Seeking quaint villages/towns in the Black Forest DE?

Neither Freiburg nor Baden Baden are quaint. Former a (great) small city, latter a big (nice) resort town. And neither is a bad call, but they aren't really like a visiting Black Forest villages.

In the southern Black Forest proper, Schluchsee is a tidy little lakeside town with good tourist amenities but not the Titisee super touristy nonsense. All the usual lake stuff to do, and a bunch of fun themed hiking trails through the woods and hills. Mostly Germans vacationing there.

Gengenbach is a great place to stay in the north. I used it as a base for 4 days in the Black Forest.

My B&B owner at Gengenbach on learning of my intention of going to Titisee said, "Don't go to Titisee. Go to Schluchsee." Then she thought for a moment and said, "No, go to Titisee and see the foreign tourists, and then go to Schluchsee to see the Germans."

Gengenbach has been my choice 3 times but many of the small towns along the Kinzig Riber or its tributaries will be fine

Neither Baden-Baden nor Freiburg have much to do with the Black Forest despite their inclusion under Rick's Black Forest listings.

"Major attractions" invite a certain level of tourism. The impressive Vogtsbauernhof open air museum in Gutach, in the Kinzig River Valley, can be reached easily from a fair number of nice towns. Most recently I stayed at a farmhouse apartment in neary Steinach - very nice. Look into the other Kinzig River Valley towns between and including Gengenbach and Freudenstadt for plaes to stay also:

http://www.radtour4u.de/rw-info/kinzigtalradweg.gif

Gengenbach and Schiltach might be the most attractive of these towns, but you can't really go wrong here. Other attractions nearby include the summer bobsled in Gutach, the Triberg waterfall and Black Forest museum, the Costume Museum and Gedenkstätte Vulkan memorial site in Haslach (site of a former Nazi work camp), the Fasnacht Museum in Gengenbach, and the Alpirsbach Brewery are other good options.

Further south... I spent about 5 nights a bit more than 10 years ago in Loeffingen, a handsome town near the Wutachschlucht Gorge (popular with hikers) and not far from Donaueschingen (the source of the Danube.) I took day trips from there, one of which took me to Neustadt, near Titisee, where I hiked through forest to a nearby peak called the Hochfirst with a hikers inn and a lookout tower that offered stunning views of Titisee Lake and the Feldberg Mountain (highest point in the Black Forest.)

https://ais.badische-zeitung.de/piece/0c/88/26/60/210249312-h-720.jpg

You might visit the Rothaus Brewery too. It's in Grafenhausen.

I realize you have a car, but I'm giving you a link I have which contains a "KONUS" map showing towns, roads and railways in the Black Forest. As the trains can be used free of charge when you book in certain towns, you may want to try them. Both the Black Forest Railway (Offenburg > Donaueschingen) and the Hell's Valley Railway (Donaueschingen > Loeffingen > Freiburg) are among Germany's most scenic train rides - and you can enjoy the scenery traffic-free:

https://prospektbestellung.toubiz.de/media/prospekt/file/5736289KONUSGB_2022.pdf

I've used the KONUS program extensively for my day trips around the Black Forest, with great success.

Gengenbach for the north. From here Baden-Baden can be reached by latching onto road 500 (slower than taking the main highway but a much nicer drive). The open air museum, Schiltach and Triberg are all fairly close by. Schiltach itself is fairly central and is an attractive village. Triberg not so much so but worth it for the falls, I think. Strasbourg is just across the border.

In the south I'd go with Staufen, a small village with lots of charm and character. Although not central, plenty to visit within an hour's drive.There's a very pleasant walk alongside a creek to Munstertal one way, Bad Krozingen the other way. Some nice scenery in the Munstertal Valley.

You'll probably get a rail pass, I'd use this to visit Freiburg. Endingen, Brisach, Neuf Brisach (the latter in France) are kind of grouped together. Also across the border are Colmar and many pretty Alsace villages, Basel is just down the road.

From Lindau: Löffingen, Sankt Blasien and Schluchsee are all decent stops on the way to Staufen.

No matter where you decide upon, you can't see it all. I haven't visited most places in the central or northeastern part of the BF, such as Calw, Horb am Neckar and Bad Wildbad.

THANK YOU everyone for your sage advice. I am now armed with valuable information to maximize our first visit to the BF.

Your generosity to share your experience and knowledge makes this the best travel forum/community! Thank you and have a great week!

Here's another vote for Gengenbach - I stayed there for 4 nights in May of 2022 and absolutely loved it!. It's the perfect base for the area. It was easy to get to other places by train, and Gengenbach itself is very charming - it's been called a "chocolate box" village. It has a beautiful Altstadt and lots to see and do, including many hikes in the area. I could easily have stayed longer.

As Russ pointed out, if you stay there, you receive a free KONUS card that entitles you to free public transportation through most of the Black Forest. I used it to take a day trip to Strasbourg, France. Well, I was able to use it to get to the border but had to to pay a few euros past that. But it saved a lot of money in train travel.

The town also has quite a few very nice restaurants. I had some excellent meals while staying there. I stayed at the Stadthotel Pfeffermühle, which was also excellent and reasonably priced (good breakfast, too!) and a quick 10 minute walk from the train station.

Oops, just saw that you will have a car. Well, regardless, it's still a great place to get around. Definitely visit the Vogtsbauernhof, an open air museum - it was wonderful! https://www.vogtsbauernhof.de/en

Thank you Mardee, especially for the hotel recommendation.

Cheers!

You might visit the Rothaus Brewery too. It's in Grafenhausen.

Good suggestion! Good beer and such a cool label design. Good souvenir hat or beer deckles or whatever.

Thank you Marlee! I just got reservation at Stadthotel Pfeffermuhle in Gengenbach for 5 days end of July. We two will need a low key and pleasant place to land after a busy family extended travel adventure! Sounds idyllic and quaint! Love the possibilities of those day trips also. Strasbourg yes!
We fly out of Frankfort at 10:30 am. Does anyone think we can get an early morning train from Gengenbach to airport for our flights?

Ooops…Marlee….a “d”….

@all2alb for a 10:30am flight from Frankfurt to a North American airport you need to be at the airport by 7:30. No I don’t think you can find a very early train and the ones I did see took almost 2.5 hours and had multiple changes. You should stay in Frankfurt or an airport hotel the night before your flight.

Ok thanks Mona! I figured….wishful thinking.

In the south we’re staying in Staufen im Breisgau at Die Krone hotel.

I'm another who has loved the atmosphere of Gengenbach. If you have a couple of extra dollars (euro) floating about in your pocket and just don't know what to do with them you would make them very happy if you stayed at the Reichesstadt Hotel right in the centre , 2 minutes walk if that to the main shopping and dining street. https://www.die-reichsstadt.de/ Great staff, a lovely garden with tables for a romantic dinner (they do a great dinner plan) or breakfast with the birdies. Indoor dining room for folks who prefer that or for when the raindrops fall. The rooms are most exceedingly comfortable.

They also have an infinity pool, although when I visited last year they were having trouble affording to heat it (thanks, Russia) and they may let it cool down when they are not busy.

A seriously nice place to stay, in a lovely town.

Thank you Nigel. I just a made a 4-night reservation at Reichsstadt! Decided to stay longer based on all the wonderful reviews/recommendations. Greatly appreciate everyone's input!

ANOTHER Q:

We are leaning towards doing a day trip to Baden-Baden while in Gengenbach, if so, we will have 4 unscheduled days before returning to Munich. Seeking an interesting route back to Munich... current thinking is Heidelberg, Rothenburg, then Munich. Appreciate recommendations on towns to visit and places to overnight. The only constraint is that we need to be back in Munich by 10:30am on day 4.

Thanks

Go via Villingen-schwenningen - upper Danube - Sigmaringen - Meersburg o. Lake Constance. Overnight. Next day the German Alpine Road to Munich

We stayed in Gengenbach in 2014 and loved its easy access by train with the Konus card; we traveled to Triberg and Strausbourg on it. Also went to the Vogtsbauernhof museum.

Brilliant suggestions. Thank you all!

I like your intended routing back to Munich. Heidelberg is a bit out of the way. Maybe add Ulm, even if just to pass through for a few hours to see the tallest church in the world. It's very tall. And it has cool modernist stained glass inside.

I’m glad I stumbled upon this thread. Ever since I took a day trip to Freiburg, I’ve been wanting to return to the area. Nigel’s recommended Reichesstadt Hotel looks very appealing.

I stayed in Loeffingen as a child--many, many years ago--and we used it as our base for our hiking vacation. I remember loving it, and it's on my list to revisit.