4 Best Sights in The Black Forest, Germany

Three miles from Breisach on the French side of the Rhine, this extraordinary example of a fortified town is the last and greatest work by the 17th-century French military engineer Sébastian Vauban. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, the huge octagonal fortification, which contains an entire city, was built at the orders of Louis XIV after the town of Breisach, the king's former stronghold on the Rhine, was returned to Austria. Deprived of his stake on this important riverside front, Louis enlisted the help of his head engineer, who decided to design an entire fortified town from scratch. Though damaged in 1870 and again during WWII, Neuf-Brisach remains almost unchanged. Regular buses from Breisach train station connect Breisach and Neuf-Brisach via Colmar, a 10–20-minute trip.

This small museum offers a 4,000-year journey through the history of a typical Rhine river town, from the early settlements through the Middle Ages up to a sobering exhibition describing the bombardment that destroyed nearly 90% of Breisach during WWII. The museum is housed in a 17th-century edifice built according to designs by Vauban, France's renowned military architect under Louis XIV.

Few estates in this winemaking town can boast a tour as impressive as this venerable champagne house, which has produced the bubbly elixir for 177 years. Here you'll be treated to an in-depth hour-long tour of the 15th-century vaulted cellars and an introduction to the wine production, aging cellars, and history of the house. For a few extra euros, you can join a tasting of the various cuvées, nibbles included.

Breisach's major landmark, St. Stephan Cathedral rises up over the old town offering stunning panoramic views of the Rhine Valley and Black Forest to the east and the Vosges Mountains to the west. St. Stephan's was begun in the 12th century in the Romanesque style and completed in the 15th century, hence the gothic elements that can be seen throughout. The cathedral's inner riches include an ornately carved chancel screen and altar, both considered masterpeices of late Gothic stonemasonry, as is its elaborately carved vaulted ceiling.