London / Freiburg (dpa) – For 2021 the “Lonely Planet” selected only a few future-oriented projects because of Corona, for 2022 the publisher is now returning to its global top ten lists. In the new book “Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2022”, Freiburg im Breisgau is one of the top cities. It ranks third because of its “enviable quality of life” – behind New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland and Taipei in Taiwan.
“The charismatic, environmentally conscious Black Forest metropolis can show many of us a few more tricks on how to live responsibly,” says the book about the Baden student city with around 230,000 inhabitants, which is praised as being particularly sunny, compact and environmentally friendly.
“Freiburg has been a pioneer of the German environmental movement since local activists prevented the construction of the Wyhl nuclear power plant in 1975”, explain the authors of “Lonely Planet”.
And further: “The smart public transport system, twice as many bicycles as cars and lots of urban green spaces are only the basis for Freiburg’s climate-friendly initiatives.” There are “a lot of solar systems on the roofs of houses, on public buildings, churches and even on the roof of the football stadium”.
In addition, there would be “plus energy houses that generate more energy than they consume”, as well as “Europe’s largest solar research institute” (Green Industry Park) and the new town hall, “which is the first in the world with a zero energy concept”.
Freiburg is the fourth largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe, and in all of Germany it ranks 33rd in terms of population – between Magdeburg and Krefeld. Thirty years ago, however, the city had fewer than 200,000 residents.
As a tip, the “Lonely Planet” gives tourists “the beautiful, car-free old town with its many cafes” along the way. Of course, the Gothic Freiburg Minster and the “Lange Rote” (a 30 centimeter long grilled sausage in a bread roll) are also recommended.
As a special feature, the international readers will also be introduced to “the network of small channels, the” Bächle “”. “The paved gutters in the alleys are fed by the water of the Dreisam and originally served to water the cattle and put out fires. Today they are not only a beautiful sight, but also a sophisticated natural cooling system on hot summer days.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, “Lonely Planet” refrained from choosing ten top cities, countries and regions for 2021. Instead, inspiring people, travel destinations and tourism projects were presented in an online campaign.
For 2020 – without any knowledge of Corona – the Austrian city of Salzburg was announced as a top travel city, mainly because of the 100th anniversary of the festival. Bonn was fifth because of Beethoven’s 250th birthday.
“Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2022” is the 16th edition of the travel book. Up to now, Germany has rarely been represented. For 2019, Germany came in second place among the states, primarily because of the Bauhaus anniversary. For 2018, Hamburg was in fourth place among the cities. In 2016, Bavaria was eighth among the regions. In 2010, Germany was already second among the countries.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211028-99-766213 / 4
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