Germany
Black Forest (Freiburg)
A working forest of clockmakers, spa towns and hillside farms, laced with more waymarked walking trail than almost anywhere in Europe.
A high plateau of spruce and fir in Germany's southwestern corner, cut by deep valleys and half-timbered villages and rising to the bald summit of the Feldberg, the highest ground in the country outside the Alps. It gave the world the cuckoo clock and the cherry-and-cream gateau that carries its name, and it still runs on that inheritance: clock workshops, thermal spa towns, farm inns and one of Europe's densest networks of waymarked paths. Freiburg, the sunny university city at its western foot, is the usual base.
Suggested stay
3–6 days
Language
German
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Black Forest (Freiburg)
The walking Paths on every ridge, from the 285 km Westweg down to short loops between farm inns, signposted in walking hours rather than kilometres and strung together by trains and post buses.
The clocks Cuckoo clocks were invented in these valleys and are still carved here, with workshops around Triberg and Schonach and the national collection held in a museum at Furtwangen.
The water Hot springs the Romans bathed in at Baden-Baden, glacial lakes at Titisee and Schluchsee, and the Gutach dropping through the woods above Triberg in seven cascades.
The eating Smoked ham and kirsch gateau at the source, valley distilleries, Baden pinot from the Rhine edge, and a rural fine-dining cluster out of all proportion to the villages.
Best time to visit
Apr, Jun-Oct
16-27° days
47.996° N, 7.849° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Berlin
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Weather & when to go to Black Forest (Freiburg)
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Apr, Jun-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Black Forest (Freiburg)
Late autumn and midwinter sit under low cloud and drizzle in the valleys, with December and January the bleakest and darkest of it. That is also the season the uplands are built for: the Feldberg lifts and the cross-country tracks run then, and valley fog often means clear sun on the ridges above it.
Top things to do in Black Forest (Freiburg)
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Triberg Waterfalls - the Gutach dropping 163 m through the trees
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularSeven cascades down a mossy gorge above the town, among the highest falls in Germany and reached on a graded forest path rather than a scramble. The town below trades almost entirely in cuckoo clocks and gateau, which makes the stop unashamedly touristy and still worth an hour or two.
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Feldberg - the roof of the Black Forest
hiking snow 👍 PopularAt 1,493 m this is the highest ground in Germany outside the Alps, bald above the treeline and ringed by a nature reserve of moor grass and hardy cattle. The Feldbergsteig loop takes half a day and on clear days the Alps line the southern horizon. In winter it carries the largest ski area in the country outside the Alps.
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Freiburg Muenster - the gothic tower over the market square
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedA red sandstone minster whose openwork spire survived the bombing that flattened the streets around it, with a climb up the tower for the Rhine plain and the Vosges beyond. A produce and sausage market fills the square below it most mornings, and the Baechle, narrow water channels, run down every lane of the old town.
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Friedrichsbad, Baden-Baden - Roman-Irish bathing in the grand spa town
wellness history ⭐ Highly recommendedThe most formal of the spa towns, all colonnades, gravel avenues along the Oos and a casino inside the Kurhaus. The Friedrichsbad runs a fixed sequence of steam rooms, a soap-and-brush scrub and cold plunges under a domed hall, textile-free and mixed on most days; the Caracalla Therme next door is the swimsuit alternative.
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Schwarzwaldhochstrasse - the ridge road from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt
scenic nature wildlifeThe B500 runs the northern watershed for some sixty kilometres at around a thousand metres, past the dark tarn of the Mummelsee and the lookouts of the national park. It was built for the view and still delivers it, and short boardwalk trails through storm-felled forest break up the drive.
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Schauinslandbahn - the cable car above Freiburg
scenic hikingGermany's longest circulating cable car climbs from the city's edge to a 1,284 m summit with a lookout tower, in about twenty minutes. Ridge paths run off the top towards Hofsgrund and the old silver-mining ground, and the hairpin road down was once a racing hillclimb.
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Vogtsbauernhof - the open-air farm museum at Gutach
history culture artsSix centuries of Black Forest farmhouses moved beam by beam onto one valley floor, their vast hipped roofs reaching almost to the ground over byre, hayloft and smoke kitchen. Mills, a bakehouse and working crafts fill the gaps. It explains how these valleys actually lived better than any castle in the region.
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Titisee and Schluchsee - the two lakes of the southern forest
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularTitisee is small, glacial and thoroughly commercialised, ringed with clock shops and pedal boats. Schluchsee, a dammed lake twenty minutes further on, is bigger, quieter and the one people swim in. Both have easy shore paths, and the Hoellental railway from Freiburg drops you at the water.
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Wutach Gorge - the wild ravine walk
hiking nature wildlifeAn undammed river canyon on the southeastern edge, where a long day's path threads scree slopes, wooden walkways and orchid meadows below limestone walls. Sections close after rockfall or high water, so check before setting out and treat it as a proper hike with boots rather than a stroll.
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Cuckoo clock workshops - Triberg, Schonach and the Furtwangen museum
culture arts shoppingThe clock trade grew out of winter farm work and still fills these valleys: carving shops, two rival villages each claiming the world's largest cuckoo clock, and the German Clock Museum at Furtwangen, which sets the whole industry out from wooden cog wheels to mass export.
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Hinterzarten and the Notschrei - cross-country tracks and ski jumps
snow adventureThe Nordic heart of the region, with groomed trails looping the high plateau from Hinterzarten, Schonach and the Notschrei pass, and a ski-jump hill that has turned out a run of German champions. Snow at these heights is never guaranteed, but when it lands the whole plateau turns over to it.
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Black Forest gateau and ham - eating where they come from
foodSchwarzwaelder Kirschtorte is a local invention and here it is built on real kirsch, sour cherries and restraint with the sugar. Add air-dried ham smoked over fir, stream trout, a Vesper plate in any farm inn, and the celebrated kitchens around Baiersbronn at the other end of the scale.
Best areas to stay in Black Forest (Freiburg)
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Freiburg im Breisgau
First-time visitors $$Sunny university city, gothic and green
Explore hotels in Freiburg im Breisgau →
Baden-Baden
Spa and comfort $$$Belle epoque spa resort, formal and moneyed
Explore hotels in Baden-Baden →
Titisee-Neustadt
Families $$Lakeside, busy and frankly touristy
Explore hotels in Titisee-Neustadt →
Triberg and the Gutach valley
Central-forest touring $Steep, wooded and clock-obsessed
Explore hotels in Triberg and the Gutach valley →
Hinterzarten
Walkers and skiers $$High, calm upland resort village
Explore hotels in Hinterzarten →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Black Forest (Freiburg)
Getting to & around Black Forest (Freiburg)
Getting there
Fly into Basel EuroAirport and take a direct coach to Freiburg in about an hour; from the north, arrive through Frankfurt or Stuttgart and take a train to Offenburg or Baden-Baden.
Flight
EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (BSL)
Roughly 70 km south of Freiburg, on the French bank of the Rhine and split into separate Swiss and French exits, so follow the French side for the German bus. A direct coach runs to Freiburg Hauptbahnhof in about an hour; otherwise shuttle into Basel and take a regional train up the Rhine valley.
Train
Freiburg Hauptbahnhof
ICE services on the Rhine valley main line from Frankfurt, Cologne and Basel, with Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden and Offenburg as the northern gateways.
Train
Offenburg
Where the Schwarzwaldbahn branches east through Triberg to Lake Constance, hauling itself over the watershed on spiral tunnels and viaducts.
Drive
The A5 runs the length of the Rhine plain along the western edge and every valley road climbs east off it; a car opens up ridges the trains never reach.
Getting around
Regional trains
The Hoellentalbahn from Freiburg and the Schwarzwaldbahn from Offenburg do most of the work, and both are scenic journeys in their own right.
TBC
Bus
Post buses reach the valleys and trailheads the railways miss, but they thin out sharply on Sundays and in the evening.
TBC
Car
Much the easiest way to cover a region this spread out, on good roads with steep hairpins and easy parking outside the main sights.
TBC
Cable car
Schauinsland above Freiburg, the Belchen lift and a handful of others turn a hard climb into a downhill walk.
TBC
Walking
The trail network is a transport system: waymarked routes link villages, stations and inns, and signs give walking times.
Free
Day trips from Black Forest (Freiburg)
Strasbourg
Full dayFrench cathedral city
The Alsatian capital across the river, with a pink sandstone cathedral and astronomical clock, and the canal-cut Petite France quarter of tanners' houses. A different country sharing the same half-timbered vocabulary, and a kitchen that sits somewhere between the two.
Getting there
train | car
About 1 hr by train from Offenburg, or by car over the Rhine
Colmar and the Alsace wine route
Full dayWine villages
Half-timbered wine towns along the eastern flank of the Vosges, with Colmar's canals at the centre and Riquewihr and Eguisheim on the same road. Riesling and gewurztraminer cellars open straight onto the street in most of them.
Getting there
train | bus | car
About 1 hr 30 by train to Breisach and a connecting bus, or an hour by car
Europa-Park, Rust
Full dayMajor theme park
Germany's biggest theme park and one of the busiest in Europe, laid out as a series of European country quarters with a serious roller-coaster line-up. A long day out, and much the most family-shaped thing within reach of the forest.
Getting there
car | train | bus
About 40 min by car from Freiburg, or train to Ringsheim and a shuttle bus
Konstanz and Mainau
Full dayLake and island gardens
The Schwarzwaldbahn ends at Lake Constance, where Konstanz kept its medieval centre intact through the war and ferries cross to the Swiss shore. The island of Mainau, a short bus ride out, is a subtropical garden run by a Swedish aristocratic family.
Getting there
train | ferry
About 2 hr each way on the Schwarzwaldbahn
Kaiserstuhl
Half dayVolcanic wine hills
A low volcanic massif standing alone in the Rhine plain, terraced with vines and one of the warmest, driest corners of Germany. Spaetburgunder and grauburgunder are the wines, the terrace paths are gentle, and Breisach's hilltop minster looks straight across the river into France.
Getting there
train | car
About 30 min west of Freiburg by train or car
A little history of Black Forest (Freiburg)
The Romans took the hot springs at Baden-Baden and largely left the hills alone. Serious clearance came with the monasteries: from the eleventh century abbeys at Hirsau, St Blasien and St Peter pushed settlers up the valleys, and mining, glassmaking and charcoal burning followed. Rafts of fir trunks were floated down the Kinzig and the Murg to the Rhine and on to the Netherlands, where they became ships and the piles under Dutch cities.
The land was poor and inheritance kept splitting the farms, so households lived off winter work: straw plaiting, wood carving and, from the eighteenth century, clockmaking. The wooden cuckoo clock became an export industry, and a clockmaking school at Furtwangen professionalised it against cheap competition. The nineteenth century added the spa boom, with Baden-Baden as Europe's summer drawing room, and railway engineering that dragged lines over the watershed on spirals and viaducts. Freiburg was heavily bombed in 1944 and the French occupied the south after the war; today the region lives on farming, tourism, precision industry and a national park along the northern ridge.
Romans build baths over the hot springs at Aquae, now Baden-Baden.
Hirsau Abbey's monastic reform drives settlement and clearance up the valleys.
The Zaehringen dukes grant Freiburg its market charter.
Silver from the southern valleys pays for Freiburg's minster and its tower.
Farmhouses begin making wooden clocks as winter work; the cuckoo follows.
A grand-ducal clockmaking school opens at Furtwangen to modernise the trade.
The Schwarzwaldbahn is completed over the watershed with 39 tunnels.
Bombing destroys Freiburg's old town; the minster tower survives.
The Black Forest National Park is created along the northern ridge.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Workable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+49
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
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FAQs about Black Forest (Freiburg)
▸ When is the best time to visit the Black Forest?
April to October for walking, when the paths are clear and the huts, lifts and lake boats are running; late summer and early autumn are the most settled. Winter is a different trip altogether, dark and often wet down in the valleys, and the season the ski and cross-country plateau exists for.
▸ How many days do you need in the Black Forest?
Three days covers one corner well, either Freiburg with the Feldberg and Titisee, or Baden-Baden with the ridge road and the national park. Five or six lets you cross the region north to south, which is the better trip because the two halves look and feel quite different.
▸ Do you need a car in the Black Forest?
No, but it helps. Freiburg, Titisee, Triberg and Baden-Baden all sit on railway lines and the guest card covers regional transport, so a car-free trip works if you base yourself on the line. For ridge roads, remote farm inns and trailheads, driving saves hours.
▸ Is the Black Forest expensive?
Mid-range by German standards, and farm guesthouses with half-board keep it reasonable. Baden-Baden is the obvious exception at the top end, and the celebrated kitchens around Baiersbronn are a splurge in anyone's terms.
▸ Is there actually skiing in the Black Forest?
Yes, though it is not the Alps. The Feldberg carries the largest ski area in Germany outside the Alps, with short runs between roughly 1,200 and 1,500 m, and the cross-country network around Hinterzarten and the Notschrei is arguably the bigger draw. Snow cover varies a lot year to year.
▸ What should you eat in the Black Forest?
Kirsch gateau made with real cherry spirit, ham air-dried and smoked over fir, stream trout, Swabian noodles and Maultaschen. Farm inns serve a Vesper board of cold ham, cheese and bread that is the standby, and the local pours are valley kirsch and Baden pinot.
More in Germany
Baden-Baden
The Romans found the springs, nineteenth-century Europe built a resort on top of them, and Germany has kept it running ever since.
✓ best Apr-OctBerchtesgaden
A salt town wedged under limestone walls, with Germany's loveliest lake at one end and its darkest address at the other.
✓ best Apr, OctBerlin
The city where the twentieth century actually happened, rebuilt as Europe's least polished and most interesting capital.
✓ best Apr-Oct