Here’s what I knew about Baden-Baden before the trip:
1. it’s in the Black Forest region of Germany
2. it was the home of the English WAGs during the World Cup
3. it is the town with the richest population in Germany
4. it has a funny name

There are lots of towns in Germany with names that begin with Bad: Bad Liebenzell, Bad Homburg, Bad Schandau and, one of my particular favourites, Bad Kissingen. The German word ‘Bad’ actually means ‘bath’ and when placed in front of a place name it informs everyone interested that this town is a spa town. Continuing this line of thought, it would be a fair presumption to make that Baden-Baden means Spas-Spas. Still a funny name but slightly more sensical considering there are actually some spas in the town.

Baden-Baden is an interesting place to visit, even for those of us who don’t fancy the spas, because, not only was it the backdrop to all those WAG stories in the tabloids during the 2006 World Cup, it is also probably German’s capital city in terms of rich people. Baden-Baden is situated in the hills and the slopes surrounding the town are laced with grand villas. The streets of the town centre are lined with boutique after boutique; with watch shops, jewellers and mini art galleries. The town is undeniably cute but its wealth means that it is particularly well groomed too: the streets are impeccably clean and there is not an overgrown grain of grass to be found in the parks. Even the McDonalds looks smart. The cars donning the roads and the people strolling the streets also ooze money. I reckon this town has the highest ratio of people sporting jumpers on shoulders, or ‘Porsche-Pulli’ as the Germans say, that I have seen yet.

Despite the opulence that inevitably surrounds you as you amble through the quiet back streets of the town, you need not spend a fortune in Baden-Baden. We drove there on a Sunday and our only outgoing was for our lunch. You can easily while the time away wandering around the town centre, popping into the Kurhaus casino and visiting the rose garden; observing the people around you and soaking up the unique atmosphere of Baden-Baden.