Naturpark Schönbuch Nature Reserve

Swabian Alps Region

LoginSave

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.

Bebenhausen, 7km north of Tübingen via the L1208, is the gateway to Naturpark Schönbuch. Buses run at least twice hourly (€2.30, 15 minutes).

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Pipelines on wall

    Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

    16.23 MILES

    The neoclassical-meets-contemporary Staatsgalerie bears British architect James Stirling’s curvy, colourful imprint. Alongside big-name exhibitions, the…

  • Schloss Hohentübingen

    Schloss Hohentübingen

    2.91 MILES

    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…

  • Museum Alte Kulturen

    Museum Alte Kulturen

    2.93 MILES

    Housed in Tübingen's hilltop castle, this fascinating archaeology museum houses the 40,000-year-old Vogelherd figurines – the world’s oldest figurative…

  • Residenzschloss

    Residenzschloss

    24.17 MILES

    Nicknamed the 'Swabian Versailles', the Residenzschloss is an extravagant 452-room baroque, rococo and Empire affair. The 90-minute chateau tours (in…

  • Blick über den Eckensee zum Opernhaus im Oberen Schlossgarten bei Nacht, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland

    Schlossgarten

    16.52 MILES

    A terrific park for a wander right in the heart of the city, Stuttgart's sprawling Schlossgarten threads together the Mittlerer Schlossgarten, with its…

  • Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Schlossplatz

    15.97 MILES

    Stuttgart's pride and joy is this central square, dominated by the exuberant three-winged Neues Schloss, an impressive, Versailles-inspired baroque palace…

  • Schloss Solitude

    Schloss Solitude

    15.62 MILES

    Domed Schloss Solitude, perched above Stuttgart, was built in 1763 for Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg as a hunting palace and summer residence. Blending…

  • Burg Hohenzollern

    Burg Hohenzollern

    16.97 MILES

    Rising dramatically from an exposed crag, with its medieval battlements and riot of towers and silver turrets often veiled in mist, Burg Hohenzollern is…

View more attractions

Nearby Swabian Alps Region attractions

1. Kloster Bebenhausen

0.03 MILES

Founded in 1183 by Rudolph I, Count Palatine of Tübingen, Kloster Bebenhausen is one of southern Germany's finest medieval Cistercian monasteries…

2. Kunsthalle

1.45 MILES

The streamlined Kunsthalle stages first-rate exhibitions of mostly contemporary art; in recent times, everything from Post-Minimalist art to…

3. Botanischer Garten

1.86 MILES

Green-fingered students tend to the Himalayan cedars, swamp cypresses and rhododendrons in the gardens and hothouses of the serene Botanischer Garten, 2…

4. Am Markt

2.85 MILES

Half-timbered townhouses frame the Altstadt’s main plaza Am Markt, a much-loved student hang-out. Rising above it is the 15th-century Rathaus (town hall),…

5. Rathaus

2.85 MILES

Drawing the gaze high above Am Markt, Tübingen's 15th-century Rathaus sports a riotous, exuberantly frescoed baroque facade and an astronomical clock.

6. Neptunbrunnen

2.85 MILES

Statues of four women representing the seasons grace the Neptunbrunnen, the centrepiece of Am Markt square.

7. Stiftskirche St Georg

2.85 MILES

The late-Gothic Stiftskirche shelters the tombs of the Württemberg dukes and some dazzling late-medieval stained-glass windows.

8. Cottahaus

2.87 MILES

The Cottahaus is the one-time home of Johann Friedrich Cotta, who first published the works of Schiller and Goethe. A bit of a lad, Goethe conducted…