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Black Forest OR Bavaria (9 June to 14 June)

Posted by on

Hi,

As part of our German trip we 2 friends in our early thirties want to drive through the German countryside for 5 days and need help in deciding between the Blackforest or Bavaria.

We interested in castles, quaint towns, breweries, short treks, farm stays and eager to discover experiences. We start our drive early, and can at the minimum do approx 180 - 200 kms a day (125 miles). Since we next have to go to Basel, we were thinking of ending the trip somewhere south (like Lake Constanz), dropping the car and taking a train to Basel therefrom.

Could someone guide us through which route to pick, or alternatively recommend something else:

  • Should we start in Heidelberg and then go down Baden Baden through the Highland route to Fruedentstadt. Thereafter to Lake Titesse through Triberg. Then to Frieburg/ Colmar or Lake Constanz.

  • The romantic route starting Wurzburg and ending in Fussen/ Lindau

  • Start from Stuttgart and drive down south through the Hohenzollern Castle and then either Fussen or Freiburg or Lake Constanz

Glad to receive any suggestions whatsoever. If also you could recommend the towns where we should spend the nite.

Depending on the route, we will take a train from Berlin on 9 June 2016 to Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Wurzberg etc. This has fallen into place very last minute and are struggling with time to plan this out before we depart. Please do help.

Much appreciated.

Posted by
12040 posts

5 days is actually quite a bit of time with a car. You could conceivably do both. However, in your early 30s, I wouldn't bother with Baden-Baden. If you want the German spa experience with a younger crowd, go to Badeparadies Schwarzwald near Tittisee-Neustadt.

Also realize that most breweries do not allow visitors to routinely enter the brewing facilities, although many operate a restaurant on the premises. One of my favorite, Schmucker, is near Heidelberg in the small village of Mossautal.

Other details... don't bother driving the Romantic Road itself. The scenery isn't anything special for that region of Germany. Rather, visit the towns that interest you. You can link them together in a more time efficient manner by following the A7 and exiting as needed to explore the towns.

The scenery south of Burg Hohenzollern until near the Bodensee is fairly uninteresting. The castle might be worth a visit if you have enough time, but you may find the drive a little dull beyond that.

Posted by
6643 posts

Rothenburg, Fuessen, the Romantic road generally, Titisee, and Baden-Baden tend to be on the touristy end of "touristy." Heidelberg is OK but not that special altogether.

I would suggest a starting point of Bamberg (UNESCO World Heritage site, wonderful brew pubs, Coburg fortress and other handsome towns like IPHOFEN within easy range ) rather than Wuerzburg. Bamberg is in Franconia and is surrounded by an intense number of breweries: http://franconiabeerguide.com/bigmap

Road trip from there in the direction of the Black Forest. Target some of the towns on the southern end of the German Half-timbered House Road (another theme route but less frequented) - see below:

http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/cont.php3

The German Castle Road heads west from Bamberg toward Heidelberg and Mannheim and would be one way of routing yourselves to the Black Forest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Road

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