Although our trip to Bad Wörishofen was fairly mundane, I did learn some new things on our most recent trip to Bavaria. So… in the interest of keeping things regular, here’s my usual ten things I learned list about our most recent road trip.

10. Bad Wörishofen is a place where older people like to go and have a rest.
Self-explanatory… although I guess Bill and I are approaching the status of “older people.” We noticed a lot of older folks visiting, but we also saw a lot of senior residences.

9. Sebastian Kneipp was a German Catholic priest who discovered the Kneipp Cure.
I had heard of Kneipp therapy before we visited Bad Wörishofen, as I encountered a Kneipp pool when we lived near Stuttgart. But this therapy, which involves a balanced diet, exercise, fresh air, and walking in cold water was discovered by Kneipp in Bad Wörishofen. And if you visit there, you won’t be able to forget it.

8. Bad Wörishofen looks like maybe it’s losing popularity…
I’m sure there’s an explanation as to why there were so many empty storefronts in Bad Wörishofen. Maybe it has nothing to do with waning popularity in the spa town. Still, Bill and I both noticed that there were a lot of empty rental spaces there.

7. If you get bored in Bad Wörishofen, you can easily visit other places.

We weren’t in Bad Wörishofen long enough to venture out of the spa town, but if we’d wanted to, we could have easily visited several well known German cities. That means it might make for a good base for those who want a small town feel and access to cities like Augsburg, Lindau, and Munich.

6. Five star hotels don’t always offer five star service.

I already knew this before we visit Hotel Fontenay. Five star hotels in Europe can be perfectly mediocre, as the star rating is more about the amenities offered, rather than extraordinary service. Hotel Fontenay is technically a five star hotel, but although the facility is nice, and the people are friendly, there was definitely room for improvement.

5. In Bad Wörishofen, you can try the water cure by simply walking into the old town.

I was surprised to see a Kneipp station in a pavilion in the old town in Bad Wörishofen. Anyone can go there, roll up their pants, take off their shoes, and walk in the water. The town has Kneipp stations all over it, allowing visitors to try the water cure.

4. But if you want more professional spa treatments, you can easily find them.
We noticed many places where professionally administered Kneipp therapy cures were offered. Maybe we should have done more research about them before our arrival on Thursday.

3. If you get hungry, head for the train station…
This was where we found the excellent restaurant, Unsere Liebhaberei, which offers unique dishes, good wines, and friendly service. I think visiting this restaurant was the highlight of our trip.

2. There’s a free bike repair station in Bad Wörishofen.
Seriously… if you happen to be riding a bike and break down in this spa town, you can head to a helpful bike repair station with tools that are connected by a sturdy wire. I don’t know how many people have availed themselves of the station, but it was the first time I’d ever seen anything like that. However, I do remember seeing a tire pump station in Jettingen, where we lived before we moved to Wiesbaden.

1. People take All Saints’ Day seriously in Bad Wörishofen.
I’m sure they take it seriously in other parts of Germany, too. But this Bavarian town really seemed to observe the religious holiday. Even our hotel had hymns playing over the sound system!

I’m not sorry we went to Bad Wörishofen. I thought it was a very pleasant town. I enjoyed learning more about Sebastian Kneipp, although I will confess that I didn’t try the water cure during our visit, because it was just too chilly for me. I did notice some people tried it, though, as there were always wet footprints by the pool in the Dorfplatz. I wouldn’t necessarily mind going back to this spa town, maybe at a different time of year. I would choose a different hotel, though.

That about does it for my series on Bad Wörishofen. Now I’m off to have a good cry.