Help with Neckar Vallley and Black Forest planning

I've never taken a boat ride up the Neckar, but no, they don't operate like the one's on the Rhine. It's more of just a scenic excursion. If they stop anywhere at all, it might be Hirschhorn and/or Eberbach.

A car is more time efficient, since some of the gems, like Dilsberg and Katzenbuckel are very difficult to reach via any other method. But there is commuter rail service that runs all the way along the river from Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen (if you only visit one town on the river, make it this last one!), and it runs rather frequently. There's probably some kind of all-day pass available for such a trip, but I'll let the rail gurus figure out that one for you (Lee? Russ?).

Can you understand German? If so, I can recommend some guidebooks about the region. However, most English-language books barely mention the Neckar Valley, if at all. Especially odd because there was a huge US military presence in the area until relatively recently. I wouldn't put it in the same league as the Mittelrhein, but definately the equal or better to the Mosel (depending on your perspective).

If you want to visit some of the castles along the river, prepare for some hiking, especially without a car.

The Black Forest may be rather redundant for you after seeing the mountainous area around Heidelberg (the Odenwald). Except for the southern Black Forest, it's a very similar region.

Burg Guttenberg overlooking the Neckar valley not far from Heidelburg is home of the German Raptor Center and has a wonderful birds of prey exhibition with some enormous birds swooping right over your head. The commentary is in German, but they will help you out with some English explanations if you let them know you need it. I think you might need a car to get up there.

Thanks, Tom! my husband and I both speak/read German at a high intermediate level and are comfortable getting around if there aren't any English speakers. I'm not sure about reading a whole guidebook, but if there's one that reads more clearly than others I'd be willing to give it a try. Bottom line: we're not excited about renting a car, as we have found it to be a bit of a pain on other trips. Pluses - getting to smaller places, Minuses - parking, getting lost, not having a train schedule "deadline" which my husband needs to get out of the hotel. So if we can see a lot with the train, for ex, if train goes to enough interesting and scenic places we'd be good with that and we're not going to try and see everything, that's not possible anyway. Interesting about the areas being similar - but we're talking about going to the Triberg area which I had thought was different enough from Neckar valley. Was thinking about basing in Gegenbach per a post on another thread here, but could also spend a couple nights each in Freiburg and Triberg if that's more efficient. We're not early risers so want to make the best use of our time and not spend an hour each way per day on the train if that makes sense.

I actually have the same question as to whether we'll need a car in Alsace but I'll post that on the France forum. But if anyone happens to know and it's not considered horribly off topic I'd welcome your opinion.

There is about a 3 hr boat trip up the Neckar from Heidelberg.

Trains are easy to use in the BF, and free if you stay in a KONUS town Such as Gengenbach. Check out some trip reports at www.bensbauernhof.com

Irene, we prefer to avoid car rentals if possible too. Several years ago we used a VRN weekend ticket to visit Heidelberg, Neustadt, Speyer as it was good for up to 5 persons & included local bus & tram service. I remember getting off the train at Heidelberg & hopping on a bus to the castle area. We later took a tram to a little area outside the city center for a great evening meal. The weekend ticket was good from Sat AM until 3 AM Mon. Check it out:
www.vrn.de.
Getting around in the Black Forest is easy with the KONUS card provided free by most accommodations in the smaller villages (not in Freiburg or Baden Baden) & also includes regional trains & buses. Gengenbach is a good base. We also loved Hinterzarten a bit further south. The tourist offices everywhere we've been have been great at helping with train/bus schedules.
Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have
more questions.

We spent several days in Bad Wimpfen a few years ago. We used it as a base and made a couple of day trips to Dinkelsbuehl and Schwaebisch Hall. BW is a little gem. So much beautiful architecture and historical significance in such a small area.

These websites on BW are in English. I urge you to visit this amazing town.

http://en.badwimpfen.de/

http://www.journey-to-germany.com/badwimpfen.html

More websites in English on the Neckar River Valley you might find helpful.

http://www.neckar-magazin.de/english/

http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/neckar_river.htm

http://www.karenbrown.com/Trip_Planning_Itinerary/Germany/Romantic_Road_and_Neckar_Valley/32.php

OK, if you understand German...

The Rother Wanderführer guides are mainly intended for hiking, but they contain plenty of information about the towns the hiking routes skirt through. The volume that covers the Neckar Valley is the Odenwald.