Bad Tabarz: Nature Park Trail, TABBS and Inselsberg
Accommodation in Tabarz
Bad Tabarz offers a range of reasons to visit: an adventure tower on the Inselsberg opens up views across the Thuringian Forest, TABBS provides water and health facilities, and the Nature Park Trail loops around the spa town. There is also a long pipe-making tradition and a climbing area nearby. When planning your trip, you can choose between panoramic views, outdoor activities, swimming and traditional crafts.
Bad Tabarz, Naturdenkmal, Baumgruppe aus 14 Blutbuchen
Photo: M_H.DE via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Inselsberg and views across the Thuringian Forest
The 21-metre-high adventure tower was created in 2015 from a former radio relay tower on the 916-metre-high Inselsberg. From the Großer Inselsberg, you can enjoy a 360-degree view across a very large part of the Thuringian Forest. The tower and its views give your excursion a clear focus: you can plan a visit for sweeping panoramic views and get to know the Inselsberg as a distinctive place on your trip.
Water, sport and relaxation at TABBS
TABBS – the sports and health swimming pool in Bad Tabarz – combines different bathing areas. The leisure pool includes an outdoor pool; there is also a sports pool with four lanes and a children's area. An outdoor swimming pool with a large sunbathing lawn adds to the choice. The four lanes clearly distinguish the sports pool from the leisure area, while the children's area and sunbathing lawn offer further features. TABBS also includes a sauna complex and a Kneipp and natural medicine centre. If you would like to make swimming or health and wellbeing a focus of your stay, you will find several different areas here in one place.
Exploring the Nature Park Trail
The Nature Park Trail starts at the Nature Park Gate in the centre of Bad Tabarz. It follows well-maintained paths in a series of ascents and descents around the spa town. The route description makes clear that you can expect alternating climbs and descents; it does not specify a particular walking time or route length. Along the Datenberg Promenade, the trail passes the rhododendron garden, the climbing forest and the ski jump before reaching Seifartswiese.
The Rhododendron Garden in Bad Tabarz is a destination in its own right, and admission is free. Those interested in climbing will find a climbing area nearby in Lauchagrund, near Bad Tabarz, with 26 crags and more than 260 climbing routes. The stated grades range from 2 to 9. You can therefore consider the Nature Park Trail and the climbing area as different ways to spend your time in Bad Tabarz.
Discover the pipe-making tradition
Traditional crafts are also part of the town's history. The pipe-making workshop on the Inselsberg carries on Tabarz's century-old tradition of pipe making. Around 1900, pipes were made in several workshops in Tabarz. During a guided tour, Peter Filß demonstrates the steps involved, from raw wood to the shape of a pipe, and explains specialist techniques used to make the unique Bad Tabarz pipe. The visit offers an insight into traditional craftsmanship that is quite different from nature and swimming experiences.
Getting there and choosing your stay
From Gotha, you can reach Bad Tabarz on the Thüringer Waldbahn, line 4, to the Bad Tabarz stop. The journey takes about an hour. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Bad Tabarz, first consider what you would like to focus on during your stay—for example, outdoor activities, the facilities at TABBS, or an excursion centred on views and traditional crafts. These interests can help you choose Bad Tabarz as a destination with an itinerary that suits you.
More pages about local towns: Großfahner, Tonna, Tambach-Dietharz, Schwabhausen, Ballstädt, Günthersleben-Wechmar, Gierstädt and Bufleben.
For the main travel overview: Gotha.
