One week Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Black Forest

"I've been punching our trip into Raileurope.com, and it seems it may be difficult ..." For schedules, use the German Rail website. Rail Europe only shows some of the train, those trains for which they want to sell you tickets, generally the most expensive trains.

Thank you! What do you recommend in terms of how long we stay in each city/town?
Also, are there towns along this route you'd recommend instead? We generally enjoy a mix of culture and outdoor activities... would you recommend staying two nights in Suttgart and making Heidelberg a day-trip instead?

You really have to determine that for yourselves based on some research. I've been in both Triberg and Freiburg, and I really prefer Triberg, but that is a personal preference. I like the northern Black Forest (Freudenstadt, Alpirspach, Calw, Bad Wildbad, Herrenberg, Tübingen) better, and it's closer.

I'd recommend an overnight in Heidelberg. The highlight (which most people miss for some reason) is the Philosopenweg, across the river. It's a small uphill stroll up but the views of the Altstadt are incredible and there's an old sketching of what the city looked like back in the 1600's before the castle was destroyed.

"The highlight (which most people miss for some reason) is the Philosopenweg, across the river." Ditto. That's one of the most stunning views in all of Germany. It's a little hard to find, but well worth your time.

A tip for Black Forest; don't miss Baden-Baden, the famous spa town. Small and not a hell of a lot to see, but very pretty, has a picturesque, car-free, pedestrian center and the famous Friedrishbad (Roman Irish Baths) or the more modern Caracalla Baths. The spa experience at The Freidrishbad is amazing. Around 3 hours of different hot/cold steam rooms, showers, plunges, pools, massage, relaxation, etc. And all very easily done;you just follow the numbered, sequential order. When you're done, you feel like a million bucks. There's also the famous casino in Baden Baden-and even if you're not a big gambler (I'm not), you can see it during the day when it's closed, on a guided tour. And for a treat, you can go into the Brenner's Park Hotel, one of Germany's best and most famous (and most expensive!). Prohibitively expensive, but treating yourself to an excellent beer in its handsome bar or lobby lounge makes for a fun, memorable people-watching experience (before heading back outside into reality......!) Great hotel option, as suggested by Rick; Hotel am Markt. It's very close to the Friedrishbad (you walk down a steap set of steps and then it's a few min walk), and located on a quiet square across from a church. Had immaculate rooms, friendly and helpful staff and a fantastic bfast each AM. From Baden-Baden, it's very easy to do side/day trips to Freiburg as well as to Triburg. In Triburg, there's an easy, pleasent walk/hike to 1 of Germany's highest waterfalls.

If you are going to be in Frankfurt, one of Germanys' most historic cities, then you might as well pop up to Bad Homburg, or Idstein, or Mainz or Wiesbaden. The Taunus mountains are lovely, and contrary to what one occasionally hears, Frankfurt does have a whole lot of things to see. It is a lively, fun city, with tons of museums, farmers markets, fests, great food, historic sites, medieval churches, beautiful old neighborhoods, and so and so on. Frankfurt was on its 2nd palace and was already the location for electing Emperors before Rothenburg was even thought of. Today, the cathedral is still known as the Kaiserdom as 30 elections were held here and 10 coronations. Idstein is on the Fachwerk Route, but doesn't have the tourist buses and kitschy souvenir stores. Mainz has one of the great cathedrals of Germany, as well as St. Stephens with its awe-inspiring Chagall windows. Bad Homburg has the Saalburg, the only re-constructed Roman fort in existence as well as spas and one of the oldest casinos. Wiesbaden also has luxurious spas and another very old and famous casino.

Easiest way to find it is to cross the old bridge and go straight across the street, the cobblestone trail up to the Philsophenweg starts there.

Thanks, everyone! Is it possible to do the Triberg waterfalls as a daytrip fromHeidelberg? We are considering maybe flying to Amsterdam, spending 3/4 days there, then directly to Heidelberg for 2.5 days, then to Munich. The flights will be a little more expensive, but I really want to see Amsterdam, and it seems from my research that Frankfurt is not the most exciting city. With that in mind, we could take a six hour train Amsterdam-Heidelberg, arriving around 3pm, spend that evening walking up the Philosophenweg. The next day, we could train to Triberg and hike to the falls, and spend our last day in Heidelberg at the castle, before departing for Munich after an early dinner... Is that feasible?

"Is it possible to do the Triberg waterfalls as a daytrip fromHeidelberg?" Not really. My thoughts on your latest plan: 1.) If your goal is to see a bit more of Germany, spend only 2 nights in Amsterdam, or just head to Frankfurt as first planned. 2.) If your goal is to see Amsterdam for 3-4 days, then Heidelberg and the Triberg can be seen in 2.5 days easily enough, but these probably aren't worth the detour and don't constitute the best plan for seeing more of Germany. 3.) With 5-7 days for Germany, I could see 2+ days on the Middle Rhine (near Frankfurt, easy access from Amsterdam, medieval castles, wine villages) and 2+ days in Franconia (Würzburg, Rothenburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg) on the way to Munich. I think you'll get a much better feel for Germany with these places on your itinerary. 4.) With only 2.5 or so days for Germany, stop either on the Rhine or in Franconia. I'm actually quite a fan of the Black Forest too, but I think the other areas give you a better experience overall.

"Is it possible to do the Triberg waterfalls as a daytrip from Heidelberg?" I've never done it, but according to the Bahn schedule it is very possible. There is an S-Bahn leaving Heidelberg at 8:48, getting to Karlsruhe at 9:36. After a half hour in Karlsruhe, you leave on RE 5317 that goes to Triberg via Offenburg and Hausach, getting into Triberg at 11:43. You can go by express trains, but it costs a lot more and saves little time. There is a bus at 11:50, taking you across town to the Triberg, Über dem Wasserfall (above the waterfall). To make a hike out of it, you might have to hike across town from the Bus Haltestelle to the waterfall (according to Google it's just over a mile, 27 min). Anyway, you can spend the afternoon hiking in Triberg and come back after dinner. The trip back takes about another 3 hours. BTW, part of that trip, up the Gutach river from Hausach to Triberg is called the Schwarzwaldbahn, and is considered one of the scenic rail lines in Germany. I did that route in late December of 2001, on a sunny day with new fallen snow in the valley and thought it was spectacular. You can do the whole trip, Heidelberg to Triberg, round rip, by train and the bus to the falls with a 3-Löwen-Ticket (€29 for both of you). It's an all day, hop on/off pass for regional trains in Baden-Württemberg. 3-Löwen tickets are only valid after 9 AM workdays, so if you go during the week, and want to be on the 8:48 S-Bahn, you will have to also purchase a local ticket to Rot-Malsch, the first stop on the S-Bahn after 9. That will cost you €4,80 per person.

The Black Forest gets the most attention from tourists, but it's just one of several similar rural, forested mountain ranges in Germany. It has more name recognition, but personally, I find it no more interesting or scenic than many of the others. The Taunus mountains are within site of Frankfurt, the Pfältzerwald is on the opposite side of the Rhine-Neckar valley from Heidelberg and Heidelberg itself sits on the western border of the Odenwald... and there are several more, including the Iron Mountains, the Eiflel, the Hartz, Schwäbische Alb, etc. If you're staying in Heidelberg, and you don't have much time, I see no good reason to waste time in transit to the Black Forest with the Odenwald right there at your doorstep.