black forest

Nothing says to have to follow what others say. Stay where you want to stay. Don’t overthink it, make a decision and go with it. It’s your trip.

Kehl is on the flat Rhein river plane, not in the Black Forest, but neither, really, is Offenburg. Gengenbach, on the other hand, is more of the forest, although actually on the river bottom land going to Hausach. For a real forest experience near there, go to Alpirsbach or Freudenstadt (for example), or even Triberg.

I agree with jaimeelsabio. Do what makes sense for you.

From previous posts, it looks like your first priority is Strasbourg and your second priority is the Black Forest. I've never been to Kehl, but it looks kind of like an inexpensive, across-the-river suburb of Strasbourg with easy access to the Black Forest. The photos on Google images look okay; there are lots of places to drop "the Google Dude" on Google maps to look around, too (though, sadly, you cannot walk the streets). It appears to be a real, working German town that is not dominated by tourism. Perhaps that's not such a bad experience to collect over another cute German town, especially if you have previously been in the Black Forest?

I stayed in Gengenbach for my Black Forest visit in May 2017. Cute place. Quiet. I liked it a lot and am glad I stayed there, but it certainly was not a life-changing experience.

So... if the location and price work for you, don't change just to make the Rick Steves Travel Forum happy or out of fear that you are going to miss something. Travel is what you make of it... cool things can be found almost everywhere.

Ditto the notion of not following the crowd. I often suggest Gengenbach as it is indeed a nice place for visitors. But so what? That doesn't mean there aren't other interesting places. I often ignore the guidebooks and the standard board advice when it comes to accommodations. . DW and I spent 4 nights in Hanweiler-Rilchingen this June. We were the first Americans ever to stay at this particular vacation rental - a 2-BR fully furnished apartment with a full kitchen, large living room and dining room as well that cost us €46/night. Great place for a great price, with a location that made outings into France convenient. H-R is probably not a place you would ever choose to VISIT, but staying there and visiting more typical tourist destinations provided an interesting contrast for us.

In the Black Forest we booked an apartment on a farm in Steinach a few years ago for 3 nights. (You probably haven't heard of Steinach either - but it worked out great for us.) If there are souvenirs in Steinach, I missed them - there are no tourists to speak of, no one to buy them. It's a minor surprise to local shopkeepers and restaurant owners when foreigners like us turn up in their establishments and cannot be greeted by name like their normal customers. We have good memories about our stay there.

There's something to be said for staying in a "no-name" place where you get a peek at how average German locals live, work, and play, where you are an oddity, not just another tourist to be fed. In places where menus are not in English your dining experience becomes a little more like an adventure.

thanks to all. I appreciate the support to do something other than what the mainstream might do. I would like to stay in offenburg or gengenbach to fulfill my options, so I'll keep Kehl till something else materializes. Bye the bye I visited Steinach on my last trip to the black forest and loved it. Also hit triberg and alpirsbach...going with a friend who hasn' t been to any....so looking for the best options. I appreciate input. thanks

One more thing... if your Booking.com reservation is with a small hotel/B&B, try to find a room ASAP elsewhere and cancel with plenty of notice so that the small hotel/B&B can get someone else in that room. Small hotels/B&B's are starting to find it hard to survive without Booking.com-type companies, but the cancellation policies of those companies are also starting to make it hard for the small hotels/B&B's to survive due to last-minute cancellations.