Fam stay in the Black Forest

Do not want to sound alarmist, but if were a parent I would want to be able to make an informed decision. I recently had planned to go the Black Forest area, wonderful hiking and outdoor opportunities was the attraction for me. I tend to research very throughly, including what kind of insect vectors there are and how much of a real health threat may be posed.
Unlike the US at least for now, parts of Europe have a tick that can carry tick-borne encephalitis. To my dismay the Black Forest region has the highest incidence of this disease in all of Europe. My research found that is this region children are routinely vaccinated for this insect transmitted disease. If you are not going to to be in forested areas, walking or playing in the woods, I would not be concerned. Again do not want to be over reacting but: 1. This small section of Europe has the highest incidence in Europe and 2. Unlike the ticks that carry Lyme disease here in the United States the tick transmission is just from a single bite.
tbe info
tbe information

to be honest have never came across this information......so you would not go to a farm....btw we are from Malta so maybe we are immune to it , I don't know

Any particular reason to spend your time in the Black Forest area? It's rather boring and not a real tourist destination.

I've spent 23 nights in the northern Black Forest,

Bad Herrenalb 16 nts,
Freudenstadt 3 nts,
Alpirsbach 2 nts,
Bad Wildbad 2 nts.

It's a very lovely area - great forest scenery, lots of hiking, relaxing, spas, etc; I never found it boring. As for touristy, it's a popular German tourist destination, but almost unheard of for Americans.

In 2006 we stayed at a farm in Sankt Peter in the Black Forest. The farmer didn't speak any English. Fortunately we were there with my German family. My cousin had arranged our lodging. Maybe you can finding something using Airbnb?

"In 2006 we stayed at a farm in Sankt Peter in the Black Forest. The farmer didn't speak any English. Fortunately we were there with my German family."

The Black Forest has never bored me. It is one of those few areas in Germany where rural traditions remain strong and where you sometimes feel you've moved back in time to another era. Even in the BF such experiences as yours are becoming less and less common, IME, as each new generation becomes more and more focused on economic opportunities outside its own community and must learn our language to make a good living.

I guess I look at a situation like your farm stay a little differently. If your family hadn't been there, I'm pretty sure this farmer would still have figured out how to show you your room, feed you breakfast and take your money (he's probably had to do so with others before you.) I've been in your wordless/helpless situation in France, in the Czech Republic and in Poland several times at family-run, private-room B&B operations. It was sort of entertaining to feel like a linguistic infant but to still negotiate the details of my overnight stay. With hand gestures and scribblings, it always worked out just fine. There are thousands of foreign visitors in Germany every year from Asian and even some European countries who speak neither English nor German but get along the same way when they book with a local farmer or widowed septuagenarian who didn't learn English in school 55 years before.

And then there are the economic circumstances of farm life. It's become increasingly difficult for families to pursue traditional farm life in Germany, and renting rooms has become important auxiliary income. Patronizing small B&B or apartment operators helps keep those traditions in place.

I routinely use the local tourist office B&B listings in Germany which offer the widest selection of options, places that answer to the local authorities. Many TI websites have English language pages that describe the B&B or farmer's apartment - even if the owner/operator doesn't know a word of English. This one for the Black Forest is extraordinarily comprehensive:

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/stg/ukv

Russ, I wasn't discouraging the OP from attempting a farm stay. We quite enjoyed it. The particular farm we stayed at didn't serve breakfast. The farmer's family lived on the ground floor and the second and third (American) floors were made into apartments. There were 14 of us in the family staying there. The only interaction necessary was when we arrived, paid and left. My German aunt, who is from northern Germany, had trouble understanding the farmer. She said he had a very pronounced Southern accent. I'm sure we would have managed on our own without German speakers.

We really liked the Black Forest. In addition to exploring there, it is in close proximity to France and Switzerland. We did day trips to Colmar and Basel.