I knew that Thuringia is beautiful and full of attractions, but I should have planned much more time for Weimar with its cultural highlights and the surrounding region.
You can combine sightseeing with culture and have on top of that the all kind of facilities to relax. You also should not miss to see a very dark chapter of Germany's past - the concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar. I was amazed and happy to see so many young people from all over the world at this place as well as soldiers from the German army - the "Bundeswehr". It was obviously an eye opener for them!
Unfortunately, Elizabeth my wife had already left for Canada because of her job and to take care of her aging parents.

It was extremely hot during my trip and I missed my Toyota Highlander with air condition and automatic. However, the older Audi 80 which I got for free from my son was also very powerful and more fuel efficient which was very important to me with the ridiculous European gas prices.
I was pouring down lots of bottled water in order to survive and visited in the evening one of the spas.

Kranichfeld was my starting point for my little tours in this area. I loved this little township and especially the hosts of the B & B where I stayed.
Just check out the web site which I designed for this place.
The owners and their hospitality were similar to what we experienced in the Canadian province of Newfoundland-Labrador. Unfortunately, only a few people can speak and understand English.
Please do not get fooled by some kind of English in menus and store fronts - I learned that even the staff and the owners of such places do not really understand their own advertising. They also could not tell me why they are doing this nonsense. I think they were talked into that stupid money wasting thing by some "progressive" marekting "experts".

Please be aware that it is not possible to cover everything what Thuringia has to offer after a few trips. This is also not our task. We want to make you interested and a little be prepared to explore this state which is so rich on culture, history and great nature on your own.
Elizabeth already told me, that she want to come back and hopefully the airline which we will select next time is more careful and will not misplace our luggage - we are willing to pay a little bit more for that.
When both of us can work on our travel guide more towns and attractions will be visited and added. A great help would be support from the Thuringian tourist industry. We need advertising and contracts to pay the bills!