Walking Holidays In The Black Forest

Compared to some of its neighbouring hiking heavyweights, Germany is (unfairly, in my opinion) one of Europe’s underrated walking holiday destinations.

Stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Alps, and with some 200,000 km of way-marked trails, ranging from easy strolls alongside rivers – long-distance routes follow both the Moselle and Rhine – to Alpine treks, Germany offers something for walkers of all levels.

It has real hiking history, too: the 170km Rennsteig through the Thuringian Forest in central Germany is at least 700 years old. For a rich variety of routes and landscapes, and fewer international visitors than neighbouring Bavaria, head to the southwestern-most state, Baden-Württemberg.

Hiking in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), in Germany’s southwestern corner, is predominantly within dense woodlands straight from Brothers Grimm fairy tales, but you’ll also find hiking trails around Lake Constance (known in German as Bodensee), and through the craggy karst of the Swabian Jura.

Highlights

Germany’s historic towns and cities add cultural zest to any hiking holiday. Heidelberg is popular for its Baroque 18th-century architecture and romantically ruined castle. Stuttgart, centre of the country’s car industry, is an extraordinarily green city renowned for its wine – between October and March, hopping from one Besenwirtschaft (pop-up wine tavern) to another is a treat. Freiburg, ‘capital’ of the Black Forest, has an Altstadt (Old Town) studded with medieval and baroque architecture. And Baden-Baden’s the place for a post-hike soak in one of its famous spas.

Need to know

The Black Forest in particular is extremely popular with domestic visitors – for summer visits especially, book accommodation (typically hotels, inns, campsites and B&Bs rather than hiking refuges) in advance. Spring, when wildflowers bloom, and autumn, when deciduous and mixed woodlands glow in fall finery, are good alternatives. Basel is the most convenient international hub for the Black Forest, Stuttgart for northern and central regions.

Top walking holidays

The Westweg, which crosses the Black Forest from Pforzheim in the north to Basel over the southern border in Switzerland, is a relatively gentle 285km trail taking in dramatic gorges, castles, lakes and the region’s highest mountain, the Feldberg. The Albschäferweg (albschaeferweg.de) is another accessible waymarked path, a 157km circuit through the Swabian Jura.