenty to see outside of town. Though, this was not what we’ve done. We went to Baden-Baden for a day, but returned back earlier then expected. It was not that close to Heidelberg where we stayed, so we didn’t have much time to take a side-trip to the castles on the hills that surround Baden-Baden. But we’ve seen the most attractions of the town itself in half a day…so we left with the feeling that there was nothing else to do there…