Getting Oriented

Germany's southwest corner shifts from the wide flat plains of the Rhine River Valley, which stretches to the French border in the west, into a hilly region dotted with glacier-carved lakes. Along the way, the Black Forest grows thick as you leave the bigger cities of Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden behind and escape up winding mountain roads dotted with picturesque villages.

• The Northern Black Forest. The elegance of the region also known as the High Black Forest is unmatched in Germany. Whether in the genteel spa town of Baden-Baden or the quiet resort village of Baiersbronn, the beauty of the lush forest landscape abutting the rolling vineyards along the Badische Wine Route is unparalleled.
• The Central Black Forest. The stereotypes representing the Black Forest, from Alpirsbach's half-timber houses to Triberg's cuckoo clocks, and the nation's highest waterfalls all abound in the central Black Forest, a national park with thick pine forests and a series of steep-sided valleys.
• The Southern Black Forest. Freiburg is one of the country's most historic cities; just to the west is the sunny and temperate wine-growing region of Kaiserstuhl; to the east, one of the country's most beautiful lakes, Titisee.