GERMANY BLACK FOREST DESTINATIONS
ASK THE EXPERTS
LEFT: E-biking RIGHT: Black
Forest gateau BELOW:
Lake Titisee
Patrick Millar, marketing manager, Kirker Holidays “One of Europe’s most beautiful regions, yet little known in the UK, the Black Forest is beginning to attract discerning travellers drawn to its elegantly preserved towns, unspoilt nature and enviable gastronomic reputation. From historic Freiburg, to the cultural hotspot of Baden- Baden, the Black Forest is far from the stereotypical German landscape.”
After gorging on the result, I head to
Andrew Iwasyszyn, head of specialist product and innovation, Saga “The name Black Forest is more likely to conjure up images of dark uninviting woodland, but this couldn’t be more wrong, as it has beautiful rolling hills and quaint villages. There are so many lovely drives, spectacular train rides and fantastic well- marked walking trails that you can spend a couple of weeks there and not get bored.”
nearby Lake Titisee and wander around the sandy shore. It’s a popular summer resort, fringed with hotels and cuckoo- clock shops. Children’s legs spin like windmills as they float across the water in pedalos, and every so often, I hear a steam engine along the track on the opposite shore, the mournful blasts of its horn bouncing off the water. The next morning, I hop on a bus to the base of the Feldberg, the country’s highest mountain outside the Alps. A gondola whisks me to the top, where a maze of walking trails fans out across undulating terrain, resembling the Tyrolean setting of The Sound of Music, complete with booming cow bells and colourful wildflowers. On a clear day, you can see Mont Blanc. My leisurely pace leaves me in the wake
A maze of walking trails fans out across undulating terrain, resembling the Tyrolean setting of The Sound of Music
of the lightning-fast hikers who march steadfastly along the trails. But it’s been 48 hours since I last had a drink – something of a feat in the alcohol-soaked Black Forest. So I head to Breisach, a small town surrounded by volcanic hills. With a climate similar to France’s Loire valley and Champagne province, this area is famous for its wine production.
Badischer Winzerkeller is one of
Europe’s largest wineries. On one of the regular guided tours, I wander through the production room and gawp at the enormous vats, each of which holds 1.2 million litres of wine. Almost 500 different wines are
produced here, but despite its size, the winery hasn’t lost touch with its past. Travelling through the underground cellars on a miniature train (yes, the place is that enormous), we pass though the archives, filled with parchment- wrapped bottles produced hundreds of years ago. The tasting room is in the wooden barrel cellar. The enormous casks have been adorned with beautiful carvings depicting scenes from the Black Forest’s past, and it’s the perfect place to raise a toast to this beautiful part of Germany. Prost, Freiburg.
28 September 2017
travelweekly.co.uk 63
PICTURES: HTG; STG/SCHWARZWALD TOURISMUS; SHUTTERSTOCK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
