We will be staying in Meersburg and have a car. I would like to drive, if possible for a daytrips, to the Black Forest, then possibly move our home base there. I like the pictures of Gengenbach (don't know how far it is from Meersburg). I like lakes, mountain towns like Grindelwald, Interlaken (without the concrete hotel and I like Meersburg, St Goar, Boppard, towns on Lake Garda. We are very casual and would like to pay under 100 euros, if possible as we only sleep in our room as we are gone all day.
If you have Bavaria suggestions too that would be great as we will then head in that direction before returning to Lake Garda for the 4th time.

We stayed in Gengenbach a couple of years ago and loved it. It is a very small town but those are the places we enjoy. According to mappy.com, it's about a 2 hour drive from Meersburg to Gengenbach so it is too far I believe for a day trip.

We stayed at the Hotel Sonne in Gengenbach. It was right on the market square and very reasonably priced at 64 Euro.

http://www.sonne-gengenbach.de/start.php

As far as Bavaria, we loved Berchtesgaden. Hitler's Eagle's Nest is nearby as well as Koenigsee. It's a beautiful area. We stayed at the Wittelsbach Hotel but it might be outside your budget. I think we paid 84 Euros. It's a wonderful hotel though. However, you can find several other recommendations if you do a search on Fodor's for Berchtesgaden.

Another suggestion would be St. Gilgen on Wolfgangsee. It is a gorgeous place with lots to do in the area. We stayed at the Schernthaner Hotel and paid 74 Euro for a double. Great location and very nice owners who speak good English.

http://www.hotel-schernthaner.at/sei...sh/index_e.htm

Thanks for the suggestions Betty. I looked up pictures of St. Gilgen and that is what we like. Looks like we can take some nice drives. I like the photos of Gengenbach so maybe after Meersburg we can meander up to Gengenbach and make that our home base for a few days. What towns would you suggest near Gengenbach?

What we did was take the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse (the Black Forest High Road) that begins near Gengenbach all the way to Baden Baden. We arrived in time for lunch and a walk around.

From Gengenbach, you would take Hwy 33 towards Offenburg then Hwy 3 to Hwy 28 and then the Hochstrasse (Hwy 500) to Baden Baden.

Strasbourg is less than an hour away and would also make a great day trip.

Nearby Offenburg looks interesting too.

http://www.offenburg.de/html/sehenswertes.html

You can also visit the Hochschwarzwald (highest area) around the Feldberg (highest mountain in the Black Forest) which is closer to Meersburg than Gengenbach.

You find several lakes in the area (Schluchsee, Titisee and some smaller lakes), vistas, picturesque landscape, hiking trails, restaurants in traditional farmhouses and several hundred nice hotels within your budget. Badenweiler is a pretty spa in the Southwestern Black Forest.

If you specify your dates and preferences I can give you recommendations.

Gengenbach to Strasbourg is a no-brainer trip.

Gengenbach is SMALL and is really "outside" the hills of the Black Forest, but could make a good base. You can head east into the Schwarzwald and just drive aimlessly for a couple of hours, too.

oinchats, your itinerary sounds wonderful. I can vouch for St. Gilgen's appeal as well as it's daytrip advantages. If you are also looking for a Bavarian town, consider Mittenwald for beautiful painted houses. J.

An afterthought: While it is probably not on your "way" from Meersburg to Gegenbach, I think you would enjoy a stop in Stein am Rhein. J.

Hi O,

We visited Gengenbach on our last trip.

Pleasant to visit if you are in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't choose it as a destination.

You can get driving directions at www.viamichelin.com, www.mappy.com and www.maps.google.com

Ira, I have to say that the reason we chose Gengenbach is because it is not a "tourist destination".

We spent hours exploring the town. We were also there on market day which was great fun. We really loved our time there and would highly recommend it to anybody looking for a lovely, non-touristy town as a base for exploring other areas in the BF.

Why is everybody going crazy about Gengenbach?

Gengenbach is NOT in the Black Forest, it is at the fringe of Black Forest.

Especially if I came from Meersburg I would stay right in the midst of things, that is in the Feldberg region.

We LIKED Gengenbach. What's your problem with that?

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/i...urenvorschl_ge

We chose Gengenbach because we love smaller villages and towns and it wasn't in the touristy part of the BF.

If that is what the OP wants, then of course there are many other places to stay.

Chill bettyk;

It seems just fine for you to have strong and positive opinions about places you have seen but people who don't agree with you get accused of having a "problem"?

I agree with you - let's just let the poorly informed OP make the mistake of going to the overly touristy choices.

Aramis, the OP specifically mentioned Gengenbach.

If others disagree then fine, but I don't go around insulting people's choices and I don't appreciate them doing it to me ("why is everybody going crazy about Gengenbach?&quot.

I was just trying to be helpful to the OP.

Here's another fan of Gengenbach. While I didn't have luck with the private accommodation I liked the small town a lot. Enjoyed the market (yes, me too!), the nice church, the nightwatchmantour, walking up to the vineyards above Gengenbach (and picking a few grapes, tasting them ;-) ). Didn't think it was overrun with tourists.