Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [387]
Up top there’s a lookout tower commanding astounding views to the Rhine Valley and Alps, plus walking, cross-country and cycling trails that allow you to capture the scenery from many angles. For downhill action, try the bone-shaking 8km off-road scooter track (2pm & 5pm Sun May-Jun, Sat & Sun Jul & Sep, Wed-Sun Aug), which costs €18 including equipment hire. To reach Schauinslandbahn from Freiburg, take tram 4 to Günterstal and then bus 21 to Talstation.
Halde ( 07602-944 70; www.halde.com, in German; Oberried-Hofsgrund; s €133-155, d €196-208; ) sits pretty above the rippling hills. This Black Forest farmhouse is a chic retreat, with an open fire crackling in the bar, calm rooms dressed in local wood and a glass-walled spa overlooking the valley. Martin Hegar cooks market-fresh dishes from trout to wild boar with panache in the wood-panelled restaurant (mains €14.50 to €25.50). Great news for foodies: a four-course dinner is included in the room rate.
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MOVE YOUR ASS
There’s nothing like a mule with impeccable eco-credentials to get kids to trade their iPods for the trail for the weekend. The solution? Renting a donkey for a day or two from Eselwanderungen ( 0761-7075 717; www.eselwanderungen.de, in German; per day €50), near Freiburg/Kirchzarten, to head off into the valleys and woodlands of the southern Black Forest. The donkeys lug the bags, leaving you free to stride and enjoy the glorious scenery – at donkey pace, of course. The friendly owners supply directions and maps, lend you pack saddles and can help organise mule-friendly lodgings. Call or email ahead for details on where and when to pick up your donkey.
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Steinwasen Park
You’ll probably spy the eye-popping, 218m-long hanging bridge before you even reach this family park ( 07602-944 680; www.steinwasen-park.de; Steinwasen 1, Oberried; adult/4-11yr €18/15; 9am-6pm May–mid-Sep, 10am-5pm late Mar-Apr & mid-Sep–early Nov). Here woodland trails wriggle past roomy enclosures alive with Black Forest and Alpine animals, such as marmots and nimble-footed chamois. Bouncing on the bridge aside, there’s fun to be had on whizzy rides like Gletscherblitz and River Splash.
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Todtnauer Wasserfall
Illuminating the forest with its brilliance, and cascading over craggy rock faces, the 97m-tall waterfall in Todnau-Aftersteg is not quite as high as its rival in Triberg, but every bit as beautiful, considerably wilder and free. For the best views over the falls, hike the zigzagging 3.5km trail to Aftersteg. It sure gets slippery here when the paths freeze over, so take extra care in winter. The car park for the waterfall is on the L126, a 10km detour south of Steinwasen Park.
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WEST OF FREIBURG
Breisach
07667 / pop 14,350
Rising above vineyards and the Rhine, Breisach is where the Black Forest spills into Alsace. Given its geographical and cultural proximity to France, it’s little surprise that the locals share their neighbours’ passion for a good bottle of plonk.
In the cobbled streets lined with pastel-painted houses you’d never guess that 85% of the town was flattened in WWII, so successful has been the reconstruction. Vauban’s star-shaped French fortress-town of Neuf-Brisach (New Breisach), which made the Unesco World Heritage list in 2008, sits 4km west of Breisach.
High above the centre, the Romanesque and Gothic St Stephansmünster shelters a faded fresco cycle, Martin Schongauer’s The Last Judgment (1491), and a magnificent altar triptych (1526) carved from linden wood. From the tree-shaded square outside, the Schänzletreppe leads down to Gutgesellentor, the gate where Pope John XXIII was scandalously caught fleeing the Council