Gengenbach or Schiltach
 

Hi All

I'm trying to decide where to stay in hubby and mine (very) brief 2 night stay in the black forest area. I think I have narrowed it down to Gengenbach or Schiltach.

We will have a car so getting around is no issue. The only place that is a certain is we will visit the open air museum so I am still looking at other places to visit during this time.

Does anyone have any thoughts on these two towns?

The accommodation I'm looking at is Zur Alten Brucke in Schiltach or a farm house stay about 5km outside of Gengenbach.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Schiltach has a very small old town. It is mainly an industrial town.

Gengenbach is a picture-postcard looking historical town with good access to the Vogtsbauernhof open-air museum and Triberg with waterfalls and cuckoo clock stores.

You wrote, you "have narrowed it down". Since I live in the Black Forest, I would like to know how you narrowed it down - the Black Forest is a mountain chain with an extension of 150 km in north-south-direction and, as a Schwarzwälder, I would neither Gengenbach nor Schiltach consider as Black Forest towns.

Schiltach is old - and quite beautiful, a picturesque old-world town full of half-timbered buildings and surrounded by forested hillsides on the Kinzig River. It's a designated "Luftkurort", a fresh-air vacation spot, with a few small museums and some shops and cafes.

Gengenbach is charming as well and gets more visitors overall.

Both towns are on the Fachwerkstrasse (German Half-timbered-house Road.)

Gengenbach is on the Black Forest Railway line between Offenburg and Villingen, one of Germany's most scenic train routes:

Relief map showing BF railway and Black Forest mountain range: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...28Baden%29.png

http://www.black-forest-travel.com/p...t-railway.html

Schiltach is on the Kinzigtal Railway, a branch line that meets the BF Railway in Hausach, 15 train minutes from Schiltach. Wolfach (glass blowing) and Alpirsbach (monastery, brewery) are just a few minutes from Schiltach.

Map: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinzig...zigtalbahn.png

Although you have a car, you may wish to ride the trains for outings; as a tourist in either Schiltach or Gengenbach you'll receive a "KONUS" guest card from your hosts, good for area discounts and for FREE train travel within the Black Forest.

Black Forest area map where KONUS is valid for travel:
http://www.dreisamtal.de/media/service/konuskarte.pdf
KONUS info: http://www.dreisamtal.de/en/service/konus.php?lang=en

Loved, loved Gengenbach!
(Haven't been to Schiltach).
Be sure to sample the cracker-thin pizza-like specialty.
What time of year will you be going? If fall, the new wines (Federweisser/Neuer Suesser) are great sampling!
I very much liked the Vogtsbauernhof as well.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

Traveller 1959 - There are just so many towns to see and I've read loads of blogs and travel columns that it all gets overwhelming after a while. Gengenbach was the first place I found (at it looks so pretty) and I've looked at others but keep coming back to Gengenbach so I think we will stay there. We would, of course, love to stay longer but unfortunately we can't.

mokka4 we'll be there in Sept so we are looking forward to some wine tasting.

Thanks for the train idea fussgaenger I will look into this.

The Mr. and I will be spending three nights in Gengenbach in late June. While we thought about renting a car, the idea of utilizing a free KONUS card is very appealing to us. Not only will the Mr. not have the stress of driving in unfamiliar places and all that goes with renting a car in a foreign country, but we can enjoy taking in the scenery from the train windows.

Our itinerary includes the Open Air Museum Vogtsbauernhof, Triberg, Alpirsbacher, Wolfach, and Schitach. We are very much looking forward to seeing these picturesque towns.

I am thinking this will be the 'laid back' portion of our trip that also includes Strasbourg, Paris, and Amsterdam.

We are super excited!

Happy planning!

Sounds great Teacher91. I might just look into those places as I'm still planning where we will be going when in that part of Germany.

We did think about the train but decided on the car so we could drive some of the wine roads over to the Mosel where we will end up in Belstein for 4 nights.

We were in Paris and Amsterdam about 18 months ago and loved them both.

Sadly we still won't make it to Strasbourg on this trip either. But that just gives us an excuse to go back.

Hi again Rellie!

Your trip sounds awesome! I hope you will write a trip report when you return.

I learn so much from other travelers! :)