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Travelling to the Black Forest early April...need some advice

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We are travelling to Germany in early April, flying in from London. There will be 5 of us, plus maybe picking up a 6th in Germany. We plan on flying to Stuttgart around 4/8/19 (Sunday) and flying back to London either Thursday 4/12 or Friday 4/13, depending on what we schedule to do.

We are thinking about staying in Herrenberg and exploring the Black Forest region for a day or two. My daughter's partner was raised in the area, so she wants to show us around. I'd most likely rent a van or something for all of us.

We then have a couple of days for Something Else. Not sure just what that Something Else will be. We have thought of taking a train to Salzburg and spend a day or two there. Alternately, a suggestion was made to visit Switzerland, but I am not sure how practical that would be, or where to visit.

We tend to like castles, cathedrals, quaint villages, beautiful scenery, etc. Ages of travelers range from the mid-30's to mid-60's to mid 70's (though the 77 year old is in great shape and walks every day).

Any suggestions?

Posted by
8141 posts

It's 230 miles from Stuttgart to Salzburg, and a little farther from the Black Forest. Train connections should be good, however. For the first of April, I would suggest seeing Salzburg.
If it was the end of May or into the Summer, I'd suggest dropping south from the Black Forest into Switzerland.

Posted by
867 posts

If you go to Salzburg you'll lose an entire day on the train (roundtrip). In mid April I could easily spend a couple days around Konstanz and the Bodensee.

Posted by
3049 posts

Russ is on it.

Herrenberg is a lovely little city at the edge of the Black Forest, very convenient to Hohenzollern (a "modern" reconstruction of an ancient castle and well worth visiting) and Tubingen which is an even lovelier old city, with a castle of it's own and Germany's second oldest university. The two can be combined for a great day trip, and since you'll have a car you might as well include the gothic monestary of Bebenhausen on the same day as well - the final residence of the last King of Wurttemberg. My suggestion from Herrenberg would be Tubingen-Bebenhausen-Hohenzollern-Haigerloch (where the Nazis tried to make a nuclear bomb in an old wine cellar, a very picturesque and beautiful town in the Swabian Alps) That would be a fun and busy day without too much driving between the sights.

Being from California, I don't find the Black Forest all that dramatic, but it's a pretty drive through the southern Black Forest to Freiburg, and on a long and well-planned day trip you could even pop across the French border to Colmar. That would make much more sense than the very long drive to Salzburg or the closer Switzerland in my book. Alsace is dotted with charming villages that are day-trippable from Herrenberg.

Closer to home, I really do adore Esslingen but Tubingen is fairly similar so I don't know if I'd suggest both on one trip, although Esslingen wins the church contest (3 beautiful churches within a 5 minute walk of the marktplatz with some of the oldest stained glass in Germany!)

If you want something more modern, Stuttgart is home to both the Mercedes and Porsche museums, both of which are excellent (especially the former).

There's a lot to see/do in this region so if you'd like more specific advice feel free to message me.

Posted by
11 posts

Thanks to everyone for the advice! We are still in the planning stage, so these suggestions are VERY helpful. We were already thinking about eliminating Salzburg this trip, and the comments have solidified that thought!

I'll post more questions as I think of them! :-)

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