Planning Black Forest trip

We've been through the Black Forest a couple of times by rental car. We find driving in such areas to give us more freedom, and it's not a very difficult region to navigate. I'd hate to think about having to base myself around train or bus schedules for the region.
We just find the territory to the south of the Black Forest much more beautiful--specifically Switzerland and the Western Tirol in Austria.

I’ve stayed 12 days in Gengenbach and really like it. Good and frequent train connections. Train/bus free with the KONUS card the hotel will give you.

My wife and I stayed in Freiburg this summer for a couple days as part of our "bucket list" trip (Oslo, Berlin, Black Forest, Viking Danube river cruise) to Europe.

For over a year before we left, we used the Travel Forum quite successfully (our heart-felt thanks to all posters) to prepare for and plan nearly all aspects of our travel. Planning-wise though for a region like the Black Forest we decided to book a personalized tour with Black Forest tours (RS recommended). All the different activities, the desirable sights that we wanted to see and the time traveling between these were highly influenced by RS Forum poster recommendations that were based on their experiences and personal preferences but we couldn't tell or decide exactly what we wanted to do (You all are very convincing). Given our time frame we described the things we wanted to do (visit the Triberg waterfall, the folk museum, castle ruins, etc.) on the tour's website and were escorted/chauffered to all in just a single day.

Since this was our first (and maybe our only) trip to Europe and we didn't have a lot of time in the Black Forest we didn't want to take chances missing anything we really wanted to do but would have missed given my lack of travel-planning experience. I don't know if this is helpful and if you are a traveler like many who post on the Forum (i.e. this isn't your first rodeo) then this post might not be appropriate. But for us as first-time/maybe only-time travelers we were more than pleased with our decision. I know you will enjoy this beautiful part of Germany. Have a great trip.

About three years ago, I visited the Black Forest for 3 days and was based in Gengenbach. I arrived by train, traveled the area by train, and left by train. Like Stephen, I took advantage of the KONUS card that came with my B&B room and permitted free transportation on regional trains and buses.

Titisee is really, really touristy. If you like that, no problem. If you don't like that, it's probably not a good base for you. My B&B owner's advice on Titisee was to stop there briefly, see the "foreign tourists," hop back on the train, continue on to Schluchsee, and see the Germans. That's what we did, and we rather enjoyed our day wandering Schluchsee (town and lake).

We also spent a day at Triberg -- hiked the Schwarzwaldbahn Erlebnispfad (a hiking trail that takes one to sites related to the Black Forest railway), visited Triberg Falls, and saw a few cuckoo clocks.

Finally, we spent a morning at the excellent open air museum at Gutach and an afternoon at Alpirsbach.

Get your hands on a guide that covers the area well (Lonely Planet, Rough Guide) for more options for the area.

Thanks to all who have replied. I worked up an itinerary that included staying at Gengenbach, taking a train to Freiburg then Titisee and back (exploring a bit in each area). I hoped to also take a train to Triberg and back but, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong, the timing of trains from Gengenbach to Triberg won't work without spending a night.

I'm thinking more about finding a guide since our stay is short and I want to be able to enjoy and not have to navigate schedules, times, etc. My husband doesn't deal well with uncertainty (he nearly lost it when we were walking around Rome and I said "I think we turn here to get to the Spanish Steps". That word "think" shook him. :-) )

Thanks again.

Towns are much smaller than Rome! Hard to get lost.

I hoped to also take a train to Triberg and back but, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong, the timing of trains from Gengenbach to Triberg won't work without spending a night

Overnight?? What?

You said you had 2-3 days for day tripping. You're doing your outing to Triberg on a SEPARATE day from your outing to Titisee, right?

Beginning at 5:30 am, there are a dozen DIRECT trains from Gengenbach every day that take only about 35 - 45 minutes to reach Triberg. In between these departures there are additional trains which require a connection and only slightly more time.

The same is true for the Triberg > Gengenbach return trip.

What date are you checking? There are no schedules out yet for June 2020. Schedules are remarkably similar from year to year, so any sample date you pick for Triberg > Gengenbach ought to pick up these results, unless you've made some simple error - like including a stopover in Munich!!

This is the Black Forest Railway, one of Germany's most scenic train rides. It's super-easy to ride the train - for free - on this route, and to stop off in a couple of small, easy-to-navigate towns on the way, without anyone's help.

Here is a rail map with some of the stops shown.

What is NOT always so easy is using the DB site to get what you want.

Refresh and try your search again:

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Want to just stay on one train all the way to Triberg? Then click on "more means of transport" under "Connections." Then use the pull-down menu on the far right (where it says "admit changes") and switch it to "direct connections." That will exclude any connecting-train journeys that might be concerning you.

The one don't-miss-it stop on this railway is Gutach Freilichtmuseum - the stop where the Open-Air Museum of the Black Forest or "Vogtsbauernhof" is located (but not shown on the map I provided above.) See photo, take from the train station platform, with museum farm building behind it - only a few steps away:

https://www.bo.de/sites/default/files/styles/688x384/public/field/image/file6ib92zwteuxuer8ad3l.jpg?itok=jS10ik9A

So to find a schedule to get there, enter "Gutach Freilichtmuseum" as your "to" station, and either Gengenbach or Triberg as your "from" station. But you should deselect "direct connections" so that you see all the possible departure times.

A visit to Triberg and the museum will likely take up most of one day.

"I'm thinking more about finding a guide since our stay is short and I want to be able to enjoy and not have to navigate schedules, times, etc"

If you aren't carrying a phone, there are schedules at the station - usually a goldenrod-colored poster that looks like this one from a few years ago:

https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/54906423_06tlDSC6zjXTEuxnzvan330wLgrTKBOg3t5Ag1IiNgk.jpg

Most stations - including many smaller stations - also have electronic boards with the impending departures lined up chronologically next to the platform number where they depart.

https://bahnfotokiste.startbilder.de/1200/abfahrt-muenchen-hbf-am-29082014-365423.jpg

In recent years, English has been added to the schedules. This is a schedule at the Steinach station, also on the Black Forest Railway. The small corner pictured shows, on the right side, a train leaving Steinach at 10:35 and stopping in Biberach (10:39) and Gengenbach (10:44.)

And you can get a schedule from the ticket machines too - printed out for you to carry along. The English-interface machines will spit out a ticket-sized printout with multiple travel options for you after you enter your destination and desire travel time.

I looked at the train schedules again and found plenty of trains to Triberg - not sure what I was looking at before. So, very doable in one day. Thanks, all. Now, to convince my husband!