Despite this COVID summer we are experiencing, it is still possible to explore Germany and we highly recommend that you do! David recently took a weekend trip to the Black Forest with wife, Michelle and dog, Lola for some hiking and relaxing. Here he tells you all about his weekend with some tips.
Although I live in Mannheim, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Stuttgart as we recently opened up a new showroom in Schönaich, which is just four minutes from Panzer Kaserne. So when thinking about a few days away with the family, I naturally thought about the Black Forest because I was almost in it every day!
Where We Stayed
We found a small hotel in a little town called Forbach (careful, there is also a Forbach in France). It was situated right along the Murg river and had some great hikes listed in the area. The hotel was pretty reasonable – Das Waldhaus. Next time if we book a bit further in advance we will try to stay in Baiersbronn, Mitteltal or Gernsbach, where there is a bit more going in each of the towns.
If you have just arrived in Germany this July or August, then you need to know that you have landed in the middle of the school summer holidays, known as ‘Schulferien’. Each of the 16 States vary their school holidays slightly but essentially from the end of June to the End of August, schools are out and accommodation is busy!
We try to book directly with accommodation when we can, but during Schulferien you need to employ all available search engines to find availability. We typically use https:///www.booking.com or https://www.fewo-direkt.de
Hiking Trails
My wife and I both like hiking and our dog, Lola just wants to be wherever we are. Although she’s 12 now she still looks and behaves like a puppy, but nonetheless we wanted to make sure we didn’t overdo it on our hikes. So, we stuck to about 14-16 kms each day. It was enough, especially when you add the steepness of the hills (my wife calls them mountains!) and the very hot and sunny weather.
We went very native and took a packed lunch with us from our hotel. Basically you order a lunch box the night before and they give you a bag with an apple, juice, energy bar, chocolate bar, pastry/cake and a sandwich bag and you make your own sandwich from the breakfast buffet.
Hiking trails are quite well sign-posted but we like to use a very neat app called Kamoot to plan our hikes. The app has really detailed maps and as well as hikes, you can discover popular bike trails, and running routes from other users. It’s a fantastic way to really get to know an area without getting too lost.We save planned routes offline so that we can use GPS to keep us on track.
The first day we did a circular 16km hike from our hotel in Forbach. The first half was mostly uphill and the second half was mostly downhill, so by the end of the day, everything hurt!
The second day we drove to Mitteltal and did a 15km circular hike from there, which included some gorgeous views and more variation between up and downhill. We arrived back several hours later and each devoured a slice of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte at the Hotel Lamm next to where we parked our car. It was delicious!
Eating Out
During our hike on the second day, which started out from the little town of Mittelstal, we discovered a gorgeous forest hut, The Sattelei Hiking Cabin. This stunning and authentic cabin belongs to the 5* Hotel in the town, Hotel Bareiss. There was already a queue for tables when we passed by just before noon, made slightly more difficult because of Corona of course. We didn’t stop here for lunch as we had already brought our packed lunch with us, but we will certainly plan to next time.
The town of Forbach lacks options for evening meals – so we drove to nearby Gernsbach, which is a beautiful little town. The first night we ate in the town itself where there are lots of options and I doubt you would need to book. The second night we drove to Schloss Eberstein which was gorgeous – I definitely recommend booking in advance. They have a Michelin starred restaurant in the castle itself, but we ate at their slightly less fancy restaurant (Burgschänke) on a gorgeous terrace overlooking their vineyards. It was delicious and such a perfect setting so we didn’t feel like we missed out.
For true foodies, nearby Baiersbronn is well known for having three Michelin starred restaurants, which is quite some achievement for a small town!
There are so many options for hiking and enjoying the Black Forest for weekends away that it could actually become a bit overwhelming. I certainly recommend a little bit of advance planning so that you can get the best out of it. Then if you are a bit flexible when you arrive there is room for spontaneous stops for admiring views and pieces of cake in wooden huts, which is all part of the experience!
Forbach is just a 2.5 hour drive from the KMC or 1.5 hours from Stuttgart, so when need a great car, come and see the good guys at UCG! Find a great new-to-you vehicle for your trip from The Used Car Guys. Locations in Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, Spangdahlem and now Stuttgart!
