Black Forest...No Car
 

I went to Germany a couple summers ago and stayed in Offenburg for 3 nights to go to Triberg, Baden Baden, and to spend time in Strasbourg. I deliberately chose Offenburg because it was a logical base for not having a car (was a 10 minute walk from the train station), the price was inexpensive for a place with AC (sorry, spoiled American who loves her AC), and because I wanted to stay somewhere which didn't feel really rural. Anyway, I plan on going back this summer, but want to do things a bit differently. I would like to spend a little more time in Strasbourg, go to Colmar, and do some light hiking that can be done easily without a car in the Vosges, the Southern Black Forest, and the Northern Black Forest. I'm looking at most likely 5 nights.

I'd like to try to stay somewhere other than Offenburg again. While I don't need night life, things in Offenburg seemed to die a lot earlier than I had anticipated.

It seems like the only do able places would be Strasbourg or Baden Baden,but are there places that I overlooked? I don't care about not being able to get the Konus Card (seems to be a big deal for people, but for me location matters more).

Thank you!

Hi Crotchy,

Since you've been to Baden-Baden, you know that the train station is about 8 km from town, and you need a bus to connect. To me, that makes it less than ideal as a base if you plan to do many excursions.

Have you considered Freiburg? I fell in love with the small city and its medieval roots. It's large enough, I think, to be lively in the evenings.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Sorry -- train station is more like 4 km from the town of Baden-Baden, but still too far imo for easy excursions --

s

If you don't want to stay in Strasbourg, Freiburg is indeed the most logical answer. It is notably bigger than Offenburg and a university city, which always guarantees some liveliness, and has far more to offer. You could easily fill a day in Freiburg itself, in case bad weather strikes or the feet are tired. This would also give you the opportunity to explore a different, more southern part of the Black Forest. This is the area with the highest peaks. A couple of train lines, namely Hell Valley plus sideline to Schluchsee, Elz valley, sideline from Bad Krozingen (fine spa to relax after a hike!) into the Münster Valley, provide access to hiking routes, in addition to various bus lines and the Schauinsland cable car.

I a m not familiar with connections from Freiburg to Colmar but seeing that many people visit one from the other, it must be easily doable. Strasbourg is reachable via Offenburg and/or Appenweier.

Freiburg - Colmar:
take a train to Breisach and a connecting bus to Colmar. No problem!
Freiburg - Mulhouse:
train via Muellheim - Neuenburg (50 min journey)

A good place to hike in France is the Obernai-Mont Sainte Odile area. Obernai is a short commuter train ride from Strasbourg (and also quite a nice place to stay).

Obernai is our favorite town in Alsace.

don t remember. Too long ago. Add to the todo list.
Isn't there a beer called obernai?

Kronenbourg, France's largest brewery, is located in Obernai.
Certainly a destination for beer lovers...

Yes, there is a cheap local beer called Obernai, brewed by Kronenbourg.

Great decision. You can also visit some hills in Freiburg and little Venice in Colmar

I'll look into those places thanks :) I started just playing around online for Freiburg and it seems like a more expensive place than the others to stay, but probably logistically better.