After our visit to Strasbourg, we crossed over the French-German border to Baden-Baden. This cosy and relaxing little town is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

We first made a stop at the tourist information centre on the way entering the town centre to check out what to see and get a tourist map. As suggested by the people from the tourist information centre, we started the town walk at the Trinkhalle (Pump Room).

Just a short train ride from Basel (Switzerland) across the border, Freiburg im Breisgau is the gateway to the Black Forest in southwestern Germany.

We (my wife and I) started our city walk at the Freiburg Tourist Information Office, about 350 metres from the train station. Later along Rathausgasse we saw one of Freiburg’s trademarks – the little canals (about a foot wide) with water running. The canals run along the streets in front of the shops (so, watch your steps when you wander around the town).

A train journey from Cologne to Heidelberg starting at daybreak, the scenery along was nothing exceptional though. Anyway, nothing could go wrong by visiting a city with a world famous medieval castle, a rather old university, an old bridge(Alte Brücke) with Baroque towers over the River Neckar, the old town(Altstadt) and more.

We got off the train and noticed that the tourist information centre was just right in front of the station. From there we got a tourist map for Heidelberg and booked a room for a night in an inexpensive hotel.

We didn’t know much about what to see in Cologne but one thing we had in mind - let’s go and check out the place where Cologne Water (Eau de Cologne) originated. We boarded the high speed train from Brussels Midi and arrived in Cologne HBF(main train station) in two hours and twenty minutes.

After checking in to the hotel, we made a visit to the tourist information centre across the road from the train station and right in front of the landmark of Cologne - the Cathedral (Der Kölner Dom).