Black Forest
EUROPE · SIESTA SIDE
Dark fir ridges, cuckoo clocks and cake, with Freiburg's sunny student streets at one end and Baden-Baden's thermal baths at the other.
The plan
Freiburg old town
Gothic Münster, a market on the cathedral square and the Bächle - little water channels that soak careless shoes.
Schauinslandbahn
The cable car climbs from Freiburg to 1,284m in about 20 minutes, daily from 09:00 and weather permitting.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Vogtsbauernhof
Open-air museum at Gutach with 600 years of Black Forest farmhouses. Open 22 March to 1 November, 09:00-18:00.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Titisee & Feldberg
Boat trips and a busy souvenir promenade at the lake, then the cable car up Feldberg, the highest point of the range.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Baden-Baden baths
Caracalla Therme's thermal pools and Roman sauna world sit on the springs that made the town internationally famous.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Getting there
Train to Freiburg
ICE services reach Freiburg from Frankfurt in about two hours and from Basel in 45 minutes. It is the best base for the south.
Fly Basel or Stuttgart
EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse is closest to Freiburg; Stuttgart and Frankfurt suit the northern and eastern valleys better.
The Schwarzwaldbahn
The scenic line from Offenburg to Konstanz spirals through dozens of tunnels past Triberg on an ordinary regional fare.
When to go
Best time to go
June to September for hiking, and late September for warm, quiet days.
Cheapest months
November and March: quiet valleys, low rates, some lifts closed.
Priciest & busiest
Advent market weekends, February half-term and August holidays.
If you've got one day
Morning
Coffee on Münsterplatz in Freiburg, then climb the cathedral's filigree stone spire for a view over the Rhine plain.
Late morning
Graze the Münstermarkt stalls circling the cathedral. The long red sausage in a bun is the local order.
Lunch
Take the bus and cable car up Schauinsland; eat at the summit inn or picnic on the ridge with the Alps in view.
Afternoon
Walk part of the ridge past the old mining trails, then drop back down and cool off along the Dreisam.
Evening
Beer garden at Feierling under the chestnuts, then a gig at the Jazzhaus or a late one at Schlappen.
Nearby & day trips
Europa-Park, Rust
Germany's biggest theme park, an hour from Freiburg. Summer season runs late March to late September, from 56.50 euros.
Colmar & Alsace
France is 40 minutes west over the Rhine: half-timbered Colmar and the Alsace wine road make an easy day trip.
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