Germany's Black Forest

Traveling to Germany's Black Forest is not for the faint of heart. It sits on Germany's southwestern edge near its border with France. If you drove to Freiburg (the main town in the Black Forest) directly from Munich, it would only take about 3.5 hours. We combined the drive with a stop at Neuschwanstein Castle (the castle that inspired Disney's Cinderella Castle) which adds an extra 2 hours to the drive. Getting out of the Black Forest up the western side of Germany isn't any faster. Again, it's about a 3.5 hour straight shot to Frankfurt, but we stopped for the night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, making the total drive also about 5.5 hours. So...is it worth it? Well, that's for you to decide. If you want to see some of Germany's most iconic countryside, quaint towns, and storybook castles...then yes, it's worth it.

The weather for this trip was seriously all over the place. At the beginning of the trip in Copenhagen, we had temperatures in the 80s (very usual for Denmark even in August), but as the trip went on, the temps slowly dropped. By the time we got to the Black Forest, temperatures barely reached into the mid 60s. The only pair of capri pants that I brought got a lot of use.

We had a few goals today. Enjoy the scenery of the Black Forest, find the perfect cuckoo clock for my mother in law, and find the World's Largest cuckoo clock. We left our hotel in Freiburg around 9AM and set out for the small German town of Triberg. Only about 45 mins from Freiburg, Triberg is the home of the cuckoo clock. Although we didn't find the world's largest cuckoo clock immediately, we eventually came across 2 different ones that both claimed to the world's largest. Take a look for yourself and see if you can tell me which one is bigger.

In Triberg, we separated from the other couple with whom we traveled. They set off to find the perfect clock, and my husband and I explored this charming little town. We found some traditional German goulash for lunch and went on a short hike up to the Triberg waterfall. The signs claimed that it's the tallest waterfall in Germany which was a bit misleading. If you've ever seen a big waterfall before...this wasn't it. It did, however, have many different pieces to it that all connected which they then claimed was all part of one large waterfall. Ok sure, they got our money and we thought it was a lovely way to spend an hour or so.

From the waterfall, we walked around the little town for a while. We browsed some junk souvenir shops, stopped to split a delicious ice cream sundae and then found a Netto Discount Market (they're everywhere in Germany) to replenish our travel snacks. When we met back up with my in laws, we saw the cuckoo clock that they found before heading back to our hotel in Freiburg. We took the scenic route and discovered the true magic of the Black Forest.

Why is it called the Black Forest? Is the tree bark especially dark? That might seem like a silly question, but I really had no idea why they called it the Black Forest. It's difficult to tell from my pictures, but the particular pine trees that constitute the Black Forest grow so densely that no sunlight shines below them. The wood from these trees is used to make the famous Black Forest Cuckoo clocks, and cuckoo clocks littered the streets of Triberg.

Once back at the hotel, we walked to a outdoor restaurant, dined on some classic German cuisine and turned in early. On our way out of the Black Forest, we made a pit stop at the single most enchanting town in al of Germany: Rothenberg ob der Tauber. The only thing that could have made me love this little town more, would have been to visit it at Christmastime. Check it out HERE.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler