Visiting Black Forest

We have been to Freiburg and greatly enjoyed the area for we found a number of festivals to participate. Please check your travel dates and research the potential of also finding local festivals.
I am not sure we would invest the time to go from Stuttgart to Freiberg, perhaps your research will find activities within the Black Forest closer to Stuttgart (it is a big forest).

If you stay in Freiburg, you won’t be able to take advantage of the free transportation KONUS card. I like to stay in Gengenbach ( specifically at ferienwohnung Wink ). It has good transportation links and is not far from the Vogtsbauernhof open air museum and the nearby alpine coaster and the other towns in the Kinzig Valley such as Schiltach.

The waterfall in Triberg is easy to find. Walk up the hill towards the Schinkenstraße and follow the signs. If you’re hungry there is a market by the Schinkenstraße that had some great tasting sausages. We bought a number of them and snacked on them for a while. Rather than staying in Freiburg, we’re staying in Staufen im Breisgau. From it, we’ll use the Konus card to travel to Freiburg. The linked website has a list of towns participating in the Konus card program.

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. We are waiting for a newly constructed Museum building to open to the public, the Obersalzberg Documentation Center near Berchtesgaden. So, it may be up to a year before we depart, but I'm researching, studying and changing plans now. That's part of the fun for me.

I'm wondering if hiking seems to be the name of the game in the Black Forest, at least I see lots of trails offered.

Lots of hiking opportunities in the Black Forest and many waterfalls to visit. I enjoy the area around the Titisee. Not far away I recommend the highest mountain in the Black Forest The Feldberg too. You can take the lift to the top and walk around and enjoy the views. If you have not visited Geoff Walden's website The Third Reich in Ruins, I recommend it prior to visiting the Obersalzberg.

I really liked using Gengenbach as a base for my 4 night stay. The town is lovely with a charming old-world German feel, and there was a good selection of accommodations and restaurants to choose from. But the best part is that it sits on the main train line and you can get to most places in the Black Forest quite easily from there. You also receive a KONUS card, which entitles you to free public transportation throughout the KONUS region. https://www.blackforest-highlights.com/plan-your-trip/guest-cards-konus

In addition to websites that cover the entire Black Forest such as schwartzwald-tourismus.info, town websites almost always have a WANDERN tab that shows the trails in the area

My wife and I stayed in Freiburg and spent a day touring the Black Forest with Simone Brixel who Rick recommends. Among other things, we wanted a photo op at the Triberg waterfall where my great grandparents posed for a picture in the 1920s. She drove us to the Black Forest Open Air Museum and into Triberg where we visited a massive cuckoo clock store. Simone's Black Forest Tours website would give you many ideas of where to go and what to do the Black Forest. Flight-wise, you might also consider flying into Frankfurt. It's a 2 hour 50 minute train ride to Freiburg.

I would definitely recommend spending time in the Black Forest. I've spent 22 nights in the Black Forest since 2001, all of them north of Haslach. I've also made three rail forays by day into the southern BF, twice on the scenic Schwarzwaldbahn, up the Kinzig river from Haslach to Triberg and once from Donaueschingen to Freiburg via Titisee.

hiking seems to be the name of the game in the Black Forest, at least I see lots of trails

I found hiking to be a big thing in the northern Forest. I've spent 15 nights in four trips to Bad Herrenalb. The website is in German, but most browsers (for sure Chrome, with a right mouse click) will translate it for you. Bad Herrenalb is up in the Black Forest, a 40 min tram ride (S1) out of Karlsruhe. It has a spa (7 Valleys Therme) with both a family friendly and an adult (textile frei) side. There are hiking trails all over the valley. This is the "hiking" page from their website. I remember having a map of local trails. I can't find it on their website, so maybe I got it at the TI office.

Thanks again for the replies. I'm looking at first of all flying in closer to the Black Forest than Stuttgard. Sounds like from some of the posts, there is an international airport closer-haven't check airlines yet. Also after going through Ricks book last night, seems like the Black Forest is spread out unlike towns, it just maybe easier to make my base in Freiberg and rent a car for the day. This is only a two night stay with one day of siteseeing on our way to Bavaria.

Thanks mchpp for the recommend on Geoff Walden's book. Reason all this started was from a photo I had seen 10 years ago or so about the home and area where Hitler lived near Berchtesgaden. After seeing the landscape, the town of Berchtesgaden in photos, I thought the photos were touched up by artist. I had to get there to see the area. I bought Geoff Walden's book on touring Berchtesgaden, took it along with Ricks book when we visited in 2019. My wife and I totally fell in love with Berchtesgaden. For our next trip back, we wanted to visit the Black Forest for a day.

For Triberg and other places of interest on the scenic Black Forest Railway (like the Vogtsbauernhof Open Air Museum - rail stop is Gutach Scharzwaldbahn) Gengenbach is indeed a very good base town. Much better than the more distant Baden-Baden, which is also a hassle for outings since the rail station lies out of town and requires an extra bus ride.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1825958-d190955-Reviews-Schwarzwalder_Freilichtmuseum_Vogtsbauernhof-Gutach_im_Schwarzwald_Baden_Wurttemb.html

https://www.black-forest-travel.com/places-of-interest/black-forest-railway.html

I'm looking at first of all flying in closer to the Black Forest than Stuttgard.
Sounds like from some of the posts, there is an international airport closer

When I flew into Stuttgart (STR) in 2002, there was only one non-stop flight to Stuttgart from the US, from Atlanta. It appears that that same flight still exists today.

But, depending on where in the Black Forest you want to go, Frankfurt (FRA) would be closer than Stuttgart.

Depending on where in the Black Forest you want to go, Strasbourg is probably the closest airport, but it doesn't look like there are any non-stop flights to Strasbourg from the US.

For some points in the southern Black Forest, Basel (BSL - Europort) might be closer, but yet again, no non-stop flights from the US.

So, my advice would be to fly to FRA and train to your destination in the Black Forest. It could be less than two hours by train from FRA to Gengenbach, and the advantage of FRA is that there are a lot of non-stop flights from the US.

I have figured out a different travel itinerary for my quick visit to the Black Forest. Not sure if I should start a new thread or just update here, but pretty much everything I gave for a travel plan has changed.
First of all, I think my wife and I are going to fly into Zurich and then take the train to the Black Forest. Also will be staying 2 nights in the southern region. Zurich seems closer to the area I am interested in plus it's an international hub for airline and trains.
Also gonna rent a car for the Black Forest.
I don't think I like the large city of Freiburg, but we will visit. I'd like to take that Short-N-Scenic Highlands Drive mentioned in Rick's book, also visit Triberg and the German Clock museum and water fall near Triberg. Plans may be to overnight in Staufen. As Rick's book suggests-cheaper lodging too.

What do you all think of these plans???
Thanks