Travel Journal: A Day Trip to The Black Forest
On my eleventh birthday I unwrapped a hardback collection of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Already an avid bookworm, this present was like nothing I had ever seen - holding those books now, I can still feel a shiver of the wonder I felt all those years ago.
Four vivid red, cloth-bound volumes, each with gold foil titles and elvish lettering along the spine. I devoured them, greedily, over and over again. My young arms ached from the weight of holding those tomes above my head as I read by torchlight, head under my duvet, as the hours before the next school day ticked ever closer.
Mirkwood. The Old Forest. Lothlorien. Fangorn. These are the first forests I lost myself in, padding bare-foot and wide-eyed in a land where time stands still. Suspended between day and night in the canopy of trees. Searching around every corner for a heroic woodsman, a magical creature, a hidden evil.
The Magic of Forests
I can’t remember the first time I heard of The Black Forest. Of course I had read the tales inspired by it. Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood - cautionary stories of the dangers lurking beyond the tree line. But what if there was more? What if, like Lucy stumbling through the back of a wardrobe into the snowy woodlands of Narnia, there are unimaginable wonders hidden in the darkness?
The older I get, the more convinced I become of the magic of forests. Breathing in the scent of damp leaves, dancing through shafts of sunlight and stopping to look up the towering trees for small patches of sky - there is nothing that makes me feel more connected to the world.
And then there is The Black Forest: the forest from which fairytales were born. Winding paths beside wild water, monasteries, castles, ruins, mountain lakes, green pastures and pine forests as far as the eye can see. It is no surprise to anyone who has stumbled over the fallen branches of this forest that this is the cauldron from which those tales were spun: mythical, mysterious, comical, fanciful and fantastical.
How to Plan a Day Trip to The Black Forest
The Black Forest stretches through Germany, from Karlsruhe in the north to Basel on the Swiss-German border in the south. Over 160km of wilderness: mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes. I would love to spend weeks and months here exploring every hidden corner, but my only black forest adventure to date was a single day trip.
Day trips are easy to fathom if you have your own two wheels, but if you’re wondering “Can I visit the Black Forest without a car?”… the answer is, yes! It’s best to base yourself in Freiburg im Breisgau, where local trains connect to towns within the forest.
A Day Trip to The Black Forest by Train: Freiburg to Titisee
Stepping off the train at Titisee, it is hard to believe you are less than an hour from the city of Freiburg; it is a quick an easy journey on the local S Bahn. It was a cold February day and we were the only people to get off the train at this stop. The only people in the station and, as we made our way down the snow-covered road, it seemed we were the only people in town. We rounded a corner and got our first view of Lake Titisee. Frozen over and flanked on either side by snow dusted pines, like a still from a Disney movie.
Titisee is a tourism hotspot in summer, with a ferry crossing and boat rentals for people to get out on the water explore. We traded the beautiful weather to be almost alone in the icy scene.
Walks in the Black Forest from Titisee
There is a walking path all the way around Lake Titsee, about 6km and relatively flat. For more of a hike there are several paths up for panoramic views from Hochfirst - the wooded mountain that overlooks the lake.
We trudged along the road following the lakeside and onto a bright white covered path that emerged like a tongue from the carpet of trees, beckoning us into the darkness ahead. The trail we chose began next to Hotel Seehof am see up towards the village of Saig, and then onto the Hochfirstturm - a tower overlooking the lake.
There were a number of paths snaking off in all directions - without a information centre open to grab a map and no one around to ask, we decided to stay to on the main trail.
There… and back again
For a long time there wasn’t a sound except our feet crunching through the snow and our lungs breathing the crisp air as we powered up the slope. With the distance of years and only memories from which to write this account, it feels like I was exploring those paths and those trees for endless hours - in reality, it was probably only one magic hour spent amongst the trees. Tall and thin, packed together row upon row… at one point, I strayed off the path into the middle of them - I wanted to be surrounded on all sides.
After a time we came to a clearing and saw the only other person we came across that day, frozen in a perfect winter scene. A small bench under a tree with branches bowing from the weight of the snow. A woman in a woolly hat, looking out across the frozen lake back into town. Beside her, her companion: a tiny dog, complete with his own winter jumper.
There are paths that continue on from here further up the mountain, but we were starting to feel the cold so followed the same path back down - although we were tempted by the toboggan run in the village of Saig that heads straight back to the lake! It looked as if it was free to use if you have your own toboggan, and though there was a rental shop just opposite the start, it was closed when we passed.
Back on the lakeside, we stopped at one of the few hotel cafes that was open at the time to warm up.
Our Black Forest adventure ended with a well earned beer, a generous slice of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake), and a thirst to see more of this magical place.
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