Ravensburg

Pedestrian zone, Ravensburg

Ravensburg is a city in Baden Württemberg, Germany. Its main claim to fame is the board game company named after the town.

Understand

• 1 Tourist Information Office, Kirchstraße 16, ☏ +49 751 82-800, tourist-info@ravensburg.de. M-F 09:00-17:30, Sa 10:00-13:00, Su closed. The main tourist information office is located just off the main square next to the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche). (updated Jun 2016)

Get in

By plane

Ryanair offers direct flights from London, Liverpool and Dublin to Friedrichshafen airport, which is about 20 minutes away by train. However, Memmingen Airport, roughly one hour by car in Bavaria, offers a wider range of destinations with Ryanair and Wizzair.

Most major European airlines offer regular scheduled flights to Stuttgart, Munich and Zurich airports, all of which are approximately 3 hours away by train. There are many intercontinental flights to Munich and Stuttgart has a direct connection to Atlanta in the USA.

By car

Ravensburg has fast road connections to Ulm and Friedrichshafen. The nearest motorway (Autobahn) junctions are at Wangen (32 km, 20 miles) and Ulm (100 km, 60 miles).

By train

Ravensburg station is on the Württembergische Südbahn Ulm–Friedrichshafen and the Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn lines. The city's 1 train station is a ten-minute walk from the main pedestrian precincts.

Get around

By train and bus

Being a small city, Ravensburg's public transport network consists solely of an excellent bus network and a regional train (Bodensee Oberschwaben Bahn). The main bus station is next to the train station, however, most bus routes also travel across the main square ("arienplatz).

By foot

As most of the sites and places to stay are found in the city centre and the public transport network serves the city's suburbs, visitors to the city should be able to see everything without having to use the network.

The centre of the city is mainly pedestrianised. It is easy to explore the narrow streets, as the city centre is fairly compact. Some of the streets are quite steep.

Ravensburger AG, the company making the world-famous jigsaw puzzles and board games, has a museum devoted to its history in the old town

See

Ravensburg's historic city centre is completely intact, due to the city being able to escape bomb damage during World War II.

Ravensburg is famous for its many towers and church spires. Two of the towers ("Blaserturm" on the main square and "Mehlsack" at the top end of the city centre) are open to the public for a small fee, however, there are many steep stairs to climb to get to the top.

Ravensburg offers a fantastic amount of ancient buildings and churches, some of which are used for retail and some of which are open to the public.

There are several museums dotted around the city and several churches, all of which are open to the public.

• 1 Veitsburg. Located at the top of a steep hill overlooking the city, offers fantastic views across the ancient centre.  
• 2 Basilika, Kirchplatz 6, Weingarten (in neighbouring Weingarten (a short ride on the frequent local buses)). One of the largest baroque churches in Germany and houses one of the largest extant baroque organs. From April through October, there are free organ concerts Sundays at 16:00. 
• 3 Museum Humpis-Quartier, Marktstraße 45 (Humpisquartier), ☏ +49 751 82820. Once the dwellings of the Humpis family, who were rich merchants in medieval times.  
• 4 Museum Ravensburger, Marktstraße 26. €7.50 adults. (updated Jan 2016)
• 5 Ravensburg Art Museum (Kunstmuseum Ravensburg), Burgstraße 9. M closed. €6 adults, €4 concessions, free under 18 years. (updated Jan 2016)
• 6 Ravensburg Museum of Economics, Marktstraße 22, ☏ +49 751 35 505-777. Tu-W F-Su 11:00-18:00, Th 11:00-20:00, M closed. Adults €3. (updated Jun 2016)
• 7 Blaserturm. End of March - beginning of October: 11:00-16:00. A 51-m-high tower. (updated Jun 2016)
• 8 Mehlsack. tower.  

Do

There is plenty to do in Ravensburg, there is a fantastic amount of shops, cafes and bars, which are all located on and around the main square.

• 1 Ravensburger Spieleland, Am Hangenwald 1, Meckenbeuren. Family amusement park. 

Buy

Ravensburg is famous locally for being a shopper's paradise. There are several large department stores, all located just off the main square. There is also a small shopping centre ("Gänsbühl"), which is a short walk from the main square.

There are also many smaller shops selling everything one can think of, however, many of these, particularly the clothes and shoe shops, are very expensive, offering expensive designer articles.

• 1 Schokoladen Manufaktur Ravensburg, Eisenbahnstr. 12, ☏ +49 751 95860349. 

Eat

The centre of Ravensburg is absolutely full of restaurants. There is a fantastic Balkan restaurant located at the bottom end of the "Bachstraße" shopping street. Other restaurants include American, Chinese, Indian, Italian and German establishments. Restaurant food in Germany is very reasonably priced and is usually accompanied by a wholesome salad. There are some "all you can eat" establishments, mainly in Grüner-Turm-Straße, where there are also lots of Ethnic fast food restaurants.

• 1 Humpis, Marktstraße 47 (next to the Humpisquartier Museum), ☏ +49 751 35459891. For traditional German food. It is a little out of the centre, but within the wall, and seems to be frequented by the locals. 

Drink

The city centre of Ravensburg is crammed full of bars and pubs. Most of the pubs and cafés on Marienplatz are fashionable and a bit expensive. In summer and also on sunny days in winter, hundreds of people sit in the outdoor areas on the square and it can become difficult to even get a seat.

• 1 Räuberhöhle, Burgstraße 14, ☏ +49 751 33456. A classic pub for all ages. 
• Balthes, Marktstraße 31. Rock fans may like it. 

Sleep

Ravensburg offers the traveller some good hotels.

• 1 Hotel Residenz (Weinstube Zum Muke), Herrenstraße 16, ☏ +49 751 36980. 
• 2 Hotel Storchen, Wilhelmstraße 1, ☏ +49 751 18970770. 
• 3 Goldene Uhr, Saarlandstraße 44 (in the city's suburbs, a short bus ride away from the centre), ☏ +49 751 36290. Offers high-quality accommodation. 
• 4 Youth Hostel Veitsburg (DJH Jugendherberge Ravensburg), Veitsburgstraße 1, ☏ +49 751 25363. It offers cheap accommodation with some medieval flair (although most of the hostel premises are actually much newer). The hostel is only a short walk away from the town centre. However, it sits on the top of a hill, so there are ca. 300 steps to be taken from upper Marktstraße. Veitsburg is accessible by car, too, so even as a train traveller you can go by taxi if you don't want to carry your luggage. 

Go next

• Bad Schussenried
• Bodensee
• Tettnang
• Wangen im Allgäu