Need some recommendations on where to go in the Black Forest in Germany. We want to visit old world culture and beauty.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19113 posts
If you stay anywhere in the actual Black Forest boundaries, with your accommodations (and paying a nominal Kurtax - 1, 2 Euro) you will get a Konus Karte, which gives you unlimited free transportation in the BF by bus and regional trains. I've spent weeks in the BF and never needed a car. I wouldn't go to Freiburg, but then I am notorious for not liking cities. Nearby Staufen looks OK, but I've not been there. I've been to Titisee and thought it was very touristy (and that was in 1988). Triberg has cuckoo clocks. Hausach is near the Black Forest outdoor museum, with houses from the area. My favorite town is Freudenstadt, in the northern BF. Notable nearby towns are Alpirsbach, Bad Herrenburg, Calw, and Bad Wildbad. I'm sure you will hear of others, like Gernsbach or Gegenau. I would avoid Baden-Baden for about the same reason as Freiburg.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Triberg is... well, all the signs are in English and you can buy cuckoo clocks everywhere (even where it doesn't make sense), but also Lederhosen... and they make you pay admission to see a waterfall you would just about reckognize as such in North America. Personally I would only consider Freiburg im Breisgau or Baden-Baden as a base and then day-trip into the mountains. Freudenstadt is OK, they have a very famous market square (but then again after about an hour you've seen it)...
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3049 posts
I found Triberg surprisingly ugly in addition to touristy. Unless you really want to see a bunch of cheesy clocks, I'd steer clear. Freiburg is the largest city in the area, but if you want "old world culture" it's a good place to go. And it's not THAT big at all. Otherwise there are a ton of small towns you can hop to and from. If you're coming from Frankfurt, Weil der Stadt makes a good first stop, as it's in the northern Black Forest very close to the A8 autobahn. From there Calw and you're off into the northern Black Forest. I think Baden-Baden is a little overrated, but it is beautiful and definitely has that old-world culture thing going on. I wouldn't spend more than a night there, though.