Baden Baden is a quaint spa town in southwestern Germany’s
Black Forest, near the French border. Its thermal baths led to fame as a
fashionable 19th-century resort. Alongside the Oos River, the park-lined
Lichtentaler Allee is the town’s central (and picturesque!) street. As the New
York Times notes, in Baden Baden, “the Belle Époque meets the Age of
Instagram”. The Oos is the water’s edge, and the river leads you through the
city to the heart of downtown Baden Baden where the Christmas market sprawls
across the town. From the edge of the Sophienstrasse, where all the high end
shopping is seated, to the Kurhaus, where the Lichtentaler Allee (lights and candles), the Christmas market
sprawls across the heart of old town Baden Baden. One of the region’s largest
and prettiest Christmas markets, the ambiance is a bit like wandering through a
fairytale.
We
found our way to the center of the market where a stage was set with a duet of
guitarists who sang a number of well-known American songs, including a cover of
Gotye that we particularly enjoy. Standing there in the center of the market,
sharing a piping hot mug of Gluehwein (mulled wine), we swayed to the lovely
music and noted that we were, in fact, in our own little fairytale. It was an
experience we will never forget!
