Alsace/Black Forest - Base Camp (Obernai) vs.Moving Bases?

Posted by bsparks276 on 03/25/26 02:59 AM

Hi everyone,

I am planning a photography-focused trip (architecture and landscapes) through Alsace and the Black Forest this June. I will have a car. I am debating between two different flows. One is linear (staying where we are exploring), and the other uses Obernai as a "base camp" to avoid multiple hotel check-ins.

Option 1: The Linear Route

Day-1: FRA --> Strasbourg (Overnight)

Day-2: Full day Strasbourg

Day-3: Wine Route (Riquewihr/Kaysersberg) --> Colmar (Overnight)

Day-4: Black Forest Day Trip from Colmar (Freiburg, Höllental, Titisee) (Overnight Colmar)

Day-5: Colmar morning --> Gengenbach --> Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Overnight)

Day-6: Rothenburg --> Heidelberg (Overnight)

Day-7: Fly out of FRA

Option 2: The Obernai Hub

Day-1: FRA --> Obernai (4 nights here)

Day-2: Day trip to Strasbourg from Obernai

Day-3: Wine Route villages + Colmar (noon–night), back to Obernai

Day-4: Black Forest day trip from Obernai (Freiburg + Lakes)

Day-5: Obernai --> Gengenbach --> Rothenburg (Overnight)

Day-6: Rothenburg --> Heidelberg (Overnight)

Day-7: Fly out of FRA

My Questions:
- Given that I want to catch the best light for photography (Cathedral at night, early morning village streets), is the 1-hour commute from Obernai to Colmar/Black Forest "wasted time," or is the convenience of one hotel worth it?
- For the Black Forest day (Day-4), is driving from Obernai significantly more taxing than starting from Colmar?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Posted by fred

Seattle, WA

03/25/26 06:37 AM

794 posts

I don’t understand spending two back-to-back days in and near the Black Forest, but spending the night in Colmar or Obernai. Why not spend that night in Gengenbach or Freiburg? I’m sure KGC knows what they’re talking about in terms of Rothenburg.

It all sounds a bit rushed to me. “Do-able” with those changes, but still rushed. Too much car time and not enough being there time.

I’d think you would want 2 or 3 full days BF and 3 or 4 full days Alsace to see those two regions alone. But your two days BF include a lot of driving outside of it. And you have just two full days in Alsace. You only have 5, since days 1 & 7 are travel days.

If you can’t add a day or two … What about

3 nights Obernai. (Days 2 and 3) One day for Strasbourg. One day for Route de Vin. Skip Colmar, unless you keep Colmar and skip Strasbourg. (I have the sense you really want to photograph Strasbourg’s cathedral in good light or at night.)

Day 4 - leave Obernai in morning for 2 nights in Gengenbach. One full day in BF (Day 5) and one day (Day 6) from Gengenbach up through more BF and then to Heidelberg or wherever you spend the night before your departure day #7.

One more thought - If you can leave on a Friday afternoon or eve and arr FRA Saturday as Day #1 and leave a week later on Sunday, then your departure day is Day #9. If that works for you, you gain a lot. You can enjoy visiting more and rushing around less.

LATE NOTE. KGC is certainly right about drive times. This past September, we drove from Mainz to Geislingen-an-der-Steige (between Stuttgart and Ulm) at autobahn speeds that ranged from -0- km/h to 140 km/h. Probably averaged about 70 km/h.