Bad Urach: Half-Timbered Houses, Waterfall and Hiking Trails

Bad Urach combines a historic half-timbered old town with striking natural attractions. Among the houses dating back centuries, the Urach Waterfall and the hiking trails around town, you will find a range of options for your stay.

Half-timbered houses, stories and the Schäferlauf festival

Bad Urach’s historic old town is characterised by magnificent half-timbered houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Lauschtour app guides visitors by GPS from one stop to the next, taking them to notable places in the old town and telling stories from the time of the Counts of Württemberg-Urach. This lets you combine historic sites and stories as you explore.

Guided city tours are also offered year-round, from Monday to Sunday, by the Bad Urach spa administration. If you plan to join a tour, check the booking arrangements before your trip. You can also complement the information about the old town with a look at one of the city’s special traditions: the Urach Schäferlauf has been celebrated every two years in odd-numbered years since 1723. It originated with an order from Duke Eberhard Ludwig.

Waterfall and hiking trails around Bad Urach

The Urach Waterfall is one of the notable attractions in the UNESCO Global Geopark Swabian Alb and the UNESCO-recognised Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve. From the P23 hiking car park, you can reach it via an approximately two-kilometre flat path along the Brühlbach stream. The path is also easy to manage with an all-terrain pushchair.

When planning your day, you can choose between a specifically described route to the waterfall and the Grafensteige trails as different options for a day of hiking. The Grafensteige are five premium hiking trails around Bad Urach; they pass through the Swabian Alb Biosphere Reserve and the UNESCO Global Geopark Swabian Alb. The information about the waterfall path describes a specific route, while the Grafensteige comprise several marked routes.

Discoveries for children

Entdeckerwelt Bad Urach is designed for children aged 7 to 13. It includes an interactive exhibition and three themed outdoor tours through the town and forest. This means the offering includes both an exhibition and outdoor tours. The age range can help you decide whether Entdeckerwelt is a good fit for your children; the outdoor tours include both urban and forest settings.

Getting there and finding accommodation

From the Stuttgart–Tübingen regional railway line, you can travel to Bad Urach via Metzingen station on the Ermstalbahn railway. Check the current timetable before your trip. Bad Urach Wasserfall stop is about a ten-minute walk from the AlbThermen; you should also check this travel information before setting out.

When looking for accommodation in Bad Urach, you can first consider what you want your stay to focus on: the old town and its history, the route to the waterfall, hikes on the Grafensteige or Entdeckerwelt.

In the wider Reutlingen destination

The wider Reutlingen destination also offers its own cultural and nature attractions. The Minster of Our Lady is at the heart of Zwiefalten, an old monastic and pilgrimage site, and is one of the most significant examples of German Baroque architecture. Concerts are held in the minster every year. Lichtenstein Castle was built between 1840 and 1842 on the foundations of an older knight’s castle. From the castle, the Hochgehträumt circular hiking trail passes along scenic cliffs directly to Nebelhöhle cave.

Discover more destinations: Reutlingen, Sankt Johann, Dettingen An Der Erms, Römerstein, Pfronstetten, Eningen Unter Achalm, Grafenberg, Hayingen.

Back to the wider travel overview: Reutlingen.