Amazing hotels in Baden-Wurttemberg

The V8 Hotel in Stuttgart,Baden-Württemburg

The car-themed V8 Motorworld Hotel near Stuttgart

From castles to car shops, farms to vineyards, these are the most incredible hotel stays in southwest Germany

Don't just settle for a hotel when you can sleep in medieval castle or a giant wine barrel, stay on a farm or in a wing of one of Europe's top classic car body shops.

These lodgings could be the highlights of your trip.

Schlosshotel Hirschhorn ★★★

Crumbling 13th-century walls extend from the high castle ramparts past grassy lawns right down into the red roofs of the village below, and sparrow hawks coast on the thermals below the castle windows, their keening calls mingling with the distant rush of the Neckar River. The eight rooms in the main castle building have more character and better river views than the (slightly cheaper) 17 modern rooms in the Marstall. [€€]... » more » book

V8 Hotel ★★★

The Nirvana of boutique hotels for car aficionados lies in Motorworld, a sprawling complex of classic car dealers and mechanics in the Stuttgart suburb of Böblingen. These warehouse-sized showrooms are packed with 1930s Cadillacs, 1960s American muscle cars, 1980s Lamborghinis, 2000s McLarens... and dozens of Mercedes, BMWs, and Porsches from every decade and all in cherry condition... » more

Schlosshotel Götzenburg ★★★

The exterior and many public spaces of this 15th-century castle in a forest above the village of Jagsthausen near the Romantic Road look and feel wonderfully period. The rooms—though nice—are fairly modern. Go for a canopy or four-poster bed in the main castle rather than one of the blander rooms in the side building. [€€] » book

Hotel Burg Hornberg ★★★

This is the 11th century castle hotel you want to send postcards home from just to make your friends jealous. Perched amid vineyards above a bend in the Necker River, its four-star rooms are largely modern but with the occasional antique armoire, beamed ceiling, or period-appropriate canopy bed. Good restaurant-with-a-view, too. [€€] » book

Sleep in a wine barrel ★★

The Wild Family has an odd set of rooms on its Black Forest vineyard: Giant wine barrels converted into guest quarters. This isn't quite camping; you have a proper bed, and the barrels are heated (though you do have to step into the barrel next-door for your private bathroom). [€€] » book

Ferienhof Tiergarten ★★

Somewhere between a petting zoo and an agriturismo, this collection of eight family-oriented apartments on a farm in Upper Swabia is family-perfect: Goats, ponies, and pigs to pet, deer to watch canter past, two sizeable playgrounds, and homey apartments with large kitchens, living rooms, an adult bedroom, and kid-themed bedrooms (mine was castles-and-Rapunzel). [€€] » book

Schloss Weitenburg ★★

This refurbished 11th century castle above the Neckar River village of Starzach is well-sited between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, its rooms a period mishmash of Renaissance, baroque, and Neo-Gothic. [€€] » book

Klosterhof 21 ★★★

These half-timbered apartments are the real deal, built in the 1550s and occupying the former servants' quarters of the Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Europe's best-preserved monastic complex north of the Alps. [€€] » book

Schloss Eberstein ★★

You gotta love a Neo-Gothic castle surrounded by its own vineyard that's also a four-star hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant. The rooms, with views over the Murgtal valley town of Gernsbach, are posh and modern, though some part of the castle date back to its origins in the 13th century, with additions and restructuring going right through the 1800s. [€€] » more

Erlebnispark Tripsdrill Natur-Resort ★★

Like sleeping at a zoo, this odd hotel offers both wooden Gypsy-style caravan wagons and tree houses for its overnight guests—long with free passes to the wildlife park with its 40 species. [€€] » book tree house | » book caravan

Schloss Neutrauchburg ★★

Just 13 spacious, stylish, contemporary rooms in a gorgeous 18th century Schloss in the Allgäu countryside east of Lake Constance toward Bavaria that was built by the counts of the Waldburg-Zeil branch of the Waldburg family. [€€] » book

Schlosshotel Liebenstein ★

The foundation dates to the 11th century, but this castle on a hilltop between Stuttgart and Heilbronn is largely Renaissance. Some rooms feel somewhat period with dark woods and chandeliers; others are modern. Oddly enough, it is also a golf resort. [€€] » book

Burg Katzenstein ★

The rooms are blandly modern and functional (with the occasional exposed stone wall for atmosphere), but they cost less than €100—and the 12th century castle itself: Wow! It's just postcard-perfect. [€]... » book

Hotel Schloss Hornberg ★

This Black Forest castle hotel rises above the Gutachtal Valley, an incorporates the original 1120 castle tower built by the Hornburg Dukes. The rooms are simple, modular, and comfy, and it gets a star for being among the cheapest of the state's castle-hotels, with double rooms starting at just €89. [€]... » book