Qualitätsweg "Stadt, Wald, Fluss"

Target group: urban hikers who want to discover the most beautiful corners of Ettlingen (on asphalt, gravel, etc.) and combine this with a beautiful forest path in sections. "Starting point of the tour is the Albgaubad stop or the parking lot there. From here you follow the hiking trail to the southwest to the Horbachtal. Then the path leads along the Horbach and around the Horbachsee. To the northeast the hiking trail continues into the city center. The imposing The castle, the market square and the many half-timbered houses invite you to explore. You cross the city center and at the Rathausbrücke follow the signs along the Alb to the Watthaldenpark. This is crossed and the Winzerallee up to the wayside cross "Kaiseiche”. Here you can do a lot enjoy the wonderful view before the hiking trail continues to the Bismarck Tower. The descent to Ettlingen begins again at Oberen Mittelberg via a serpentine path. The Alb is crossed and you turn right before the railway tracks back to the Albgaubad outdoor pool." Source: https://www.albtal-tourismus.de/tour/qualitaetsweg-stadt-wald-fluss-6aeca756db Highly recommended hike that perfectly showcases the most beautiful corners of Ettlingen. I would describe the first part as an "urban hike". In the second part at the Wattkopf you then also walk on beautiful forest paths and narrow paths over hill and dale. Personally, I find the "dramaturgy" of the quality path to be suboptimal. Next time I would therefore reverse the recommended hiking direction: first walk over the mountain and then into Ettlingen, then you are in the last third of the hike and can also stop off comfortably at the end or have an ice cream before heading back through the Horbachpark to the starting point goes back.

Actually, the weather wasn't that good for today, so we chose a small round in Ettlingen. Namely the quality trail "City, Forest, River". The starting point of our tour was the free parking lot at the Freibad-Albgaubad.

Very nice little city walk 😊 Nice town, a bit of green and a view 🥰 I liked it 👍

Today it was freezing cold. But a little fresh air doesn't do any harm. So today we chose a nice little walk in Ettlingen. First we went up to the Bismarck Tower. When we got there we were lucky and the sun came out. That meant we had a great atmosphere. We then finished off at the local Christmas market.

why not go for a hike half through the city and half in nature, we thought, but unfortunately this tour is not recommended as a hike.

Today I was just on a nice little walk with a couple of friends. But nice to come out in the slightly drizzly weather: it was very relaxed 🙂

My optimized version of the “Quality Trail City, Forest, River” with a starting point at the castle and incorporating the beautiful part of the Panorama Trail. If you follow the original route, you will miss the best views.