I'm looking to head to the Black forest for 1 day/1 night and am a little confused as to where to stay and what to expect. I had images of a nice hotel, some black forest cake and maybe some cuckoo clock shopping. Would Freiburg be the best place for this or is there somewhere more suited in the region? The Black forest area seems huge so any advice would be most helpful. Thanks!

Freiburg is a great spot, but I'm partial to Tuebingen. It's a nother university town (less well known). If you stay in Tuebingen, Hotel am Schloss is wonderful.

For a quaint town alternative, try Staufen, which is just south of Freiburg. I assume you have a car.<BR><BR>The area around Triberg has many clock shops.

If you want some forest with your Black forest, you need to go deeper than Freiburg or T&uuml;bingen. Triberg's all right, but Titisee, just a bit east of Freiburg, enjoys a dramatic lakeside setting with wonderful mountain scenery and has no lack of cuckoo clocks or &quot;Kaffee und Kuchen&quot; spots: http://www.titisee.de/engl/index.html

Not much time to really explore a delightful area. I agree with Russ that to get the feel of the area you are better off if you stay at smaller villages deeper in tne forest and hills. Though Freiburg is a delightful city, it is still a city and devoid of the true charm of the area. Titisee and Bad Herrenalb are worth looking into. The true joys of the Black Forest are hiking the numerous well marked trails deep into the woods and hills. Perhaps next time.

Clare,<BR>Huge, indeed, is the Black Forest! It's difficult to make an intelligent recommendation regarding where to go without knowing where you're coming from! Since you mention Freiburg, you might consider the following.<BR><BR>From Freiburg drive east on Rte 31 to Hinterzarten, then north on Rte 500 to Furtwangen where one of the first tributaries of the Danube, the river Breg, begins. Furtwangen has a museum, the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum, that exhibits more than a thousand clocks and watches and workshops where you can see how clocks are made by hand. This is a town in the heart of cuckoo clock country.<BR><BR>Continue north on Rte 500 to Rte 33 then northwest on Rte 33 to Hausach where you'll find the Freillichtmuseum Vogtsbauerhof, an open air museum with typical 16th and 17th century Black Forest homes and working water powered sawmills. <BR><BR>Continue on Rte 33 to Gengenbach, a town that will make you forget about Rothenburg. Gengenbach has been carefully reserved with gates, towers, old walls and timber framed houses. It's nowhere near as well known as Rothenburg, far more charming and far less occupied by tourists. Ckeck the website www.badenpage.de/gengenbach where you can take a &quot;walking tour&quot; of the village. Gengenbach is the village in which to spend the night. Check the link for the Peppermill Inn as well.<BR><BR>You can continue on Rte 33 from Gengenbach and pick up the autobahn leading south to Freiburg.

Clare,<BR>Should have mentioned that the itinerary Freiburg to Gengenbach encompasses only 140kms or so (under 100 miles).

Wes: Thanks for the info above. We go to Germany frequently and have been in this area but have missed some of the great spots you noted. I have printed them for my next journey to Germany. Much appreciated.

Freudenstadt, where the Black Forest the high and low roads meet. It is a magical town. The 'caf&eacute; cons' are excellent and I recall good shopping too.

A plan for a one night venture into the Black Forest might best be advised with some context info - - coming from where? and headed to where? and maybe what month?<BR><BR>I'll put in votes for Oberkirch, Baiersbronn and Schonach. but it depends on the itinerary before and after.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Thanks folks for all the great ideas. I can see already that this will be the first of many trips to this great area. To answer more specific qu's, I'll be coming from Frankfurt, headed towards Stuttgart and hope to be travelling by train (although if it's too hard then I'll just rent a car). This is for the end of Nov, sadly a day before most of the xmas markets start...

Clare: There's nothing too difficult about riding the trains there unless you're headed to a town without a station. Here's a map of the train lines so you can see where the trains go and decide for yourself on the train/car issue - there's a direct run from Freiburg to Titisee (very pretty route taking you through the &quot;H&ouml;llental&quot;, or &quot;Hell's Canyon&quot;.)<BR><BR>www.rail-and-relax.de/index1.html

Just a point about accommodation. The time you'll be travelling is also the low season, when many hotels and guesthouses close and owners take their own holidays. You'll find many types of accommodation closed, esp in the budget category and in villages. I'd book in advance.

Clare,<BR><BR>Russ is right on, as usual.<BR><BR>I like the Black Forest alot. I have done Freiburg, twice. But, each time I wondered, why am I hear. If you want to do the Black Forest I would recommend getting over to Titisee. Titisee is a wonderful small town with excellent hotels and great food. I stayed there for 3 nights in the summer of 2000. There is a beautiful lake here that is surrounded by plenty of restaurants, hotels, terraces,and shops. There are 2 shops in Titisee that offer a large selection of clocks. I bought one the last time I was there.<BR><BR>You can hop on the train and get over to Schluchsee. The Schluchsee is about 15 minutes from Titisee. If you are into walking, you can do a nice hike around a portion of the Schluchsee. We walked the entire lake in 1988. It was an all day thing. The lake is awfully big.<BR><BR>Consider using the Titisee area as your base for the night and do your exploring from there. Freiburg can be reached quite easily from Titisee.<BR><BR>You won't be dissapointed in this area of Germany. It is one of my favorite parts of Germany

Clare, Rex suggested Baiersbronn! MMmmm! There are 2 or 3 gourmet restaurants there - all in the same street. Guten Appetit!<BR><BR>Has anybody suggested the Feldberg? The highest &quot;mountain&quot; in the Black Forest, with a breath-taking view on a clear day.<BR><BR>Have fun!

Alas, no train access to Baiersbronn, as far as I know.<BR>

into the clouds<BR>

Clare, I was able to get a clock from a small independent clock maker just outside of triburg. If you decide to go that section of the Black forest, email me and I will send you the detail. We were able to customer design our own clockand have it shipped back. Glenn