For the past ten days I’ve been exploring the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg with some other bloggers and instagrammers. Traveling by train, we’ve covered 10 different cities in just 10 days. It’s been a jam-packed trip spent drinking beer (at the Cannstatter Wasen), hiking (in the Black Forest) and eating far too many schnitzels and spaetzles.
While I took my DSLR camera with me on this trip, I’ve actually been taking most photos with my iPhone. I’ve got VuTheara and Joanna to thank for that—the two instagrammers on my trip who have inspired me to up my photography game, especially the mobile editing I’ve been doing with iPhone apps such as Snapseed. Their simple and stunning photos are an inspiration for what can be done with just an iPhone camera and a few choice photo-editing apps. Using what I’ve learned, here are a few of my favorite iPhone-only photos I’ve snapped while in Baden-Württemberg.
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TRAVEL TIP: Interested in visiting Baden-Württemberg yourself? You can win two nights to one of the three cities below by entering the #MyFavTrip photo contest. More details at the end of this post.
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Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Having visited the city before, I thought it was a bit of a cultural wasteland, but thanks to some tips from my friend Shari, I had a good time. If you visit Stuttgart, I highly recommend spending an hour or two in their modern art museum, the Kunstmuseum. A half-day trip out the Mercedes-Benz Museum is also surprisingly cool (this coming from a guy who doesn’t particularly enjoy cars). It’s also possible to take day trips from Stuttgart to the university town of Tübingen or Berg Hohenzollern—one of Germany’s most majestic castles.
Heidelberg
Heidelberg
The picturesque town of Heidelberg has been at the top of my list of German cities to visit. My uncle visited the city in the 70s and it seems to have had a lasting impression on him because he practically demanded that I make my way there to see the castle and walk through the old city. And I’m glad he did! I only had a day there and I definitely feel like I missed out on all the city has to offer. I always imagined it as a very touristic city (which it is), but it’s also a university town and we all know what that means: social events, cheap and varied food and museums. My kind of city!
Freiburg
Freiberg
Freiberg has a reputation of being one of Germany’s sunniest cities and with the best winter weather. Unfortunately the weather gods seemed to be against me and it was cold and rainy for most of my stay. But thankfully the city is interesting enough that it wasn’t hard to have a good time! Ali and Andrew gave me a hundred million travel tips for the city which certainly helped, but the city is also small enough that it’s possible to discover much of it on your own. Plus: day trips to places like the Kaiserstuhl and villages in the Black Forest make it a great place to stay put.
Which of the German cities are you most interested in visiting?
Share in the comments where you’d like to visit in Baden-Württemberg! For me, I’d love to spend more time in Freiburg and even further south in the city of Konstanz which sits on a lake bordering with Switzerland, Austria and Lichtenstein. View my favorite photo from Konstanz here.
Win a Trip to Baden-Württemberg!!!
As luck would have it, if you’re interested in visiting some of the same places seen in my photos above, you can win a trip to Baden-Württemberg. The contest is open to anyone who can travel by Deutsche Bahn. The winner will receive train tickets and two nights in either Stuttgart, Heidelberg or Freiburg. (My choice would be Freiburg!) To enter, simply share a photo using the #MyFavTrip hashtag on either Twitter or Instagram. Read the full details on their official website, but it’s a fairly simple & straight-forward contest so if you’re interested in one of the cities I’ve showcased above, be sure to enter! The contest ends SUNDAY!
Love the picture :) So classy!
I’d love to go to Heidelberg, but I’ve never heard of Freiburt and it sounds awesome!
Love the photo of Stuttgart!!!