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Blackforest during Easter 2019

We (a group of 5) plan to drive from Amsterdam to Blackforest over a period of 5 days during the Easter 2019 weekend.

I have read a few posts online and the travel forum here and Gengenbach seems to be a popular choice, in terms of a beautiful town and the train connectivity, to stay.
However, since we have a car, the train connectivity might not play so much in choosing a place to stay.

We would like to see the Blackforest region, take a hike or 2, see the largest coo-coo clock, lakes, waterfalls and a drive around the area maybe interests us the most.

Considering it is Easter and places might be closed or working on short hours, which town is the best to stay for 3 nights apart from Frieburg? We are considering Triberg, but would like to know some other suggestions on some beautiful towns but also considering Easter in mind!

Thanks a lot for all the help.

Regards,
Sheetal.

Posted by
135 posts

Contrary to a common assumption not everything is shut down in Germany on Sundays and holidays. In fact restaurants and museums
and other similar establishments are extremely busy on those days. Only supermarkets and similar stores are closed by law because of an unholy alliance of churches and unions that are politically quite powerful in Germany. Your problem might rather be that most good restaurants and hotels are booked up. So it is very advisable to reserve in advance. This is especially the case when the weather is nice. Easter being very late this year the chance of good weather is higher than in other years. By the way Easter Monday is a holiday as well in the whole of Germany.

Posted by
57 posts

Thanks for the reply. That is good to know that restaurants will be open. However super markets will still remain closed :(. I know Easter Monday is also a holiday - and hence my question what would be a good base.
Although I prefer smaller beautiful towns than bigger cities, but considering it is Easter maybe it is better to stay in a bigger town? Wanted some suggestions in which towns should we consider, apart from Triberg.

When i search on Google for stores and the likes in Gengenbach, they already seem to operate on a much shorter working hours (like closed in the afternoon), hence a little weary about Gengenbach for Easter.

Regards,
Sheetal.

Posted by
135 posts

Hi,
you won't find any open supermarkets in Germany on Easter Sunday and Monday and on the Saturday before (as on all Saturdays) the supermarkets close sometime in the afternoon. There is a general rule: the smaller a place the earlier they close.
I originally come from this region, so I have never stayed overnight in a hotel there and can't suggest one. But having a car you needn't stay in the main valleys between Gengenbach and Triberg and Gengenbach and Freudenstadt because of the railway lines there. Gengenbach isn't really in the Black Forest and must be flooded by Americans in the summer who follow Rick Steves' narrow sight on Germany. Freiburg isn't in the Black Forest either. Let me give you one tip nevertheless: look for a hotel in the small town of Schönwald uphill from Triberg a few kilometers away. Use tripadvisor for that purpose.

Posted by
135 posts

May I add one more warning: Good Friday is a general holiday in Germany, too. So there are three Christian holidays during the Easter weekend, Easter Sunday being like a normal Sunday. And one more thing: travel related shops (at railway stations, airports, gas stations, motorways may open on Sundays and holidays.

Posted by
1275 posts

We stayed in Lenzkirch-Saig just south of the Titisee. No old town, but a nice relaxing area with hotels and restaurants to base out of.

Posted by
57 posts

@demag - thanks for all the tips and comments. The whole point of my post was because it is holiday season, and staying in Netherlands, i have kind of seen places closed during Easter long weekend, specially smaller towns like you mention. So I imagine Germany would be similar or even more so. Appreciate your confirmation.
Searching for places now.
@mchpp - thanks for the suggestion.

Posted by
57 posts

We ended up staying at a nice AirBnB in Schonach and had a great time exploring the Blackforest region. We took different drives each day, with a hike or 2 at the Triberg waterfall and other surroundings, driving the B500 and some other roads around for great views, visiting the Freiburg city and Lake Titisee.
Even though it was Easter few establishments were open and we could find daily needs things.
It was good holiday / break!