My wife and I, travelling by rail, currently plan to spend 4 nights in Strasbourg. We've heard that it's a great city, and we hope to take some day trips to (for example) Baden-Baden, Triberg, Pforzheim, and Bad Liebenzell. At least one day will focus on rail travel via the Black Forest Railway and the Hoellental Railway.

It occurs to me that, given this focus on the Black Forest, it might make more sense to stay somewhere in that area, and plan a day trip to Strasbourg. I would very much appreciate any suggestions/comments. Please note that we're travelling by rail, so the base city should be both interesting in its own right and convenient to rail travel. Thank you.

First of all...rent a car. This area much more fun to explore in a car than be tied to trains. Black Forest has lots of small towns that are great to visit. Get Karen Browns book on German Inns for some good recommendations.

I'm a little surprised that you felt it of some value to criticize our decision to travel by rail instead of responding to the question posed ...

You may want to consider Freiburg. From Freiburg you can go lots of places. I was there with a school group a few years ago, and we went to Strasbourg by bus (an hour or so). Freiburg has a fairly major train station that is within short walking distance from the historic areas, and you can go about anywhere from there. We travelled by train from there to Prague. If you get to Freiburg don't miss the cathedral there, one of Germany's best - its spire is gorgeous. Climb it for the view too. Freiburg has lots of beer gardens. It is a university town of about 150-200,000. There is a great place on the Munsterplatz to buy cuckoo clocks or any other souvenirs. I am not sure when you are going, but we went in May, and it was absolutely beautiful there. We were told it is the sunniest place in the country. If you want to see other places from there it is also close to the beautiful Alsatian town of Colmar and not far from several areas of northern Switzerland. Pretty close to Heidelberg and Stuttgart too. There are several nice hotels and pensions. I think the name of the place that I stayed is the Pension Westphalia, across the street from the cathedral.

You may want to consider Freiburg. From Freiburg you can go lots of places. I was there with a school group a few years ago, and we went to Strasbourg by bus (an hour or so). Freiburg has a fairly major train station that is within short walking distance from the historic areas, and you can go about anywhere from there. We travelled by train from there to Prague. If you get to Freiburg don't miss the cathedral there, one of Germany's best - its spire is gorgeous. Climb it for the view too. Freiburg has lots of beer gardens. It is a university town of about 150-200,000. There is a great place on the Munsterplatz to buy cuckoo clocks or any other souvenirs. I am not sure when you are going, but we went in May, and it was absolutely beautiful there. We were told it is the sunniest place in the country. If you want to see other places from there it is also close to the beautiful Alsatian town of Colmar and not far from several areas of northern Switzerland. Pretty close to Heidelberg and Stuttgart too. There are several nice hotels and pensions. I think the name of the place that I stayed is the Pension Westphalia, across the street from the cathedral.

I would second the Freiburg recommendations. We saw the cathedral there too, and had a tour of several stops in the Black Forest region thanks to German friends with a car and knowledge of the area. We enjoyed a stop at an open air type of living history museum with the old style German farmhouses (Vogtbauer Freilicht Museum (sp?)). Am inexpensive hotel right on the Muensterplatz is Hotel Rappen, though there are lots of others nearby too. Some of the stops in the Black Forest are probably hard to get to by train, but you might try Titisee and check the rail schedule for others of interest.