Rich and Cat's Travels: The Black forest Germany

Thanks to our day planning in Switzerland we knew what we were going to do first in Germany and that was explore the black forest area and get some tourist cards which allowed free or reduced priced activities. The card would last for 3 days, once active, and we had planned what we wanted to do and when as the area is vast and therefore we had to try and do activities in the same region on the same day. So one the first day in the black forest we went and purchased the cards from a local town and booked some of the activities (which was far more time consuming that planned). Once all that was done we decided to head to a camper stop near the first activity for the following morning meaning we could have a little lie in. The camper stop was just below the ruins of a castle which we had a walk around before venturing into the surrounding forest for a walk and getting a little lost but with the help of Google maps we were soon back at the van.

Day one with the card started at Vogel park which is a bird park where we saw a bird of prey show and lots of other local and international birds. They were all beautiful and the birds in the show were huge yet elegant. The show was in German so we didn’t understand a word of it but it was interesting nevertheless. However I am a little afraid of birds and I don’t think having the large birds flying towards me helped in the slightest. After the display we were allowed into the monkey enclosure where they allow people to feed the monkeys which was fun but they do get quite insistent that you feed them and will try and steal the food from you. We didn’t stay in there too long and I soon realised that I was a little scared of them as well as the birds. After a couple of hours in the park we hot footed it over to Fribourg where we were going on a 3 hour Segway tour of the city. Having only been on one many years ago (on grass around a short course) we were soon to release that they can be quite scary, especially if you get tense on it. We managed not to crash but the Malaysian family who were with us had a small bump, with the day crashing into the mother and wiping them both out. I decided to give him a wide berth for the rest of the tour! They are easy to get the hang of but if for a moment you worry or get stressed then they are harder to control. We travelled around the city, with the cars which was slightly intimidating, and managed to see some of the sites. However the tour is organised by a university student so we learnt a lot about the university and less about the city in general.

After the tour we headed to our final destination for the day which was a spa called Bad Kruzingen which consisted of many pools and saunas. It also had a camper stop which meant we could stay in the spa as long as we wanted and only had to cross the road to get back to the van. We got in the spa shortly before sunset meaning we could swim in some of the thermal outdoor pools and watch the sun go down. It was a lovely spa and larger than any spa we had been in before and ever where we turned there seemed to be more pools, saunas or space to relax. Rich, as ever, was keen to go into the sauna but we spent a couple of hours in the main section first before heading into the naked area. In the sauna area there were a number of pools and over 10 sauna and steam rooms. We spent several hours in the spa and got back to the van around 10pm rested and revitalised.

The following day we drove to a cable car to take us up one of the mountain(Schauinsland), despite vowing never to get in one again after Mont Blanc, and it was the longest cable car in Europe at 3.6km long. It took 20 scary minutes to reach the top as it goes across valleys rather than straight up the mountain which did give some stunning views across the black forest. Once at the top we did a walk for a couple of km but the path got too muddy to continue so we headed back and found another path to the top of the hill where there was a tower to give views over the surrounding mountains and valleys. After the second walk we headed back down and further up north to our next activity which was a canoe tour on the river Rhine. However it wasn’t much of a tour, more like here is the boat, follow the river and I will pick you up on the other side in 3 hours. So off we went down the river and despite making a few wrong turns (it wasn’t as easy as following the river and the map the guide provided was terrible – that’s our excuse and we are sticking to it) we made it to the end with time to spare. On route we managed to see some lovely birds, although from all their squawking I don’t think they were over happy to see us. Once back at the van we headed to a local camper stop in Weisweil and had a well earned rest.

The third and final day of the card were going to be a little more restful and more relaxing and first involved driving to a vineyard and having a wine tasting and receiving a small bottle of wine each. We enjoyed the wines but did feel a little wrong having the tasting at 10.30am but we were not the only people there (and it was a Sunday at least). After that we headed in the Black Forest National park section and stopped at a hotel for our free cake (mine was a black forest gateau while Rich had an apple cake) and a hot drink before walking around Lake Mummelsee and walking to a local view point. It started to rain so we quickly headed back to the van and on to the next location which was a short drive away. Next we had a free go on a little toboggan/hill coaster which was scarier than it looked especially on the way up. It was over a little too quickly and we did consider paying for a second go but as it was starting to rain we headed back to the van on onto the final location which was going to be another spa, this once called Paracelsus Spa. This one was not as large or luxurious as the last one but it was still nice. We again did the normal pools for a couple of hours before heading into the sauna section where we spent another hour or so before heading to the van and onto a camper stop in Calw and planned a nice long lie in for the morning.