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For our family holiday this year we are traveling through Europe by train, and we have scheduled three days in the black forest.
Has anyone any recommendations of a town/city or village that would make a good base to explore the area.
The only requirement is it must have a train station!
1995 mtb worlds were at Kirchzarten but I don't remember it being very special (just a regular German village). The same train line from Freiburg carried on to Titisee which was a bit more scenic / touristy (cuckoo clock central). There is a Portillo railway journeys prog that goes to that area if you can find it on iplayer.
We're using Gaggenau as a stopover this summer, but mainly so I can sneak a quick visit to the Unimog museum đŸ™‚
Baden Baden looked really nice - only passed through and stopped for fuel but seemed lovely.
Freiburg. It rains a lot in the Black forest but much less along the edges of the Rhein plain.
We live in the area... Have a look at sluchsee or Titisee, both accessible by train. Plus bike hire, swimming, sailing and accommodation. Also linked with very good busses for walks etc etc.
unsure about the rain, all our past Summer's have been great.
+1 for Titisee. Loads of cycling in the area and the town has lots of amenities. We'll be heading back there in august as we didn't spend nearly enough time last summer.
Thanks for the replies. Looking up Titisee and Freiburg.
We will be there in July, so hoping it’s warm and sunny.
Happy memories of Titisee open air pool / lake beachfront 20 years ago. Watching the afternoon thunderstorms roll in. Lovely area.
Summer is the rainly season in the Black forest.
June and August are rainiest months in Titisee with 124mm
https://fr.climate-data.org/location/891806/
Freiburg is better
https://fr.climate-data.org/location/2134/
and Strasbourg much drier with 72mm in August.
https://fr.climate-data.org/location/350/
What the stats don't show is that Titisee is often in the clouds. Titisee is nice in a cukoo-clock tacky tourist way but has one of the dampest dreariest campsites I've ever stayed on with some of the most unpleasant europlebs you'll ever meet. Our neighbour fired up his Merc diesel to drive to the toilets in the middle of the night.
Sam Cam.. heres another in Engerlish....
https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/forecast/modelclimate/titisee-neustadt_germany_6558094
@Edukator - were they French? There are many campsites along the lake shore. Perhaps you were unlucky.
Titisee has a good bus network too, eg get the bus up to Feldberg
No.
Different places attract different types of tourist. On the campsite in Freiburg (which has tiny pitches) there are rows of T4/5/6, some tents some bigger campers... . Young active eco-friendly sort of people there to visit an interesting town. Titisee was beer-swilling cukoo-clock buyers in big caravans towed by big Mercs made for big arses. Alternative experiences are possible but we've been a few times and won't camp anywher near Titisee now.
There's a train from Freiburg so if you wake up and see the clouds are higher than the hills then hop on the train for a day trip to Titisee. There are bike paths/routes too. We biked over the Feldburg. There's a good walk to St martin/St Peter IIRC with a bus to get you back. As with many Black Forest walks you are often in the trees but get good views now and then.
OP - we stayed at the Terrassen-Sandbank site when we were in Titisee and had no problems despite it being the end of the school holidays. The campsite owner said the locals go to Lake Garda, whilst the Bavarians invade Titisee for that week.
If you end up in Freiburg try to go over to Neuf-Breisach just over the Rhein in France. It's a stunning fortified town. Also there is a lovely ~60km cycle route - the Kaiserstuhlweg. We did it last year and it's fab. It's serviced by a train so you can connect to it or just do bits of it.
You could get a bus up to Kandel and walk around the summit in the forest. It's a very nice place for a walk and a picnic.
We found that most towns have tourist info office or notice board with lots of leaflets for cycling and walking. Waldkirch is good example of this.
All good info so far, thank you.
its looking like Freiburg as a base, and then use public transport to visit other areas is going to be our best option.
Has anyone any experience of hostels or good value hotels in the area for a family of 5?