This hilly region has patches of beautiful dark forest, green meadows and small lakes—it looks more manicured than wild. The landscape rises to about 4,000 ft/1,200 m and drops steeply into valleys. This is the area where cuckoo clocks are made and where wood is carved the old-world way. The Black Forest is also very popular with hikers, cross-country skiers and ski jumpers.
Areas of interest include Lake Titisee,
Triberg (a tall waterfall and a museum displaying local costumes),
Gutach (visit the Vogtsbauernhof, an open-air museum with typical local farmhouses), the Feldberg (the Black Forest's tallest peak, at 4,898 ft/1,493 m),
Todtnau (waterfalls),
St. Blasien (church with a huge dome) and
Furtwangen (clock museum).
Schiltach is a lovely town with old half-timbered houses around a market square, a town hall with a nice painted facade and narrow medieval alleys. Don't miss Kloster Maulbronn on the northeastern fringes of the Black Forest, the most perfectly preserved medieval abbey north of the Alps.
The Black Forest is also noteworthy for a fine selection of upmarket country hotels and fine restaurants. Try the Moenchs Posthotel in Bad Herrenalb, the Kurhotel Mitteltal or the Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn, the Parkhotel Adler in Hinterzarten, the Parkhotel Wehrle in Triberg or the Hotel Colombi in Freiburg.
Freiburg is a pleasant town that makes a good base for exploring the region. Ruled for centuries by the Austrian Hapsburgs, Freiburg maintains distinct cultural traditions—particularly visible during Carnival, which takes place during the week leading up to Ash Wednesday (usually late February or early March). It is also a great place to taste the wines of the Baden region. For a fantastic view, climb the tall spire of the Munster, a beautiful Romanesque and Gothic cathedral with pretty stained-glass windows. Some old buildings remain, or have been rebuilt, on Munsterplatz and around the town hall. The city's university dates from the 17th century, and there are more than 20,000 students in town. For another fine view of the old town and Munster, take a chairlift up the Schlossberg, a steep hill—the view is particularly nice at sunset. A little farther from town, the chairlift to Schauinsland offers extensive views of the Black Forest.
While you're in the area, you may want to visit Lake Constance (Bodensee), Germany's largest lake, which is bordered by Switzerland and Austria. It's an old-fashioned resort area, with one of the warmest summer microclimates in the country. It's also a big fruit-growing region. There are several resort towns along the northern shore of the lake, which are connected by road and ferry. Uberlingen has a nice lakeside promenade and an old moat around part of the town. Meersburg is surrounded by vineyards and has half-timbered houses and the oldest structurally intact castle in Germany. The quiet town of Friedrichshafen is home to the Zeppelin Museum. Probably the most popular resort is Lindau, a quaint town set on an island. On the southern shore is Konstanz, the largest town on the lake. The island of Reichenau is famous of its abbey churches dating back to Carolingian times, with splendid 10th-century frescoes. Reichenau ranks as one of the intellectual cradles of Germany. A nearby attraction is the island of Mainau, with its castle and lush flower gardens. The Black Forest region starts 80 mi/130 km south of Frankfurt and runs to the border with Switzerland.
