Tunnel collapse: Baden-Baden to Rastatt, alternative route.

You can take a train to Karlsruhe, then a train to Freudenstadt in the Black Forest. This route avoids the disruption, although it may be busy for that reason. From there a train to Offenburg, then a train to Basel. There are a lot of towns along the way you can stop by in the Black Forest.

Much depends upon where you are staying in the area. For most places the shuttle bus around the damage is still the best option. For Freudenstadt you'd use the normal service from Karlsruhe or Rastatt. For a small number of places south of Freudenstadt it might be easier to go that way rather than via Offenburg. What may appear to be an alternative via Stuttgart isn't because many passenger trains have been cancelled on one section of the line to make way for diverted freight trains.

Thanks. Presently, we've no accommodation booked. Our original plan was to travel to Titsee and base ourselves there for 3/4 nights, with perhaps a last night in Freiburg to keep our route to Basel airport simple.
I'm wary of the replacement shuttle, it just sounds like a potential nightmare.
Seeing as we've nothing booked other than a cheap flight from Basel, I has considered abandoning this section of the trip, but feel it would be a real shame to.

I've done replacement buses on DB before. It is really no big deal. Of course it is 2 extra transfers on what would otherwise be a direct trip, and adds just a bit more time. But if Titisee was your plan, I see no reason to alter it because of this.

Edit: There is a route to Titisee from Freudenstadt via Eutingen and Rottweil. Keep in mind, if you stay over in a place that offers the Konus card, you get free transport on regional trains in the Black Forest area. So if you stayed over one night in Freudenstadt, you can get to Titisee free. Then stay there at a Konus establishment, and you can get all the way to Basel Badischer Bahnhof for free as well on regional trains.

Konus is valid on German and Swiss regional trains as far as Basel SBB (the main Swiss station). During the day they are mostly Swiss which run up to Zell in Germany (bus connection with Titisee), peak hours sees red german trains as well. This little bit extra may not seem much because it is no more convenient for the old town - but the airport bus goes from there. Although from Titisee you could take the airport bus from Freiburg (but it would cost more). https://prospektbestellung.toubiz.de/media/prospekt/file/4560694_KONUS-Flyer_2017_Englisch

As for the shuttle around the damage, it adds about an hour overall. Amended times with the shuttle are showing in the DB journey planner for dates until the expected reopening http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en and if there is a viable alternative it will show that as well.

Thanks again everyone.

I think we'll now head to Freudenstadt from St Goar, 4hr30 trip. Stay the night in Freudenstadt, TBC, hopefully at a Konus establishment. We'll then make the 2hr rail journey to Triberg (rather than Titisee, although we'll visit here on a day trip), as we've found an affordable apartment near the waterfall in Triberg, which is available for 3 nights.

Hopefully that will be Konus compatible too, so we can get to Basel by trains in around 3hrs on our last day!

In all the KONUS towns, ALL innkeepers participate.

I'd caution you about Triberg as a base for train outings. The waterfall and town are located a lengthy uphill slog from the train station, and you may tire very quickly of making that trek if you've been hoofing it around already here and there.

Here's the most complete set of accommodations I'm aware of for the Black Forest.

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/stg/ukv

Thanks Russ, we weren't sure about privately managed apartments.

Good to know that about Triberg too - back to the Titisee option I think. I've checked your link, and I'll try for one of those.

We'll then make the 2hr rail journey to Triberg (rather than Titisee, although we'll visit here on a day trip)

I you go beyond Triberg to Donaueschingen, the rail line from there to Freiburg goes through Titisee/Neustadt.

By the way, the rail line from Rastatt up to Freudenstadt through the Murg valley is rather scenic.

There are two stations in Freudenstadt. The Freudenstadt Stadtbahnhof is a few level blocks from the town square; the Freudenstadt Hbf is down in the valley. It's a steep walk from town down to the Hbf, but there are regular trains between the two stations. From the Hbf, you go down the Kinzig river valley to Hausach, starting point of the Schwarzwaldbahn.

You might do well to keep your expectations low about that waterfall. Niagara it ain't. Not Bridalveil Falls either.

Better to be pleasantly surprised than let down.

actually the "train" from Rastatt to Freundenstadt is a long distance tram which starts in the streets of Karlsruhe. They are more comfortable than ordinary trams and you can sit behind the driver and see where you are going. The important thing is the steep hill between Freudenstadt Stadt and Freudenstadt Hauptbahnhof. Assuming you will stay somewhere in the town centre get off at Stadt, you don't want to be carrying luggage back up the hill!!! The centre is actually a huge square (they claim it's the biggest in germany/europe/world depending on who you ask). When looking around the old buildings around the edge for somewhere to eat don't forget the brewery pub hidden in plain sight in the centre of the square!!

Getting down to the Hauptbahnhof next morning is fine, it may be easier to walk straight there then walk to a tram station and then ride down and wait for a connection to Hausach.

Harry: If you plan to visit the Titisee area as well as Triberg and other popular destinations on the Black Forest Railway (like Gutach, for example) then you might look at places more central to both by train... Villingen is an attrractive place with a pretty old town that could be a good travel base option for you. You'd be about 1 hour from either Titisee or Gutach. You're looking for an apartment, right? I looked at the site I linked you to and there may be some problem there... I was spectacularly unsuccessful... I may or may not have your stay dates right but I did find availability in a small apartment in the heart of Villingen, which would be an easy walk to the station. Search Villingen-Schwenningen at booking.com for "Loft Style Studio - historic old town" if you're interested.

To reach Villingen from St. Goar, you are more than likely going to be routed through Stuttgart by DB. This route avoids the damaged track area.

Railway map showing Villingen's location relative to Titisee and the other Black Forest Railway towns (Gengenbach, Triberg; Gutach is not shown but lies near Hausach.)

Thanks for this Russ!

We’ve actually bitten the bullet and are travelling on the 23rd September from Koblenz to Freiburg via trains and the replacement bus, due to arrive in at 5.08pm. I booked this journey earlier today with a couple of Bahn 25 cards. We may have a nose around and overnight in Freiburg, unless you’d advise against it.

We reconsidered Triberg after your message, so we’ll head directly to Titisee on the morning of the 24th for our last 3 nights. I’m holding an apartment near Titisee station. We have a flight from Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg back to Berlin booked on the 27th for 4.15pm, so we'll take a KONUS route to the airport.

If you have any advice for trips from Titisee, and walking routes/restaurants please send them my way. Similarly, we have some time in St Goar, 4 nights, but the things to see and do there might be more self-explanatory, and perhaps they are covered in other threads on the site which I will scour.

Thanks also to Steve, Nigel and Lee.

Harry

In Titisee,one walk is to circumnavigate the eponymous lake.

If you are going from Titisee to Basel, DB will route you via Freiburg. But there is a better route, which takes not much longer. There is a bus from Titisee to Zell, runs every hour. Bus No.7300 I think. It starts outside the station, but also stops at the end of the pedestrianised main street. It goes via Feldbergpass to Zell, it ends at Zell station from which there is a train every 30 minutes to Basel.
The train terminates at Basel SBB.Outside the station you can get the No. 50 bus to the airport.

"If you have any advice for trips from Titisee, and walking routes/restaurants please send them my way."

I have hiked the trail from Neustadt to Titisee via the Hochfirst peak. Very nice. The page linked below shows a round trip hike you can make from Titisee to the Hochfirst; text in German, try an online translator:

http://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/Media/Touren/Von-Titisee-zum-aussichtsreichen-Hochfirst

You'll probably see a lot of nordic-walkers on the way. There's a tower you can climb for a better view and a small inn for some refreshments on top of the Hochfirst:

http://ais.bz-ticket.de/piece/05/f2/b5/63/99792227-f-3_2-w-932.jpg

Other area hikes:

http://www.schwarzwald-tage.de/english/hiking_map.html

Löffingen and Donaueschingen are reachable on outings by train from Titisee. Rail map:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Verlaufskarte_H%C3%B6llentalbahn_2.png

Longer day trips in the Black Forest beyond Donaueschingen would take you to Villingen and Triberg via the Black Forest Railway.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Verlaufskarte_Schwarzwaldbahn_(Baden).png

"We may have a nose around and overnight in Freiburg, unless you’d advise against it."

I like Freiburg very much for a short visit like the one you have in mind. No KONUS option there, however, so you'll fund your own trip to Titisee the following day. Nearby Kirchzarten, on the train route to Titisee, DOES offer the KONUS card if you wish to book there instead.

https://www.dreisamtal.de/de/unterkunft/

Staying the final night in Freiburg is fine if you intend to take the direct bus to Basel airport (runs via France to the french entrance but it's just a walk through a door if you need the swiss sector checkin desks). Konus is not valid on these buses. But if you wanted to reach the airport via Basel city you would need to pay for the train, which would be free if you still had a valid Konus card. There is no point in moving to anywhere between Titisee and Freiburg as the distances are so short the packing/checkout/checkin times would add up to more than the train ride. I agree with Chris, most interesting way from Titisee to Basel is via Feldberg.