Der Schwarzwald

[SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter]

I'm looking to book an absolutely last minute impromptu trip. Solo female traveller. 1 week probably, certainly no longer. Fairly tight budget although can be stretched if necessary - I'd rather spend more on a decent hotel and get plenty of rest than camp or whatever. I only have a vague idea of what I'd like to do there. I love nature and being out of doors whatever the weather, but my stamina is a bit crap so a 2 hour hike is about my limit. I would like to see grand waterfalls, do a treetop walk, cable car up a mountain, spot red squirrels (and wild pigs and deer would be cool too!), have a boat trip on a lake, that sort of thing. I would prefer 'hidden gems' to the really tourist trap places but I don't mind a bit of that stuff too if en route. I understand a bit of very basic German but can't speak it well, although I like to give it a shot!! Please advise me on

Quiet and comfortable accommodation, BIG bonus points if there's a sauna. An indoor swimming pool would be great too.

A general itinerary/things I shouldn't miss

The driving situation. I've never driven abroad before and am very nervous! I was thinking I'd get the train from the airport to The Black Forest and then hire a car just to pootle around there? I think I'd cope much better with the winding forest roads than the autobahn.

Where to get THE BEST Black Forest gateaux.

Thanks in advance!!

Germany is fantastic to drive in. Great roads and everything signposted unlike France.
I lived there for 18 months and used to drive from Bremen back home to England in pre satnav days and never managed to get lost.
i think you will have a great time.The black forst is lovely.
I just hope you like sausages....and potatoes 😅

Schwarzwälderkirschtorte is actually nothing really special in Germany, you find it in the whole country at most bakeries.
Saying that, the one we ate in the Schwarzwald was the most boozy one I ever ate.

Cable Car - the Schwarzwald is not that high like the alps so you need to check carefully where some will be.

You could go to Freiburg by train and see if there is a rental car agency but I think your best bet would be renting from the airport.

The Titisee is nice but it's a huge tourist destination.

I did plenty of walking in various areas in Germany and never encountered a wild boar and tbh - I don't want to. Squirrels - easy, they also live urban like our grey ones and deer can be but it depends on the season and how quite the area is.

The Wutachschlucht is good, there should be some walking trails.
www.hochschwarzwald.de/en

Thank you! I think I've narrowed down my itinerary to the north and central Black Forest (plenty of stuff I want to do in the south too, but I'll be flying to Baden-Baden so not practical to try and squeeze that in too!)

I'm struggling to find suitable hotels! Ideally I'll stay in the same one Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday at least so I'm not constantly on the move. I'd like it to be somewhere centralish to the places I want to go, which include: Gegenbach, Montbachtal gorge, Bad Wildbad treetop walk and suspension bridge, Schliffkopf, Triberg waterfalls and Black Forest museum, Rulantica waterpark (Rust), Gutach rodelbahn and outdoor museum, and the Alternativer Wolf und Barenpark.

I'd really like somewhere 4 stars, up to £200 a night, and I'M DESPERATE for a sauna (where I'm allowed to wear swimwear - almost an impossible ask it seems!). I like smaller, quieter hotels where the staff are friendly and not too busy for me to fight my way through pidgin German with them. If you can think of anywhere that ticks these boxes please let me know!

I find the hardest part of driving abroad is being on the other side of the car, I just can't do it, even when I tried in an automatic.

If you want to give it a miss you can probably get to lots of places by public transport its very good in Germany, have a look at Rome2rio.com to see if it coincides with where you want to go.

Lots of German people speak good English but obviously it's good to try the local language.

If you can't find saunas that allow swimwear perhaps you just need to go without. No-one will be looking at you and you'll never see the other people in the sauna again anyway. Although sods law dictates that your next door neighbour, a co-worker or the barista in your favourite coffee shop will also holiday in that area at the same time as you.

I’m a big fan of Germany and love many of its regions, the Schwartzwald is one of my favourites. Just to manage your expectations, keeping swimwear on next your skin in the heat of a sauna is really considered really very unhealthy indeed. You would be looking for a sauna where the staff will look away when you break generally accepted rules. Might be a bit of a challenge, you might want to check that before you make any booking.

Alternatively, consider when in Rome ….

I have never found a German hotel where swimwear is accepted in the sauna. Just ensure you have a large towel, or perhaps two (one top half, one bottom).

You just keep the towel wrapped around you. That’s allowed!

Try the enztal:

ochsen-hoefen.de/

amazing trout fishery nearby, too

Don't forget to get a vaccine again ticks (Zecken) it is a TBE risk area.

We spent a week at Lake Titisee in the summer. Yes it is a tourist destination but it wasn’t busy in the first week of July and I’d imagine the same now. There were lots of hotels round the lake - we stayed in a self catering apartment so no recommendations. It was a lively spot, and great point for visiting other places. It’s on the train line to Freiburg and also plenty of buses. Although we had a car and I’d say this is a far easier way to get around. Would highly recommend the Black Forest suspension bridge as a half day trip. We went to Badesparadis and am loved it. My son and husband spend the morning in the galaxy part where all the water slides were and my daughter and I in one of the Palm areas. This was a lovely - and you had to wear costumes!! We had also been to Europa Park and Rulantica - and whilst it was great it was very busy and not nearly so relaxing. I’m sure you’ll have a fab time - there is so much to do

Thank you everyone! All booked, I'm.off today! It didn't even occur to me I'd need a vaccine! How are German ticks worse than English ones?

If I can wear a towel in the sauna it will be o, so I guess I'll do that I don't really get how a swimming costume is unhygienic but a bare arse isn't?!

You don’t sit with your bare arse touching the tiles or wood. You are supposed to sit on a towel. Lots of saunas provide little shower heads and you’re supposed to rinse any stray sweat off the tiles before you leave. There’s a whole etiquette around saunas which I have come to understand, having initially been very intimidated, and it all makes sense in context.

The ticks over there just happen to be carriers of that disease, more so than in England. It’s possible that the disease will spread to the UK - sadly - as the climate warms but at present that’s the position.

DH is German and we have visited Freiburg and the surrounding area a few times but we hated Titisee when we visited - full of bloody cuckoo clocks and tourists

@Hoppinggreen Your post made me laugh! So where is better?

You sit naked on your towel. At the spa in Baden-Baden I was told off by the attendant because I had my feet on the wooden slats rather than on my towel.

But if you're on your towel anyway, they can't even claim you're infecting their sauna with your unhygienic bikini!! I'm very confused.

https://b2b.austria.info/en-us/media/story-ideas/sauna-etiquette-austria/ Sweating into your swimwear is also unhygienic (but for you).
It's much better being naked in a spa if you can bring yourself to do it. It feels good and everyone is in the same boat so to speak.

Yes it’s more about saving you from eg I dunno, UTIs or something??

Re ‘unhygienic’ swimwear

The purpose of a sauna is to sweat, it is understood to be desirable for your sweat to evaporate. By wearing swimwear you are effectively wrapping your body in plastic so trapping your sweat against your body and preventing evaporation.

Maybe I’m too used to this way of thinking to have any insight into what part of the argument is not clear.