Active Pursuits in Baden-Baden

For an entirely new perspective on the area, go hot-air ballooning. Ballooning 2000 offers rides between the Black Forest and the Vosges. Contact pilot Rainer Keitel (tel. 07223/60002; www.ballooning2000.de) for details. A 2-hour champagne breakfast trip over the Rhine Valley goes for 253€ per person.

For a more up-close-and-personal experience, rock climbing at all levels and altitudes can be enjoyed on the Battert rocks directly over the city. For a climber's guide, contact the German Alpine Club, Rathausplatz 7 (tel. 07221/17200; www.alpenverein.de). You can also walk the 8km (5-mile) nature trail from the Strouzda chapel via Friesenberg to Fremersberg.

Horse races and horseback riding provide additional entertainment in Baden-Baden. Most races take place at the racetrack at Iffezheim, 30km (19 miles) from Baden-Baden, but for tickets and information about the races, contact their organizers, the Internationaler Club, Lichtentaler Allee 8 (tel. 07229/187332; www.baden-galopp.com). Highlights of Baden-Baden's racing season, of which the Internationaler Club is the primary architect, occur during Spring Meeting (a week in late May and early June) and Grand Week (the last 8 days of Aug) with races on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Many other outdoor sports are offered as well. The local 18-hole course in Fremersberg is one of the most scenic in Europe; contact the Baden-Baden Golf Club at tel. 07221/23579; www.golf-club-baden-baden.de. Monday to Friday greens fees are 50€, Saturday and Sunday 65€.

For tennis, contact Tennis Club Rot Weiss, at Lichtentaler Allee 5 (tel. 07221/24141; www.tc-rw-baden-baden.de), which offers only outdoor tennis courts. At this complex, outdoor courts are available daily late April to October (weather permitting) from 8am to an hour before sundown for around 6€ per hour.

Swimmers can exercise and splash around at the Bertholdbad, on the Ludwig-Wilhelm-Strasse 24 (tel. 07221/277581). The complex contains a Hallenbad (indoor heated pool) that's open to the general public Tuesday to Friday 7:30 to 9:15am and 1 to 8pm (Wed until 9pm), Saturday 7:30am to 3pm, and Sunday 7:30am to 1pm; and a Freibad (outdoor swimming pool) that's open mid-May to mid-September daily from 9am to 7pm. Daily entrance to the compound costs 3.50€ for adults and 2.50€ for students and children 8 to 16.