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Often eclipsed by the Black Forest to the west and the Bavarian Alps to the southeast, the Swabian Alps (Schwäbische Alb in German) are wholly deserving of more attention. Ulm, where the Danube swiftly flows, forms the boundary in the south, while the Neckar runs past half-timbered towns, limestone crags, beech woods, juniper-cloaked heaths, hilltop ducal castles and robber-knight ruins further north.
The region is a geologist’s dream – 200 million years ago it had more volcanoes than almost anywhere else on earth; today it holds Unesco World Heritage Geopark status. The karst landscape is riddled with caves, where rare fossils and ice age art (including the 30,000-year-old Löwenmensch on display in Museum Ulm) have been discovered.
In 2017, the Swabian Jura Caves and ice age art received Unesco World Heritage status for having some of the world's oldest figurative art, dating from 43,000 to 33,000 years ago.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Swabian Alps Region.
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'Ooh, it’s so big'… First-time visitors gush as they strain their neck muscles gazing up to the Münster. It is. And rather beautiful. Celebrated for its 161.5m-high steeple, this Goliath of cathedrals, the world’s tallest, took 500 years to build from the first stone laid in 1377. Note the hallmarks on each stone, inscribed by cutters who were paid by the block. Those intent on cramming the Münster into one photo, filigree spire and all, should lie on the cobbles.
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Rising dramatically from an exposed crag, with its medieval battlements and riot of towers and silver turrets often veiled in mist, Burg Hohenzollern is darned impressive from a distance, but up close it looks more contrived. Dating to 1867, this neo-Gothic castle is the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, the first and last monarchical rulers of the short-lived second German Empire (1871–1918).
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Founded in 1183 by Rudolph I, Count Palatine of Tübingen, Kloster Bebenhausen is one of southern Germany's finest medieval Cistercian monasteries. Beautifully situated on the wooded fringes of Naturpark Schönbuch, it became a royal hunting retreat post-Reformation. A visit takes in the intricately frescoed summer refectory, the Gothic abbey church and intricate star vaulting and half-timbered facades in the cloister. The monastery interior can only be visited by guided tour.
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On its perch above Tübingen, this turreted 16th-century castle has a terrace overlooking the Neckar River, the Altstadt’s triangular rooftops and the vine-streaked hills beyond. An ornate Renaissance gate leads to the courtyard and the laboratory where Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869.
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Housed in Tübingen's hilltop castle, this fascinating archaeology museum houses the 40,000-year-old Vogelherd figurines – the world’s oldest figurative artworks – which were recently awarded Unesco World Heritage status along with the Vogelherdhöhle caves in the Swabian Alps where they were discovered. Carved from mammoth ivory, the thumb-sized statuettes of horses and mammoths, plus jewellery, are nothing short of extraordinary. Neolithic ceramics and flints, ancient Babylonian cuneiform script tablets and the tomb of Tomb of Seshemnefer III from Giza are other highlights.
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For back-to-nature hiking and cycling, make for this 156-sq-km, lushly forested nature reserve. It's interwoven with 560km of marked trails. With a bit of luck and a pair of binoculars, you might catch a glimpse of black woodpeckers and yellow-bellied toads. The nature reserve’s beech and oak woods fringe the village of Bebenhausen and its well-preserved Cistercian abbey.
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This museum is a fascinating romp through ancient and modern art, history and archaeology. Standouts include the 20th-century Kurt Fried Collection, starring Klee, Picasso and Lichtenstein works shown in rotating exhibitions. Archaeological highlights are tiny Upper Palaeolithic figurines unearthed in caves in the Swabian Alps, including the 30,000-year-old ivory Löwenmensch (lion man), the world’s oldest zoomorphic sculpture. There's free entry on the first Friday of the month.
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Lording it over the Marktplatz, the 14th-century Rathaus sports a step-gabled, lavishly frescoed Renaissance facade. Out front is the Fischkastenbrunnen, where fishmongers once dumped their catch to be sold at market. The Rathaus' architectural antithesis is the cutting-edge glass pyramid of the Stadtbibliothek, the city's main library.
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The brainchild of industrialist Reinhold Würth, this contemporary gallery is housed in a striking limestone building that preserves part of a century-old brewery. Stellar temporary exhibitions have recently spotlighted hidden treasures from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna including masterpieces by Dürer, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Rubens, Klimt and Hundertwasser. Guided tours (in German) and audioguides cost €6.