The Black Forest (Black Forest)

Member Name: cosmo

Product:	Black Forest
Date:	09/08/00 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Cant' think of any

The Black Forest (Schwarzwald) so called from the shade given by the many trees (obviously) is a region of contrasts, travellers by car will possibly approach the Black Forest via Strasbourg a city divided between the French and the Germans.. onward to the A5 Autobahn turn south towards Freiburg the Black Forests largest city, we unfortunately did not have the time to visit Freiburg.
But looking left off the A5 the countryside makes a very obvious change, from rolling meadows to dark hills shrouded in mist, covered in trees, this is the Black Forest you have come to see, on leaving the A5 left towards the hills you begin to climb them, at first unnoticably, then as you travel onwards the climb becomes steeper, passing through tunnels dug through the hills, to climb up towards Hornberg, on the far side of Hornberg the product which the Black Forest is famous for becomes more obvious, no not the Gateaux! the Cuckoo Clock!, on the road side shops full of Cuckoo Clocks, with Cuckoo Clocks for walls, yes that big!, one shop advertises to have the biggest cuckoo clock in the world, (I would not know) but it is the gable end of the shop!, the road becomes ever steeper, until you arrive at Triberg, a town built into the Black Forest, it boasts the highest waterfall in Germany, it is a town which you will quickly explore, it has some 'attractions' a museum of local arifacts etc, the Church of Maria, which was supposedly the site of a miracle many, many years ago, a booklet from the church explains.
From Triberg either travel South via Villingen/Schwenningen to Lake Constance, travel on the car ferry to Meersburg a very pretty town, or follow the signs for Insel Mainau the 'Island of Flowers' it is absolutely breathtaking in summer with all the flowers in bloom, and what a setting! plenty of car parking, we found it rather crowded on the day we visited, but then the sky was the bluest of blue, and the sun shone all day, what more could we ask for!

The other 'route' from Triberg takes you to the 'other' lakes in the Black Forest, lakes Titisee and Schlucsee (think I've spelled it correctly) in my humble opinion Titisee has more to offer, there are electric passenger boats on the lake or boats for hire, the town itself is very pretty and has many 'tourist' shops, including the ever present 'Christmas Shop' where it is Christmas all the year round, on the way back, or another day drive to the Feldberg Mountain, with it's Sesselbahn to the top, it has magnificent views, if you are carrying a good map, and you like driving, try to find the 'Green Route' for a clue look for a place on the map called Kandel, the Green Route climbs the mountain up to Kandel, and again from the top on a clear day can be seen the mountains in the South, there is a hotel right on the top where you can have some refreshments.
Are there any disadvantages to the Black Forest?, well if you have a very sweet tooth as I do, try the Black Forest Gateaux, but I was quite dissapointed, it was so sweet, unbelievable!, but then again that could have been that particular cafe/restaraunt that had made it, I was though not 'chancing it' again, obviously the weather will play a big part in your activities, this is the case no matter where you are in the world, it just felt in the Black Forest that when it rained the heavens opened, it just seemed to rain that hard!!...and being a hilly region, and in September it can get quite misty during the day on the mountains/roads, I do find that what the Germans in the Black Forest call their mountains we would call a 'big hill', but each to his own.
As a souvenir of the Black Forest by all means bring home a cuckoo clock, but after a week/month or two at home be prepared to stop the cuckoo 'sounding' every half hour! I say no more.
We enjoyed our stays in the Black Forest, it is a region to explore, a region of contrasts, lake
s, mountains, forested hills, many towns/villages worth the time to visit, the only thing you will be short of is time!

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