Why the Black Forest? And Other (Maybe) Overrated Places

Oversold, overrated? Neuschwanstein, Santorini, Phoenix, Vienna

Charleston, South Carolina,
Austin, Texas,
Munich, Germany

See, and I quite enjoyed Neuschwanstein (not so much the interior, but the overall experience in January in a gorgeous winter setting) and Munich, although I was underwhelmed with Munich on my first few trips. I think the secret to Munich is good weather and exploring outside the city center.

That said, I can certainly understand how people feel it's overrated for sights. I see it more as a place to go enjoy biergartens and baroque palaces and interesting food options and museums. For people who aren't into those things, it would be hard to recommend.

I don't know how popular the Black Forest is on this forum, Mr Steves himself does not pump for it as he does with other destinations. Admittedly not on my list of top places to visit in Germany, let alone Europe, I have enjoyed my time spent there hiking and visiting some attractive villages - Gengenbach, Staufen and Loffingen in particular, which were not crowded on warm days in September. I was based in Alsace or on Lake Bodensee at the time. It has a laid back feel to it. Long ago I read somewhere that there was just as much to be had in Michigan: I've been to Michigan, it's not true.

I've found something positive almost everywhere I've visited, though there are places I would not return to despite enjoying them, some of them popular destinations like Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Florence, Siena, Chester, Malta. Most cities or large towns. The lake district of northern Italy was slightly underwhelming, western Umbria in general, the Ticino area of Switzerland.

Forgettaboutit. The town of Tivoli is a dump,Triberg is not worth the effort. Anywhere along the route between Milan and Turin, and Milan itself. There are probably more.

Sarah,

My goodness, what an interesting discussion you had with your friends. It's nice to hear the point-of-view of people who live there.

In my case I wanted to see the Black Forest at least once just to see what it was like, and I chose to stay in Baden-Baden. I really enjoyed the scenery and character of the town and quite enjoyed my time there. I had thought of visiting one of the Spas but the large one was under renovation at the time and I ran out of time to go to the other one. I was more interested in photography rather than sitting in a Spa.

I've also been to Freiburg im Breisgau and enjoyed my time there as well. It was a convenient stopover on my travel route, so I decided to spend a few days there.

Hi,

After 24 trips in Germany in 47 years, I have yet to go the Black Forest, got close to it once when I was doing a day in Rastatt in 1992.

I have a lot more other places to go in Germany other than the Black Forest which rates very low on the priority list. No special appeal for me in the Black Forest unlike elsewhere in Germany. The city of Freiburg is another story, a famous university town.

Hi Sarah!

I’ve not been to the Black Forest,
but would love to hear about the “dozen more atmospheric locations with charming villages and pretty scenery”

Thanks!

We went to the Black Forest for a long weekend in October two years ago. It's an area that has interested me and after reading an article about the area I decided to take the plunge. We rented a house via Homeaway in a small village (I can't recall the name) and spent our time touring the local area, visiting Freiburg, walking trails, eating and drinking and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I also enjoyed the driving. However, I'm not one for slavishly following the lists of 'must see' sights, I prefer to take in my surroundings and absorb the culture, taking time over lunch or dinner rather than rushing around from point to point trying to cram as much in so I think from that perspective the Black Forest isn't an area that is crammed full of such sights, it is more of a relaxing place to be.

I can understand why Munich disappoints so many. I went with a group of friends a few summers ago, two of whom had been before and weren't entirely enthused about going again but it turned out they had a much more enjoyable visit. Munich itself doesn't offer much in the way of "sights" but for us it was the combination of spending the evenings in the beer gardens and the days spent at the lakes or a trip to Salzburg that made it so enjoyable.

I hated Vegas. Atlantic City was overrated. Paris doesn't really do much for me. The Cotswolds are way oversold, Barcelona wasn't anything special and Pisa is definitely overrated. I enjoyed Berlin more than I expected to and the first time I visited Budapest blew away so many misconceptions.

Munich and Paris. Both are nice to visit and though I enjoyed myself in both cities, they just don't live up to the hype.

There were no big wow moments except for Bastille Day when they did fireworks from the Eiffel Tower. Favorite thing in Munich were the surfers in the winter and in the summer.

One person's "must do" is another person's "not interested."

The Black Forest is worth 2-3, but it is not overrated. I found nothing tacky about it.

I lived in Germany for four years and am glad that I visited the BF. Also, visited Strasbourg, France and enjoyed that.

Bavaria and the Rhine Valley are my favorite parts of Germany.

I enjoyed parts of St Petersburg but overall it was a bit dirtier than I expected.

Even before Grimm, I think there was a vague awareness of the Black Forest for things like cake and cuckoo clocks and that it would be a good place to explore a rural area that might hold tighter to cultural traditions than bigger cities tend to do.

Go back further in history, and since Germans were a large immigrant group in the USA, there's probably something of a 'that's where my great-grandmother came from' or 'my grandfather was stationed there after World War 2'

Galway, Ireland: It seems more like a caricature of Ireland than Ireland.
Loch Lomond: How could a song have steered me so wrong?

I think anytime that you don’t really prioritize what you are interested in, you can fall victim to a list of “must sees” developed by others with different tastes and ideas than yours. Nothing takes the place of good research before a trip and even then, not everything lives up to expectations.

The grass is always greener...

I think the main reason the Schwartzwald is big on a lot of American lists (and to a certain extent this applies to Bavaria also) is that it was part of the American zone after WWII. There are a lot of families whose parents and grandparents spent time there, and it became a place to visit. It helped that those parts of Germany were to some extent "Americanized" (multi-lingual, easy money exchange back before the EU, etc..). Berlin is a good example of this; you can walk around Berlin and (if you look close) tell which Occupied Zone you're in. It's blurring now days, but it's still there, and even the locals have assimilated it.

It also helped that until about 20 years ago there was a huge American presence near the Black Forest. (It's still there but in nowhere near the numbers of before.) In the mid 1980's there were over 300,000 Americans in the area around Kaiserslautern, many of whom never really traveled far from that area. So that's what a lot of memories brought back to the USA consist of.

It's also where most of the tour guides were focused; and I think RS is as guilty of this as anyone. It's taken a long time for the mainstream to reach out to what used to be East Germany and the Iron Curtain countries. Language, amenities, and infrastructure do contribute (and hinder) tourism.

I spent a little over three years living in Bavaria courtesy of Uncle Sam. In that time I visited almost every major country in Europe (I missed Portugal) and I was, by far, the exception. I've been back a dozen times, that's even rarer.

The first time I visited Prague was not too long after the wall fell. the money was worthless outside of the country, the hotels checked your credentials with the police before renting you a room, no one spoke English, and it was fantastic. I walked for days without seeing another American. I was the only person in entire wings of the museums (which were horrible as their idea of display was not conducive to anything other than cataloging the collections and badly maintained and lit.) Service in even the best restaurants was laughable, and prices were crazy. It's not like that now (I've been back since), and frankly that's the Prague I'd like to visit again.

But things change, and the impressions and memories we have and pass on are what will drive others to (or from) places we've experienced.

"I think the main reason the Schwartzwald is big on a lot of American lists (and to a certain extent this applies to Bavaria also) is that it was part of the American zone after WWII. "

There were also Canadian bases at Lahr and Baden-Söllingen, which I believe are in that same area. Perhaps that was part of the attraction for me, although I didn't visit the former bases. I just wanted to see the area.

Interesting replies! I think a few of you are onto something with the combination the Black Forest being in the American/Canadian/French zone (depending on where specifically we're talking about) and with people having heritage from the area. Plus it just sounds mysterious and romantic.

I certainly can see the appeal of just plopping yourself down in a village and spending a week soaking it all up - but that's not the itineraries that I keep seeing that confuse me, which have 1st time visitors criss-crossing the entire country to hit the "highlights" and apparently one of those for many is the Black Forest. But as others have pointed out, Rick continues to put the Black Forest in his books and shows, and that probably contributes to the mythos surrounding it.

Ironically the one time that the Black Forest really stands out as a highlight for travel is the upcoming Carnival (locally known as Fasnet or Fastnacht) celebrations, in which the wild, wooly, pagan side of this area really shows itself. But I've yet to see one North American tourist asking about visiting the Black Forest for these unique celebrations, probably because they're just not aware.

Priscilla - I don't have the space or time to list dozens but I'll list a few places in Germany I think are undersold:
-The Swabian "Alb" region east of the Black Forest, including castles like Hohenzollern and Lichtenstein, fabulous wine, hiking, and villages throughout the entire region heading down to Lake Constance

-The Neckar River Valley from Stuttgart to Heidelberg for wine, castles, and villages

-So much Franconia! Outside of Rothenburg OdT, Wurzburg and Nurnberg it's largely ignored which is a shame!

-The Allgaue area and places bordering it including Blaubeuren and Ravensburg for caves, villages, spas

-The Lech river and the big lakes to the east of it for more villages and fantastic scenery

And I'm just scratching the surface since I've spent more time exploring Southern Germany, there are doubtless countless destinations in the north and east that I know many of the good folk here talk about that are very worthwhile!

As for me, I will go anywhere, anytime! Everywhere is on my list!!

In the commie days when I went to Prague in July 1973, you also found no one spoke English, or very, very rarely, which I did not use anyway in the city. The lingua franca was German. The CEDOK woman tour guide asked us in reference to foreign languages, how many here speak English? How many speak German?

Kaiserslauten...the Americans also back then called it "K-town."

Long ago I read somewhere that there was just as much to be had in Michigan: I've been to Michigan, it's not true.

Calling out this troll passage, there’s a huge amount of things to do in Michigan.

I verify notoriety with my interests to avoid disappointment. In this process the Black Forest hasn’t made the cut.

Having just left Austin TX yesterday, the quantity of tourists there is way out of proportion to the attractions (cripes, daily nonstops from Heathrow!). Although the capitol, the LBJ library, the barbecue, and a walk through the UT campus are all good, the city probably works best for 21 year old lushes. So many homeless folks!

I quite liked Austin but I was only there for the barbecue and the nightlife/music, definately the part of Texas that I enjoyed the most, the rest of it was pretty dull although I didn't get a chance to get to Big Bend.

Re Austin: It’s not a matter of like or dislike, it’s bewilderment at which destinations rise to the top of the international “must see” pile.

definitely the part of Texas I enjoyed the most

As Trayla posted here once, San Antonio has more to offer than Austin when it comes to tourist attractions.

Edit: also Gatwick Austin nonstops!

I guess the best attitude to take is be glad tourists pile into boats A, B, and C to take pressure off D where you want to go.

I like the Black Forest ( 15 days in two trips ) and would like to go again but will miss it on my trip this fall.

Who can explain why they like a place and other people don’t? If you look at the tripadvisor forum for Arizona, you would think that Sedona is the only place to go. In 50 years in Arizona i spent no more than 2 days there and one of those was sitting by the road waiting for the (bicycle) Race Across America to go by.

As Frank said, "one person's 'must do' is another person's 'not interested'" . Charleston and Florence are my top places I have ever been! We also loved Santorini. My "totally skippable" is Brussels. I also do not share most people's enthusiasm for Lisbon, except that it has the best Aquarium I've ever visited. We skipped Galway because it didn't look all that interesting so we could spend more time in Clifden-the Connemara area is beautiful. I could also live without Dublin, except for the Archeological Museum. I was underwhelmed by the book of Kells. Bath is ok, but if I'd never been there it would not have been a big loss. I've been to England 7 times and have always avoided Stonehenge and probably always will. I enjoyed Avebury. I loved the Palace in Madrid-much better than Versailles because it's smaller and prettier. To me, Versailles was built to awe you, not to make you want to live there(like Biltmore in NC). The Cotswolds don't do anything for me-I guess because I'm a museum, cathedral, history, natural scenery traveler.

I've been to Freiburg. Have I been to the Black Forest? I didn't notice.

I think the sound of "Black Forest" evokes thoughts of a deep, dark, mysterious place. The reality is there are better forests all over Europe.

Neuschwanstein. Iconic, so worth a look IMO, but hardly the best place to visit.

Cinque Terra. Maybe when it was undiscovered? Now there are mobs going to see what?

Chateau de Vincennes. Move along, there's nothing to see here.

Madrid. My least favorite place in Europe. Expensive, no history and lots of crime - the trifecta of reasons not to visit.

I guess I have been to the Black Forest, since I have been to Freiburg im Breisgau. I went to visit a friend I had met on the internet, and it was a very nice week. He and his wife probably made the trip more enjoyable since they knew all the places to go and where to eat. I enjoyed the streams in the roads too, the Minster and crepes mit apfelmus every morning in the square. Plus there are some amazing doors! But the Black Forest itself was not a drawn, even though we did go hiking.

I agree about Sedona - so many other gorgeous plus interesting places in Arizona. For me, Banff is overrated, but that is likely because the tourist mobs ruin it.

The three most overrated places I've visited were Lake Louise in Alberta, Walden Pond in Massachusetts and the Columbia River Gorge in Washington.

Me: "What, this is it???"

The first two of those were disappointingly small and unbeautiful, famous only for their literary renown rather than anything you could actually see there. And the Columbia River Gorge disappointed me because I lived in Ithaca, NY for 4 years, which has spectacular deep, narrow gorges, compared to which the Columbia River Gorge doesn't even rate as geologically or scenically interesting.

I think so much depends on the individual traveler's perspective and experience. I really research my destinations (some would say over research) but I've never ended up somewhere I thought was really disappointing. Fortunately, I do leave time in my itineraries so sites and cities we "happen upon". Neuschwanstein, wasn't everything I thought it would be, but coupled with a visit to Hohenschwangau was interesting and the exterior and setting is quite lovely. The Black Forest was a brief stop on a Rhine cruise and was a bit underwhelming, but I live in Minnesota and have visited most U.S. national parks and monuments. So I've seen some forests and hills in my lifetime. In terms of the Black Forest's "cute little villages", I saw more interesting and what felt to be more authentic ones in Alsace, Brittany, and Austria, Switzerland and Spain. I adored my brief trip to Iceland and plan to go back. I did the Golden Circle tour which I would recommend (if possible do it yourself with a car) but the Geysir area was nothing compared to Yellowstone and other geothermal areas in the U.S. There have been some museums here and there that I thought weren't worth the time, but I just left sooner than planned, and that is one reasons that I like passes that are reasonably priced. (like the Paris Museum Pass)

Unfortunately I have only been to Austin once...in 2008, so far, even though I'll back there this November. That trip is already planned . I like Austin, an interesting place, found parts of it fascinating. In 2008 I didn't notice a flood of tourists even though my visit was in late June.

I lived in a town within the Black Forest with an easy bus ride to Freiburg. I don't understand why anyone would think the Black Forest is overrated. I loved how there were very few tourists in Freiburg actually.

And as a jumping off point for discussion, are there places you've
been that you felt were oversold and overrated?

1. Any amusement park like a Disney property
2. Times Sq -- I'm a native New Yorker and cannot figure out the appeal of TS; if you want to go to a Broadway performance, that's different!
3. The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
4. Hollywood, CA
5. Beverly Hills, CA
6. Atlantic City
7. Coney Island

I love Grimm! Such a good show. There are rumors they are going to do a spin off of that series!!

Speaking of Grimm I think we need to add in the other Grimms/the fairy tale/Kinder und Hausmärchen aspect to the Black Forest. Think of Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and so on and there is always a dark, scary forest there. Being the most well known forest on the States sides of thing, it makes sense.

I do want one of the cool Trachtenhut/Bollenhut

I knew going into Rothenburg odT was going to be touristy, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see it. We were really disappointed.

The mention of amusement parks sparked a memory. Although I love Copenhagen, Tivoli Gardens wasn't worth either the time or the admission. I kept thinking to myself, Danish kids must not be overstimulated.

Two words: The Cotswolds.

Sure, they’re pretty. But so are a hundred other parts of the UK. I see so many posts, here and in other places, from Americans saying: I want to see some beautiful English villages and countryside so I guess I need to go to the Cotswolds.

Try: Suffolk. Dorset. Rutland. The New Forest. Shropshire. The Yorkshire Dales. North Norfolk etc etc

Oh also Cornwall. I adore Cornwall. But I also adore Devon & Dorset. So many people drive straight through those two glorious counties because they’ve heard of Cornwall and don’t realise that Devon and Dorset will give them wonderful scenery too.

Hollywood I have passed through a couple of times, really visited, eg Universal Studios only once, never been to Bev. Hills, but repeatedly have seen the Changing of the Guard, at least on every trip one time, save the very first one, and those NY sites...never.

This Person,
We did a 28 day drive tour of South Wales and England October 2017 and true to your comments found wonderful and scenic villages, towns and cities wherever we went.
We found the Cotswolds to be very nice, but we also loved York, Durham, the Yorkshire Moors, Whitby, Winchester, the Lake District and South Wales. We had been to the UK several times and seen London, Cambridge, Salisbury, Lock Ness, Edinburgh and other wonderful places.

There was a small village in the Cotswolds, forgotten its name, but it was near Chipping Campden. Nearly every home there had a thatched roof. It was great.

Hi Sarah,

Thanks so much for the list of all those lovely places! My bucket list keeps getting longer...