Best base in Black Forest

Heidelberg is too far away, still a great place to spend a day.

My favorite place in the Black Forest is Titisee.

Love Freiburg!!!!! But that's the only place I saw in the area so can't compare to your other options.

Several times years ago Glottertal was our favorite weekend get away in the Black Forest. We stayed in both fancy hotels and a couple B&B's. There were multiple good restaurants. Pretty valley but I think you would need a car to get feel for the area. We enjoyed a local wine: Roter Bur.

i would highly recommend Gengenbach or Triberg. Old world charm and central to much of what there is to see. Gengenbach is a gem

There's a lot that most first-time visitors do not know about the Black Forest and cannot learn from a Rick Steves guidebook. Indeed, Rick focuses strongly on Freiburg and Baden-Baden, neither of which have much Black-Forest flavor and are disconnected from images of Black Forest villages that most of us carry around in our heads and want to visit.

A short visit of 4 days with some exploring can be done either by train or by car. I've done both, but after discovering the train system, I wondered why I ever bothered with the car. The Black Forest train network is immense and service is frequent. Have a look at the purple dotted lines on page 2 of the flyer map below.

https://bw.tourismusnetzwerk.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/KONUS-Flyer-PDF-Download_GB.pdf

The flyer provides details on the KONUS program, which provides visitors with free use of trains (and any buses you like) throughout your stay when you book a stay in certain towns. (Baden-Baden and Freiburg do not qualify; see the KONUS list on the flyer.)

This video explains the KONUS program as well.

Good base towns might include Gengenbach, Gutach, Haslach, and Hausach, all located near one another on the scenic Black Forest Railway between Offenburg and Donaueschingen (source of the Danube River.) From any one of these four base towns, it's not difficult to get from one to another - or to many other Black Forest destinations of interest, which might include...

Schiltach
Alpirsbach
Triberg
Villingen-Schwenningen

If you also plan to visit Freiburg, Baden-Baden, and/or Strasbourg FR by rail, staying in Gengenbach makes travel to these more distant places a little more convenient.

A couple of highlights on the Black Forest Railway...
GUTACH: visit the Vogtsbauernhof Open-Air Museum
GENGENBACH: lovely old walled town with towers

Elsewhere:
BAIERSBRONN: some high-end Michelin-guide restaurant options

The BF is not just about trees and scenery but about rural life. Farmhouse stays can be a good way to get a feel for the area. We stayed at fine little farm in Steinach (near Haslach) on our last visit for several nights. It was a 10-minute walk to Steinach station, where we boarded the train for outings. But there are farms all over the place where you can stay. The links might be old now, but the page below lists some farmhouse hosts in Gutach and in Gengenbach (scroll down to "Some of my favorite farms - Schwarzwald")

http://bensbauernhof.org/

Find more listings here:
http://bensbauernhof.org/farmscentralbf.html

I stayed in Gengenbach and absolutely loved it. I found it was the perfect base for the area. It was easy to get to other places by train, and Gengenbach itself is very charming - as Gary mentioned above, it is a "gem." It has a beautiful Altstadt and lots to see and do, including many hikes in the area. I stayed there for 4 nights and could easily have stayed longer.

And as Russ pointed out, if you stay there, you receive a free KONUS card that entitles you to free public transportation through most of the Black Forest. I used it to take a day trip to Strasbourg, France. Well, I was able to use it to get to the border but had to to pay a few euros past that. But it saved a lot of money in train travel.

The town also has quite a few nice restaurants. I had some excellent meals while staying there. I stayed at the Stadthotel Pfeffermühle, which was also excellent and reasonably priced (good breakfast, too!) and a quick 10 minute walk from the train station.

I like Gengenbach. I think any of the towns in the Kinzig valley or smaller tributaries would be fine. Zell am Hamersbach and Schiltach are two I have visited and would consider staying in if I didn’t like Gengenbach so much and have a nice place to stay there ( ferienwohnung Wink - located right on the market square )

Russ, thanks so much for such a long reply with all the information links. It's an area of Germany that I have not been to yet and I have visited Germany many times. I hope to get there soon and have bookmarked this thread so I can use your informationn.

Another vote for Gengenbach. Just a really nice place to be. I can't think of any negatives, and there are so many positives. How many places do you know that converts its town hall to a huge Advent calendar every year - just for starters?

Lisa, we just arrived in Freiburg for 4 days with the same plan as you to rent a car and tour the area. I would really appreciate any insight on what you found both good or bad. thanks!