Black Forest Trip Questions

Have your daughter meet you in Frankfurt. Then go to Wurzburg, Rothenberg, and then head further south. I'd recommend Ingolstadt if anybody in the party is interested in Paleontology, castles, Audi cars, and scenery. From there head to Lake Constance. Then to Freiberg. You can easily base from Freiberg and visit Gegenbach and Colmar, and all the places around both.

I’ve been to Rothenburg on a holiday and it was no busier rhan usual.

A couple of your comments got my attention.

"We love small cities/towns, hiking and other outdoorsy activities."

In Germany, it almost does not matter where you happen to land or travel if this is they type of experience you want. It is not necessary to travel long distances or to make large loops around southern Germany; nice small towns will be in close proximity to OTHER nice small towns, and there will be more than enough hiking/biking opportunities with nice scenery to keep you busy for weeks on end. Four bases for two weeks is complete overkill, IMHO. Two would be adequate. What probably matters more is what kinds of towns you will visit and what kinds of things would be interesting for you in these towns.

"We are traveling with family who have not been to Rothenberg ob der Tauber."

How many of you will there be? Some towns/areas,like the Black Forest, offer free transportation or inexpensive day passes If "trains/buses" are used, as you suggest; day passes for up to 5 persons can make train/bus travel very reasonable as long as you aren't traveling really long distances.

Gengenbach is one of those base towns with good connections that also have multiple journey options. But it's not the only one in the Black Forest that's good for short day trips. In small towns like G'bach with reduced accommodations options, it's not always easy finding accommodations that are within easy walking distance of the railway station AND that can house larger family numbers. Gengenbach is one of 149 participating "KONUS" towns which offer free transportation during your stay. So stay flexible when it comes to this choice in the Black Forest.

I also suggest you identify potential daytrip destinations BEFORE you choose your travel base. What specific Black Forest destinations do you have in mind for sightseeing / hiking / biking? It's a very large area! Convenient access by train/bus to your core destinations should drive your choice of base town. Same if you have a car or cars. Maybe you want to hike the Wutach Gorge near Löffingen and also spend a day biking and sightseeing around Ottenhöfen - and have a spa day after that in Baden-Baden? Or see the walled town of Villingen? You might need to whittle down your options a bit to make your wishes happen prior to choosing that travel base town.

"Will Rothenberg feel too similar to the rest of the Black Forest towns?"

As you indicated, Rothenburg is a very distant destination, so this is a good question. IME it is not the kind of "must-see" place that it is often made out to be. In some ways it feels similar to Gengenbach, Schiltach, etc. with its walls/towers, half-timbered buildings and other features. But it has a very different vibe. The ratio of visitors to citizens in Gengenbach (same population as Rothenburg) is significantly smaller than in Rothenburg - I felt surrounded by tourists in Rothenburg at every turn and pleasantly un-surrounded by them in Gengenbach. The result of this imbalance of tourists to locals in Rothenburg means that Rothenburg locals largely keep themselves busy catering to the needs of tourists and selling them things; tourism is very big there, the only significant industry, and things like the "torture museum" and the "Nightwatchman tour" felt more like Disney venues than anything else. The 130 little shops and 70 restaurants in Rothenburg's relatively small old town area - where only 2,500 Rothenburgers reside! - are the same number that Disneyland offers its visitors. Even Rick Steves has referred to R'burg as a "medieval theme park," and I think he's right. It's an interesting place on one level, but it doesn't feel like a real German town to me.

There are some other nice old-world towns that lie in betweeen FRA airport and Freiburg, many of them with a wine emphasis, which offer cycling and other outdoor options. These places make me wonder why people bother with places in the Alsace (Colmar, etc.) which have problems similar to Rothenburg's (overtourism, crowding, high prices.)

The Bergstrasse Wine towns (between Frankfurt and Heidelberg)

The German Wine Route

Neckar River towns:

Besigheim (canoeing, anyone?) was once awarded "Germany's most beautiful wine-town." We arrived there last year on a day cruise boat, spent several hours there, and returned to our base town by train. Sorry the video is in German, but the pictures tell the story.

Bad Wimpfen was recently honored as Germany's most beautiful Altstadt (old-town.)

Burg Guttenberg Castle and Falconry Exhibition

Neckar River Cycle Path (Neckartalradweg)

About "Rothenberg"

There actually is a Rothenberg located directly south of Frankfurt. It's not a place I have ever visited. But you are referring to the one near Würzburg. And if you are planning a trip to the one near Würzburg, and if you spell that town with -berg at the end at Germany's railway site, you will probably get directions to the one south of Frankfurt. The town of Rothenburg - with "-burg" at the end of it - is the town near Würzburg... (Germans don't confuse the spellings because -burg and -berg are pronounced differently - but we English-speakers pronounce them the same, so we mess this up this all the time.)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber or "Rothenburg o.d. Tauber" is the more specific place name that will elicit directions to the town you mean at transportation sites.

Thank you so much for the replies and insight. I really appreciate the extensive information!

Wow, Russ, your suggestions sound great. You've sold me! I will be doing some research on the Neckar River Bicycle Route. Thank you!

egempie-
Just chimimg in on the Rothenburg issue. We've been there a few times and it is a very charming town and we love it. But if it is going to take too much time to get there, you will get the same feel from Colmar (or Ribeauville, Riquewihr and Strasbourg) without having to waste time traveling. My wife loved both Rothenburg and Colmar (maybe Colmar a bit better because the shopping was better). I think maybe your friends should plan a trip when they can do Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen together. I'm sure they would enjoy that!
Dan

PS: Last month we were there a rented a car for the whole time (except for our final leg to Amsterdam , which was by train). The only glitch in the whole trip was the train ride to Amsterdam! I would highly recommend a car and not have to be tied to train schedules. We found it very easy to drive and park everywhere. We drove basically from Munich to Freiburg to Colmar to Heidelberg to Marburg to Dusseldorf. I would highly recommend it!

The only glitch in the whole trip was the train ride to Amsterdam!

Without knowing the no-doubt-interesting details, I'll just say that it is true that Germany's long-distance trains (which Dan likely used as he traveled from DUS airport to A'dam) are unprecedentedly troubled at present as the country catches up on deferred maintentance. Roughly HALF of these trains (ICE, IC, etc.) arrive late at their destinations, on average. Maybe 6-7 minutes, maybe 30-40 minutes or more, depending on the situation.

The good news for Black Forest travel is twofold. 1) The REGIONAL trains in Germany have a much better record than their high-speed counterparts. 2) With the exception of the the main north-south Rhine Valley railway running along the western edge of the Black Forest from Karlsruhe to Basel, there are no long-distance trains available. They're all regional - and regional trains can be used instead of the long-distance trains on the main Rhine railway as well.

Also, the railways in the Black Forest are considered some of Germany's most scenic train rides. Even the German Automobile Club promotes them, as they do the Rhine/Mosel Railways (to the north of the Black Forest on the linked map.) It's quite nice to relax in a window seat on these routes and just watch the scenery go by - or to hop off in some of the more interesting towns for an hour or two as you travel. No parking/fees/safety concerns, no gas stations, no traffic, no driving duties to distract you from your visual reverie. The Black Forest is surprisingly thick with railway lines that hit many nice small towns. See map.

Romantic Road Towns like Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl, and Nördlingen are not so well connected by train. Dinkelsbühl has no station. Some stations (Rothenburg, Nördlingen, Augsburg, Füssen, and several others) can be reached by train from other places (like Nuremberg and Munich.) We were recently in Nördlingen and Donauwörth, and used the train to get there - pretty simple. But travel from one RR town to the other is sometimes not simple because there is no general public need to link these towns by rail - thus no rails, heh. Also, much of the RR just isn't that scenic/romantic. It's just the towns themselves. The Romantic Road is actually a network of different roads that the tourism industry invented - with great success - to get more tourist traffic. If you want to see JUST the Romantic Road without detours to other nice places, it is definitely wise to rent a car, which will reduce your travel hours significantly.

Some great info on this thread and I really appreciate it. I am working on a plan for this region in April 2026. I am trying to find a home base city that feels authentic and not tourist ques everywhere you go, but of course I would like there to be some attraction to pull you in. Is it possible to travel in this area and really get a true sense for the Black Forrest without a car? Id like to avoid this hassles of renting a car and like the idea of day trips on the train. Any info on Heidleberg or cycling routes along the necker?

jstewbrown, I would suggest removing this post from the OP's thread and start in your own thread. Otherwise, you probably won't get very many responses, plus the original poster will be getting all the responses in his or her email, and that can be burdonsome.

It's easy to set up a thread of your own. Just go to the Germany forum and click "Start a New Topic."

I am trying to find a home base city that feels authentic and not tourist ques everywhere you go, but of course I would like there to be some attraction to pull you in. Is it possible to travel in this area and really get a true sense for the Black Forrest without a car?

Yes. Triberg and Titisee are touristy. Otherwise, there's really not much overt tourist traffic in the Black Forest - except for the tourists driving around in their cars looking for deep, dark forests (which aren't very numerous.)

I have slept in many BF towns including some you've not heard of - like Löffingen, Steinach, St. Georgen, Gernsbach, Bad Herrenalb - where foreign tourists are scarce.

The Black Forest is a place mostly for NATURAL attractions. Some examples:
https://www.black-forest-travel.com/places-of-interest/nature.html

There are mines you can tour:
https://www.black-forest-travel.com/places-of-interest/mines.html

Hiking is pretty much everywhere. Do some searching around to find what interests you. Komoot and Outdooractive will have hiking trail descriptions for most places you might end up.

Ottenhöfen is known for the Mill trail along with other nice trails. This page outlines the Acher Valley (Achertal) towns including Ottenhöfen:

https://www.achertal.de/files/Prospektshop/Allgemein/AuslandsBooklet_Achertal_2023_web.pdf

An offshoot railway from Achern gets you to Ottenhöfen in around 18 minutes with stops along the way, including one in Kappelrodeck.

There are several farmhouses-turned-accommodations spots in the Black Forest near Gutach which you might look into if you want a close-up look at local life. They vary a lot in terms of farm operation and character. You can find Gutach establishments and farm apartments / rooms in other parts of the Black Forest using this archived page from "Bavaria Ben's" old website. Today, some of these places still have homepages or can be found at booking engines like VRBO, booking.com, and at local tourist office websites. Just try some googling.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170813023113/http://www.bensbauernhof.com/farmscentralbf.html

Black Forest tourism booking website: https://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/planen-buchen/uebernachten

We stayed at this farmhouse apartment in Steinach a number of years back. It was close to the train station for doing short outings to trails and other towns:

https://www.traum-ferienwohnungen.de/13558/

I believe every town I have mentioned has a train station.

There is a bike path along the Neckar