WIESBADEN - Вісбаден - 비스바덴

[Kampflamm]

Just a pity that being so close to two major rivers, actually where the River Main meets the Rhein, downtown is not on the riverfront.

True, that's what I found quite odd as well. If you didn't know any better, you could guess that the nearest river was hundreds of miles away. I don't even know what Wiesbaden's riverfront looks like.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

True, that's what I found quite odd as well. If you didn't know any better, you could guess that the nearest river was hundreds of miles away. I don't even know what Wiesbaden's riverfront looks like.

I doubt many people do. From what I can tell the city pretty much turns it's back on the river.

Last year I visited Schloss Biebrich on the Rhein, which is pretty much all there is for waterfront worthities (attempting to make up a new word) of Wiesbaden. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Biebrich It's only a small stretch and is pleasant though not really worth the effort due to the busy road between the Schloß and river. If anyone knows of other worthwhile riverfront area's in Wiesbaden please let me know as I always love to visit these places.

[jeromeee]

Nice photos, Wiesbaden is really worth a visit.

But I have to agree that a riverfront would be nice. I think Wiesbaden is just more oriantated towards the Taunus and the Rheingau..

[Kampflamm]

I suppose in that sense it's kind of like Vienna. The core of the city is pretty far away from the Danube after all which I guess made sense when you still saw lots of flooding.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


A classic vuvuzela?

image hosted on flickr

[goschio]

Wiesbaden is just fantastic. Most beautiful city in the Rhine-Main Area.

[Kampflamm]

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[Kampflamm]

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[Bristol Mike]

Lovely shots of, as you put it, an architectural gem. Some of those terraces are beautiful and I am a fan of that Jack Jones corner building. Very nice!

[Justme]

When streetview finally comes to Germany, Wiesbaden should be one of the first cities you check out. There are some stunning villas surrounding the center and the architecture is quite unique for Germany.

[Pansori]

Kampf, could you recommend what to see in Wiesbaded during a very quick (say, half a day) visit? I will definitely stop over there next week but unfortunately I can't dedicate the entire day since there are so many things to see during my 5 day holidays in Ruhr area (+ Frankfurt). What are the "must-see" streets, squares and other landmarks which I could quickly run around with my camera?

P.S. great photos and the city looks wonderful. It's surprising that it hardly gets any attention even over SSC which is supposed to be a place for people who care about beautiful cities.

[Justme]

Originally Posted by Pansori

Kampf, could you recommend what to see in Wiesbaded during a very quick (say, half a day) visit? I will definitely stop over there next week but unfortunately I can't dedicate the entire day since there are so many things to see during my 5 day holidays in Ruhr area (+ Frankfurt). What are the "must-see" streets, squares and other landmarks which I could quickly run around with my camera?

P.S. great photos and the city looks wonderful. It's surprising that it hardly gets any attention even over SSC which is supposed to be a place for people who care about beautiful cities.

Here's my suggestion. I don't want to "steal" from Kampflamm's wonderful photos here, so I only provide links to wikipedia photos if you are interested)

1) Arrive at Hauptbahnhof: photo
2) Leave by main exit and turn left on Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring
3) You quickly come to a small but interestingly designed new shopping mall; check out and stock up on drinks etc. photo photo (Worth climbing up to the top floor exit from the inside, past the fitness center as you end up on a cool rooftop plaza and an external exit that has some nice views and interesting modern architecture)
4) Continue up Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring until Adolfsallee. Walk up this street until end. It's one of the most pleasant routes into the city and has some beautiful old villas with large balcony's and terraces. photo
5) This will take you straight to Luisenplatz which has a large cathedral and some monuments.photo
6) Walk through and turn left on Luisenstr until the next street which is the main pedestrian shopping zone. photo
7) Walk up (north) this street (Kirchgasse) exploring the shops and make sure you turn off (and right) before reaching the end to explore the old town with all the lovely narrow streets, cafe's etc. In this area you will find the Schloßplatz area which is where you will find the main cathedral, state capital building (Hessischer Landtag), city market etc. It's actually quite a wonderful collection of plaza's and open space. photo
8) Sneak through an arcade photo to make your way onto Wilhelmstraße and you will find yourself on a lovely elegant street with some quite expensive shops. On the other side is the park, casino and bad, but just look from this side of the street for now, we will come here later.
9) Walk north up Wilhelmstraße until you reach Taunusstraße and turn up that. Shortly to your left is yet another lovely square Kochbrunnenplatz. Pop into the cafe if you like as it could be your last drink for a while ;O) photo photo
10) Head all the up Taunusstraße. This street is sort of currently in renovation with some trendy shops moving in, but it quickly opens up to more grand villa's as you end up in sort of a valley. photo These villas are of completely different architecture to those from Adolfsallee.
11) Eventually you will reach the beginning of the Nerotal Park which is a lovely "English landscape garden" often referred to as the city's Botanical Gardens because of the enormous amount of unusual plants there. photo Walk all the way through this, but make sure you also catch glimpses of the amazing villa's on either side of this narrow park.
12) Where the park ends, is the beginning of the historical funicular train that will take you to the top of the Neroberg. photo Well worth it for views of the city, the park, forest and orthodox church. photo photo

You can do a couple of things here. One is to take a longer path through the forest, parks and leafy suburbs that will end up behind the wonderful Kurpark, but that could be a long and confusing walk without a decent map. If you have the map or time, I would really suggest that.

Or, you could buy a return ticket on the funicular and go back the same way down Taunusstraße.

Either way, you end up at the Kurpark.

13) The Kurpark is behind the old casino and Kurhaus. Explore the grounds and beautiful historical architecture. photo photo

14) And finally, you can follow the parks all the way back to the haupbahnhof.

It sounds like a longer tour than it is, but it can be done in a half day, if you start out early. The longest part is getting to the Funicular and going up, but there is a bus which you can use if you come back down the funicular and don't want to walk down Taunusstraße again. Just hop on the No.1 bus which will take you back to Kochbrunnenplatz and then it's only a short walk to the Kurhaus and Kurpark.

Damn, writing this and I want to do that walk myself right now ;O)

[Pansori]

Thanks Justme. I will definitely look into some of your tips. Just not sure about starting/ending at the Hauptbahnhof... I'll be driving so I guess it will have to start somewhere wherever there is a decent place for parking. But I'm sure I'll manage to follow most of your suggested route.

[Justme]

I was wondering if you'd be coming by car. Sorry, I can't help you there as I have never driven there. Oh, I added links to some photos.

It's a good tour, but you would need a few breaks in between for a coffee or beer ;O)

[Philli]

I´ve already been there. Very beautiful indeed! Great pictures.

[Kampflamm]

Originally Posted by Pansori

Thanks Justme. I will definitely look into some of your tips. Just not sure about starting/ending at the Hauptbahnhof... I'll be driving so I guess it will have to start somewhere wherever there is a decent place for parking. But I'm sure I'll manage to follow most of your suggested route.

There's a parking lot right next to the Kurhaus (see the arrow in my expertly drawn map ).



Most of the main sights are within the red circle (except for the Neroberg which is a tad to the northwest of the map).

[Pansori]

Right, sounds like I should be fine now with the car parking .
Thanks!

[Kampflamm]

image hosted on flickr


View from the Neroberg towards Wiesbaden and the Marktkirche/Market Church:

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[Rohne]

Originally Posted by hmueller2

Wiesbaden is really a nice city.
Unfortunately the most Germans don't even know that this city exists
I guess 95% of the Germans would say that Frankfurt is the capital of Hesse....

This wouldn't be too much of a mistake since there's only a few hundred meters of green land between Wiesbaden and the Frankfurt urban area
Although the S-Bahn is really slow since it stops everywhere, you only need around half an hour from city center to city center.
Because of this, I personally refer to Wiesbaden as Frankfurt's most beautiful district (together with Sachsenhausen of course )

[Justme]

Originally Posted by Rohne

This wouldn't be too much of a mistake since there's only a few hundred meters of green land between Wiesbaden and the Frankfurt urban area
Although the S-Bahn is really slow since it stops everywhere, you only need around half an hour from city center to city center.
Because of this, I personally refer to Wiesbaden as Frankfurt's most beautiful district (together with Sachsenhausen of course )

Agreed. It is amazing how close the two cities are. Unfortunately, public transport between them are not as good as it used to be. There used to be much faster regional trains between Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, but the fastest now is about 35minutes and it's quite an old train. This is probably because Wiesbaden's Hauptbahnhof is a terminus station, and there is quite a bit of hoop jumping to get to it and then turn back on itself. The S-bahn, depending on the service, also sometimes goes first to Mainz which is further away, and then crosses the river again to get to Wiesbaden.

Car is probably the quickest way to get to Frankfurt, as there is also a really good autobahn network. I have a friend who commutes from the center of Wiesbaden to central Frankfurt each day and it takes him around 20minutes outside of the peak times.

I would say the nicest parts of Wiesbaden are prettier than the nicest parts of Frankfurt, though I am wondering if Wiesbaden has lively inner neighbourhoods like Bornheim. If anyone knows this, please pass it on. Wiesbaden is certainly one place I could live in. A quick check seems to show that both the quality of apartments in Wisbaden is better than Frankfurt and a better price.

[Kampflamm]

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr