Villas in Schwäbische Alb

Trochtelfingen suits castles and caves, Heidenheim suits the eastern Alb, and Balingen suits Hohenzollern Castle and ridge walks. The Swabian Alb is a limestone plateau south of Stuttgart, with steep wooded edges, juniper heath and caves. Homes are holiday flats and small houses, few in number and spread out, so pick an area first and expect to drive.

Where

Villas: 16
From, per week: £304
Cheapest month: December
Nearest airports: Stuttgart is closest for most of the Alb, with flights from London taking around an hour and a half. Munich has more flights and suits Heidenheim, about an hour and three quarters away. Memmingen, with Ryanair flights, is around an hour and a quarter from Heidenheim.

Where to stay in Schwäbische Alb

Balingen and Burladingen (Zollernalb)

This is the steepest stretch of the Albtrauf, the wooded escarpment that marks the Alb's northern edge. Hohenzollern Castle, rebuilt in the 1800s for the Prussian royal family, stands on its own cone near Hechingen, around 20 minutes from both towns. The Traufgänge, a set of marked loop trails round Albstadt, run along the cliff tops with long views. Balingen has a station on the line to Tübingen. Stuttgart airport is about an hour away.

Best for: Hohenzollern Castle and walks along the Alb edge

Not for you if: You want a lively base: Burladingen is a quiet upland town, and Balingen is a working town at the foot of the hills.

Trochtelfingen and the Lauter valley (central Alb)

Trochtelfingen is a small town with half-timbered houses on the high plateau. Lichtenstein Castle, a 19th-century fairy-tale castle on a rock above the Echaz valley, is around 20 minutes north. The Bärenhöhle and Nebelhöhle show caves at Sonnenbühl are closer still. The Great Lauter valley, with castle ruins above a clear, slow river and the stud farm at Marbach, is a short drive east.

Best for: Families who want show caves, castles and easy valley walks

Not for you if: You want to swim: there are no lakes up here, only outdoor pools.

Römerstein and Bad Ditzenbach (the high Alb above Bad Urach)

Römerstein lies on the high plateau east of Bad Urach. The Uracher Wasserfall, a mossy waterfall on a short woodland walk, and the ruins of Hohenurach are around 15 minutes away, and the former military training ground at Münsingen is now open heathland in the Swabian Alb biosphere reserve. Bad Ditzenbach is a small spa village in the upper Fils valley, with a thermal bath. Stuttgart airport is about 40 minutes from both.

Best for: Waterfall walks, thermal baths and the biosphere reserve

Not for you if: You need shops on foot: Römerstein is a cluster of farming villages on an open plateau.

Nürtingen (the Alb foreland)

Nürtingen is a Neckar town, the boyhood home of the poet Hölderlin, below the northern edge of the Alb. The ruins of Hohenneuffen and the Teck castle above Owen are each around 20 minutes away, with paths along the escarpment between them. Regional trains reach Stuttgart in around half an hour, and Stuttgart airport is about 20 minutes by car, the shortest transfer of any area here.

Best for: Trains to Stuttgart with castle walks close by

Not for you if: You want to be up on the Alb itself: Nürtingen is in the Neckar valley below it.

Heidenheim (the eastern Alb)

Heidenheim sits in the Brenz valley below Schloss Hellenstein, which hosts an opera festival in summer. Giengen, around 15 minutes south, is the home of Steiff teddy bears and has a museum. The Lone valley caves, where some of the oldest carved figures in the world were found, are UNESCO-listed, and the Archäopark Vogelherd is around half an hour away. Ulm is about 35 minutes south, and Nördlingen, a walled town in a meteorite crater, about 45 minutes north.

Best for: Ice Age caves, a hilltop castle and the Steiff museum

Not for you if: You want the dramatic Alb edge: the eastern Alb is gentler and more open.

When to go to Schwäbische Alb

May to October is the season for walking and cycling. The juniper heaths flower in late summer, and the beech woods on the escarpment turn in October. Much of the plateau is above 700 metres, so it is cooler and windier than Stuttgart below, with fresh evenings. July and August coincide with the Baden-Württemberg school holidays, when the castles and caves are busiest. Winters are cold, with snow in some years for cross-country skiing, and some show caves close from November to March.