Germany: the Black Forest, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden and Freiburg

1. Day 1: Arrive in Heidelberg

   Frankfurt Airport to Heidelberg, then the Old Bridge and the Philosophers' Walk on foot

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Heidelberg
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Frankfurt (FRA) and land by about noon; a driver meets you in arrivals for the hour's drive south to Heidelberg, where your hotel is in the old town near the Neckar. At about 4 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the week, then we walk out together. We cross the Old Bridge, finished in 1788, under its twin-towered gate, and climb the Schlangenweg, a steep stepped lane between garden walls, to the Philosophers' Walk on the north bank. From here, as the sun drops, the red sandstone castle and the roofs of the town line up across the river, the view painters and poets made famous. We come back down into the Altstadt past the Church of the Holy Spirit on the market square and the old university, founded in 1386 and the oldest in Germany, and sit down to a welcome dinner in a traditional restaurant in the old town.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk: the Old Bridge, the Schlangenweg and the Philosophers' Walk, the market square and the university quarter
   • Welcome dinner in Heidelberg's old town

   Easier option: Skip the Schlangenweg climb: walk along the Neckar meadows on the north bank for the same view of the castle from the riverside, and meet the group at the Old Bridge.

   More active option: Carry on along the Philosophers' Walk and up the Heiligenberg to the ruined monastery of St Michael, about 45 minutes more, before coming down for dinner.

   Free time: Free until the 4 pm briefing

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot, with a steep climb of about 15 minutes on uneven steps up the Schlangenweg.

   

2. Day 2: Heidelberg Castle, then the spa town of Baden-Baden

   Heidelberg Castle by the Bergbahn, then Heidelberg to Baden-Baden

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Baden-Baden
   Day 2 details

   We ride the Bergbahn funicular up from the Kornmarkt to be at Heidelberg Castle at opening, planned for about 9 am, early in the day before it gets busy. The castle was the seat of the Electors Palatine, wrecked by French troops in the 1680s and 1690s and later struck by lightning, and it was left as a ruin; its Renaissance facades still stand around the courtyard. We start with the courtyard and the Great Tun, a wine barrel built in 1751 to hold about 220,000 litres. The German Pharmacy Museum opens later, currently at 10 am in our proposed season, and is covered by the palace ticket. An English-language tour of the surviving interiors is planned later in the morning, not at 9 am: the published spring-to-autumn schedule starts at 11:15 on weekdays and 10:15 on weekends and public holidays. Its separate admission is a proposed inclusion, with the actual time and group availability checked for your dates. We walk back down for a free lunch in the old town, and leave at about 1:30 pm (later if the tour time requires) for the drive south to Baden-Baden, about an hour and a quarter. After check-in we stroll the Lichtentaler Allee along the little Oos river to the Trinkhalle and the Kurhaus colonnades. The evening is yours.

   Included

   • Heidelberg Castle at opening, with the Bergbahn from the Kornmarkt
   • English guided tour of the castle and the Great Tun (time subject to availability)
   • The German Pharmacy Museum in the castle
   • Afternoon walk in Baden-Baden: the Lichtentaler Allee, the Trinkhalle and the Kurhaus

   Easier option: Ride the Bergbahn both ways and stay on the castle terrace, with its view over the old town and the Neckar, while the group visits the cellar.

   More active option: Walk up to the castle on the old stepped lane from the Kornmarkt instead of the funicular, about 15 minutes of steady climbing.

   Free time: Lunch free in Heidelberg; evening free in Baden-Baden

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot, on castle ramps, cobbles and the level park paths of the Lichtentaler Allee.

   

3. Day 3: The Black Forest High Road and the Friedrichsbad

   Baden-Baden up the Black Forest High Road to Mummelsee, then Allerheiligen and Sasbachwalden, and back

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Baden-Baden
   Day 3 details

   We leave at 8:45 and climb out of Baden-Baden on the Black Forest High Road, the B500, which runs along the ridge through fir forest with long views west over the Rhine plain to the Vosges in Alsace. We reach Mummelsee, a small dark lake at about 1,036 m tied to legends of water nymphs, by about 9:45, before the car park fills. From the lake we walk up to the Hornisgrinde, at about 1,164 m the highest point of the northern Black Forest, where a boardwalk crosses a high moor. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the ridge. In the afternoon we drop down to Allerheiligen, the ruined 12th-century abbey in a wooded valley, and walk beside its waterfalls as they fall in steps through a gorge. On the way back we stop in Sasbachwalden, a wine village of half-timbered houses below the forest. By about 4:30 pm we are back in Baden-Baden for the Friedrichsbad, a bathhouse opened in 1877 with a Roman-Irish circuit of steam, hot air and pools.

   Included

   • The Black Forest High Road (B500) by minibus with your guide
   • Mummelsee and the walk to the Hornisgrinde boardwalk
   • Sit-down lunch on the ridge
   • The Allerheiligen abbey ruins and waterfalls
   • Sasbachwalden
   • Entry to the Friedrichsbad, or to the Caracalla Therme if you prefer a swimsuit

   Optional experiences

   • The Merkur funicular above Baden-Baden in the evening, for the view over the town (pay on the day)

   Easier option: Stay by Mummelsee on the level lakeside path while the group climbs the Hornisgrinde, and see the Allerheiligen falls from the lower viewpoint without the steps.

   More active option: Walk the whole Allerheiligen waterfall loop (about 3.6 km, 1.5 hours) rather than the lower viewpoint only, where the path is open. This replaces the lower-viewpoint option; it is not added to a longer Hornisgrinde walk.

   Free time: Evening free in Baden-Baden

   Activity: The Hornisgrinde walk is about 1.5 km each way with about 130 m of climb, and its boardwalk is generally open from April or May to October or November depending on snow; the Allerheiligen loop is about 3.6 km and 1.5 hours, and parts of the waterfall path can close, so the plan may change; the Allerheiligen path has steep, wet steps. The Friedrichsbad circuit takes about 3 hours and is textile-free except on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when swimwear is required; the Caracalla Therme is the swimsuit alternative. Children under 14 are not admitted to the Friedrichsbad.

   

4. Day 4: A Black Forest farm, the Triberg falls and Gengenbach

   Baden-Baden to the Vogtsbauernhof at Gutach, then Triberg, then Gengenbach

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Gengenbach
   Day 4 details

   We leave at 8:30 and drive south down the Rhine plain and into the Kinzig valley, about 95 km, to the Black Forest Open Air Museum at Gutach, arriving by about 10 am, after it opens. The museum is built around the Vogtsbauernhof, a farmhouse from 1612 under a vast hipped roof, with other farms, a mill and a sawmill moved here from across the region; the costumes with pompom hats, the Bollenhut, come from this valley. A short drive on is Triberg, where lunch is a sit-down meal, Black Forest cake included. In the afternoon we walk up beside the Triberg falls, where the Gutach drops about 163 m through the forest in seven main cascades, then visit a clockmaker's workshop (proposed, subject to a supplier being confirmed) to see how a cuckoo clock's case, bellows and weights fit together. We reach Gengenbach, a former free imperial city in the Kinzig valley, by about 5 pm, and the guide leads an evening walk through its gate towers and half-timbered lanes before a free dinner.

   Included

   • The Black Forest Open Air Museum (Vogtsbauernhof) at Gutach
   • Sit-down lunch in Triberg
   • The Triberg falls
   • A clockmaker's workshop visit
   • Evening walk in Gengenbach's old town with your guide

   Easier option: See the lower falls from the main entrance path and wait at the café, rather than climbing to the upper cascades.

   More active option: Climb the full falls trail to the top cascades and come down by the far side, about an hour on steep steps.

   Free time: Dinner free in Gengenbach

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot, mostly on the museum's gravel paths and the steep, often wet falls trail. The museum's 2026 hours were 9 am to 6 pm daily with last entry at 5 pm, and its 2027 season is listed as 21 March to 7 November; 2027 hours are to be confirmed. The Triberg falls are open daily, with the upper paths closed in winter.

   

5. Day 5: Freiburg: the Münster market and the Schlossberg

   Gengenbach to Freiburg, then the old town on foot

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Freiburg
   Day 5 details

   Day 5 can only run on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday that is not a public holiday or 15 August. We leave Gengenbach at 8:30 and drive an hour south to Freiburg, where we stay two nights in the old town. We go straight to the Münsterplatz, where the farmers' market fills the square around the cathedral from Monday to Saturday (7:30 to 13:30 on weekdays, to 14:00 on Saturday; closed Sundays, public holidays and 15 August): Black Forest ham, cheese, asparagus in May, cherries in June, and the long red sausage in a roll that locals call a Lange Rote. Lunch is yours from the stalls or a café. With a local guide we then walk the old town: the Gothic Münster, whose open-work spire of about 116 m was finished around 1330, and its tower if you want the climb (open 11 am to 4 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday, closed Wednesdays, and 1 to 5 pm on Sundays and holidays; 209 steps to the tower keeper's room and 56 more to the platform); the red Historical Merchants' Hall; the Martinstor and Schwabentor gates; and the Bächle, the narrow channels of water that run along the streets. The middle of the afternoon is free. In the late afternoon we ride the Schlossbergbahn up the Schlossberg for the view over the roofs to the Kaiserstuhl and the Vosges; it runs until 6 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays and until 10 pm from Wednesday to Sunday, so the time moves with the weekday.

   Included

   • The Münsterplatz market with your guide
   • Guided walk of Freiburg's old town with a local guide: the Münster, the Historical Merchants' Hall, the Martinstor, the Schwabentor and the Bächle
   • The Münster tower climb
   • The Schlossbergbahn up the Schlossberg in the late afternoon

   Optional experiences

   • The Augustinermuseum in your free time (pay on the day)

   Easier option: Skip the tower and take a seat on the Münsterplatz while the group climbs; ride the Schlossbergbahn both ways.

   More active option: Walk down from the Schlossberg on the forest path to the Schwabentor instead of taking the funicular.

   Free time: Lunch free at the market; mid-afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Day 5 must fall on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday: the market is closed on Sundays, public holidays and 15 August, and the Münster tower is closed on Wednesdays. About 3 hours on foot; the Münster tower has a long spiral stair.

6. Day 6: The Feldberg and the Kaiserstuhl vineyards

   Freiburg through the Höllental to the Feldberg, then the Kaiserstuhl, and back to Freiburg

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Freiburg
   Day 6 details

   We leave at 8:45 and drive east up the Höllental, the steep valley the Freiburg road follows into the hills, to the Feldberg, at 1,493 m the highest mountain in the Black Forest. Mornings are often clearer, so we plan to go up first. The Feldbergbahn lift takes us to the Seebuck and the Bismarck monument, with the Feldsee, a round lake left by a glacier, in its hollow far below, and on clear days the Alps on the southern skyline. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the mountain. In the afternoon we drive back down past Freiburg and west to the Kaiserstuhl, a cluster of old volcanic hills in the Rhine plain, warm and dry enough for terraced vineyards of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. A family winery (not yet chosen) is proposed for a terrace walk and a tasting at about 4:30 pm, and the farewell dinner is in one of the wine villages before we drive back to Freiburg.

   Included

   • The Höllental drive and the Feldbergbahn lift to the Seebuck
   • Sit-down lunch on the Feldberg
   • A vineyard walk and tasting at a family winery on the Kaiserstuhl
   • Farewell dinner in a Kaiserstuhl wine village

   Optional experiences

   • Strasbourg on your own, instead of the day's included excursions, lunch, tasting and farewell dinner (the Feldbergbahn, mountain lunch and Kaiserstuhl visit), which would then not be part of your day; breakfast remains included and any price adjustment is set out in your quote. Take a regional train across the Rhine (journey time to be checked, ticket not included); we can help you plan it.

   Easier option: Take the lift up and down and walk only the short level path to the Bismarck monument and the Feldsee viewpoint.

   Activity: The Feldberg is often cold and windy even in summer; bring a warm layer. The lift's 2026 timetable was 9 am to 4:30 pm in May, June and September and to 5 pm in July and August, and it can stop in strong wind; 2027 times are to be confirmed. A non-alcoholic option is requested from the winery once it is chosen and confirmed in your quote.

   

7. Day 7: To Basel, or back to Frankfurt

   Freiburg to Basel EuroAirport or Basel Badischer Bahnhof, or the ICE from Freiburg to Frankfurt Airport

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   A last breakfast in Freiburg and, if you like, a final walk to the Münsterplatz (the market runs Monday to Saturday). At about 9:15 am we load the minibus for Basel, an hour south. We drop guests at Basel EuroAirport (BSL) by about 10:30 am, so, once your written itinerary is confirmed, book a flight after about 1 pm, or at Basel Badischer Bahnhof, the German-run station on the Rhine's right bank, for trains on into Switzerland. If you are flying home from Frankfurt, we propose an ICE from Freiburg's main station to Frankfurt Airport's long-distance station, about 2 hours 15 minutes on direct trains (roughly every two hours in current listings), with the ticket and a reserved seat as a proposed inclusion set out in your quote, subject to rail availability; the train time and how the guide is involved on that option are confirmed in your quote; once your written itinerary is confirmed, book a flight after about 3 pm. If you are staying on, Basel's old town, its Kunstmuseum and the Rhine ferries are worth a day, and our Alsace trip covers Strasbourg and Colmar. On the minibus option, your guide says goodbye at the drop-off.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Basel EuroAirport (BSL) or Basel Badischer Bahnhof
   • Or, as a proposed alternative, an ICE ticket and reserved seat from Freiburg to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), confirmed in your quote

   Activity: Once your written itinerary is confirmed, book a flight from Basel after about 1 pm, or from Frankfurt after about 3 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: From May to October the valleys are warm and the heights cool; the Feldberg and the Hornisgrinde can be in cloud or wind on any day, so the guide may swap the order of a mountain morning and a town afternoon. September and October are the grape harvest on the Kaiserstuhl. A December Christmas market version would be a separate enquiry with its own plan; winter changes (the Vogtsbauernhof and long walks) are not yet verified.

• Heidelberg1 night
• Baden-Baden2 nights
• Gengenbach1 night
• Freiburg2 nights