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Rhine/Black Forest/Cuckoo clock

Posted by (Berlin) on

Hi all,

I’ve read several related posts on here, and found them all useful, so thanks already.

I am currently based in Berlin, with my partner, both in our early 30s. We are planning to take around 10 days off in mid-September, and this will be our first and last holiday in the country (we have been to the Spreewald already for a weekend, which was lovely). We will be travelling by public transport.

What would you suggest we do?

Inevitably, we’ve been drawn to the Rhine river and the Black Forest, but perhaps both aren’t achievable in this timeframe. If it was, this is the draft plan:

Day 1: 4/5 hour train ride from Berlin to somewhere, to break up the journey. Maybe Cologne, to see that wonderful looking cathedral. Frankfurt was another option, but doesn’t seem to have such great reviews here. Could do Dortmund/Essen/any other.
Day 2: 1 hour train ride from Cologne/other to the Rhine. Is Koblenz the gateway? I’ve seen Braubach, Boppard and Sankt Goar recommended on this site.
Days 3, 4 and 5: Stay in the region, visit Marksburg and Rheinfels, or others. I’ve also seen the other fork of the river recommended, with Burg Eltz and Cochem. I suppose we will have to make a choice here.
Day 6: 2 hour train ride to Freiburg, or other.
Days 7-10: Day trips and walking in the area/eat gateau/get woken up by a cuckoo clock. Long train/flight home to Berlin.

We’re not certain of any of this, particularly the last days 6-10. I’ve read that Freiburg isn’t the best place to be, that Freudenstadt, Triberg, Hausach might be more typical of the Black Forest, and that there is free bus travel in the area to/from certain towns to encourage your exploration. That really appeals, but winging it and organising food/Gasthaus/accommodation on the hoof sounds difficult. I have the very basics in German.

Also, if you were to say forget all of this, and go to Hamburg and the north coast, or Munich and Fussen, we could change tack.

Sorry if the community have answered all of this before. For any help, many thanks. We’re excited about any and all of it.

Harry

Posted by
22618 posts

Day 1: Cologne. My favorite German City, although I could see Berlin overtaking it. Stop at Papa Joes Biersalon in the Altermarkt, and take a stroll over the railway bridge (Hohenzollernbrucke) next to the cathedral.

Days 3-5. Not Koblenz. Boppard or St Goar. Take a Rhine cruise on the K-D line. You can go the slow way up river to Bingen, then buy cheap return ticket to Oberwesel where your VRM ticket becomes valid. Easy to get around on trains and buses with a VRM 3-day Tageskarte for 37.60 pp. No problem getting to Burg Eltz. Take the train to Koblenz and change there for the Mosel valley rail line. If a weekend, there is a bus from Hatzenport station, otherwise hike (on a nice day) from Moselkern station.
Also on weekends check out wine festivals in the Mosel valley with the event finder at http://www.mosellandtouristik.de/en/

Days 6-10. Just make sure where ever you book that they offer the KONUS card which gives you free bus and train transport in the Black Forest region. Triberg is cuckoo-clock central. Triberg to Berlin is 7 hours on the train with a single change in Offenburg if you take the 10:14 regional train from Triberg.

Posted by
7684 posts

"Days 3, 4 and 5: Stay in the region, visit Marksburg and Rheinfels, or others. I’ve also seen the other fork of the river recommended, with Burg Eltz and Cochem. I suppose we will have to make a choice here."

That other "fork" is the Mosel River.
http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/17-highlights/556-moselhighlights-englisch

Besides Cochem and Eltz, Trier is a great destination as well. So is Bernkastel.

The Rhine towns have local wine festivals every weekend in this town or that. Great fun.

I would suggest you allocate maybe 4-6 days in this area, 2-3 on each river. If you like biking and hiking, maybe more.

You do not need to visit the Black Forest to shop for cuckoo clocks. St. Goar has a shop.
http://www.bugbitten.com/images/40d1dd91595f074c0cbda6b4c3a0ace5/Contiki_Amdam_to_Venice-117683/Contiki_Amdam_to_Venice-4082688.jpeg

I like the Black Forest but you should know that there are lots of interesting places you might visit in between Berlin and the Rhine Valley, places with nice scenery, old-world architecture, half-timbered buildings, etc. See some of these very fine places instead on your way to/from the Rhine/Mosel, and you avoid those extra-long train journeys you must make for the Black Forest.

Hannoversch Münden
Goslar
Büdingen
Hameln

German Half-timbered-House Road towns (most are accessible by train.)
Fairy Tale Road towns (also many accessible by train.)

Posted by
1366 posts

We were very underwhelmed by Cologne, you could make it a quick stop-over to see the cathedral and head on south. The train station is in the shadow of the cathedral so easy in and out. In St Goar, I recommend the Rheinhotel with the little balcony room overlooking the river. It's not the plushest of luxury accommodations, but it's a million dollar view. Easy train transportation between towns in the region, or rent a car and explore at your leisure (I wish we had).

Posted by
8 posts

Thank you Sam, SteveB, Russ and celeste for the help. Particularly all the detail you've included, really is much appreciated.

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