You can also take a train to Strasbourg and hire a car right at the station, as the Black Forest is only 60km by car. Covering more than 6000km, the northern reaches of the Forest were given National Park status in 2014. Though if you want to take the faster Railjet trains it will pay off to book ahead. 5. Subscribe to be the first to know about our latest deals and get travel inspiration. 2. Triberg to Donaueschingen Two other more distant destinations with easy rail links from Koln/Cologne are some locations where Roman history can be explored, Trier and Xanten; the latter is home to the Roman Archaeological Park (change trains at Dusseldorf Hbf). Another tick in the box for using Mnchen as a base for exploration is the variety of locations which can be easily accessed on those straightforward train journeys. The railway is by the river bank, so the views of the gorge from the train are also fabulous. Type in your search or select an option to browse. It can take up to two weeks to complete the Westweg route but you can always take on smaller sections. Plus there are also hourly Regio trains from Offenburg to Basel Bahnhof station, so a day out in the Swiss city is also within easy reach. Explore Roman History by train from Cologne. Neuschwanstein is not the only fairy tale castle of King Ludwig II that can be experienced by taking a train from Munchen hbf, because his Herrenchiemsee Palace can also be easily accessed by taking the train to Prien am Chiemsee and making the 10-15 min walk to the pier from where the boats head across the lake to the palace. The most popular tourist towns that The Baden Black Forest Railway passes through are Gengenbach, Hausach (location of The Black Forest Open Air Museum), Triberg (which has its famous waterfall) and Villingen. From today's modern trains you view stunning scenery of the genuine Black Forest, shortly interrupted by the many tunnels on this spectacular rail route. Go by high speed train to other great cities. If youre happy to travel longer distances then there are ICE trains which connect Frankfurt with the likes of Cologne, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wurzburg in two hours (ish) or less though to save money on these journeys youll need to book ahead and commit to travelling by specific departures. 2. Though if your top 4 choice of days out by train in the area would be: A daily EC train connects Offenburg to Koblenz, enabling an exploration of the Black Forest to be easily combined with experiencing the Rhine Gorge. Indeed, Philipp Bussemer opened up the first tourist information centre in Baden-Baden to serve this purpose in the 19th century. The range of high-speed trains to Freiburgmakes the city an excellent base to explore the Black Forest by bike. (5) Munich/Munchen (Augsburg) - Nurnberg Bamberg - Erfurt Leipzig - Halle Berlin Hamburg Experience the stunning Rhine Gorge from Frankfurt. As a consequence making epic day trips by train from Erfurt to Berlin and/or Munich is also easily done! Remove the Pass, and then change the currency on the website header. The two other long-distance walking trails in the Black Forest are Mittelweg, linking Pforzheim and Waldshut, and Ostweg, a 240km trail linking Pforzheim to Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Daily IC trains, which usually depart from Koln Hbf at 09:17 and 11:17, call at Bingen (Rhein) where the station is a 10-15 min walk from the pier at which the K+D Rhine River Cruises can be boarded for a ride back towards Koln. Stress-free boarding, comfortable seats, generous baggage allowance and interesting views. Or if you use a Lander Ticket for Hessen, you can visit Aschaffenburg and Darmstadt on the same day. The trains calling at Prien am Chiemsee will be heading over the Austrian border on route to Salzburg as this stunning city can be accessed in less than two hours by train from Mnchen/Munich. Heading to Seebruggg, the location at the end of this line, on a day out from Offenburg initially involves taking a train from Offenburg to Freiburg (save money by avoiding the ICE trains). This route, as the name suggests, covers high-ground in the north section of the Forest and offers stunning views of the Black Forest valleys, Rhine Valley and Vosges Mountains. A beautiful location thats within easy reach of Koln/Cologne by a variety of train services is the stunning Rhine Gorge. Colognes main station, Koln Hauptbahnhof is located closer to a city centre than virtually any other station in Europe so its a super convenient location for exploring the best of north-west Germany by train. At Biberach easy connections are available to The Harmersbach Valley Railway, the Harmersbachtalbahn and picturesque Zell am Harmersbach is the first station on from Biberach. Wetlands are wonderlands in our view. Thanks to the easy connections in Strasbourg to/from the local trains, Offenburg is also a straightforward journey from Paris. (4) Wien/Vienna - Linz - Passau - Regensburg - Nurnberg - Erfurt - Leipzig - Berlin (daily service) Another easy day trip from Offenburg is to make the journey to the incredible Schauinslandbahn which can proudly claim to be Germanys longest cable car ride. As well as frequent high-speed services, a regional network of rail routes climb up and around the hills of the Black Forest. Take the hourly express (EC, IC, ICE) trains from Koln hbf to Koblenz for an easy connection into the RE trains going to Luxembourg and then when when boarding, head up to the upper deck, take a seat on the left and the views will be fabulous for virtually the entirety of the two hour journey. All of these and more applies when travelling by train with children. It is advisable to complete the Westweg with a guide, and there are more than 500 certified hiking guides in the Black Forest. Easy to access, you can get to Baden-Baden by train in under 3 hrs 30 mins from Paris, with the same journey time from Munich. - the Doellnitzbahn steam railway, thanks to an easy connection at Oschatz station; Another very popular location set within an Alpine landscape is Neuschwanstein Castle, to reach it take the train to Fssen, and connect there for the short bus ride on routes/lines 73 or 78 to the Hohenschwangau Neuschwanstein Castles, Schwangau stop. And by taking those trains, the tickets wont be any more expensive if you book them last minute at the station, just before hopping on board. Travel to fairytale castles by train from. Within the Forest, youll find over 24,000km of hiking and cycling trails. An understatement is that Freiburg eclipses Offenburg in terms of being a popular holiday location, but not only does the main rail route through the Black Forest commence in Offenburg, its railway station also offers frequent local trains to Strasbourg, so one of the most fabulous cities in France can be reached in under 45 minutes from Offenburg. If you will be happy to travel for 90 minutes each way in order to reach a fabulous destination, then Mnchen/Munich is a great location for exploring by train. Many of these start in the Rhine Valley which surrounds the Black Forest from the west and south. Seebrugg to Titisee After that, deep green pines cover the landscape until you reach the shores of Lake Constance (Konstanz). Head for Alpine destinations on trains from Munich. 1. Photo credits top to bottom: Feldberg Mountain in Spring iStock, Andreas_Zerndi. Any town with the word bad refers to there being a bath or mineral spa tradition. ShowMeTheJourney. The frequency of the trains and connections makes for easy days out and you can be spontaneous and react to the weather, or go where your mood wants to take you. - Aachen Trains on these ICE routes call at Erfurt: Hausach to Offenburg (option to break the journey at Gegenbach). Public transport fans should take tram line/route 6 from Dresden-Neustadt station to its Schillerplatz stop and then walk across the charming bridge to Kornerplatz, because from there its possible to take a ride on, not one, but two fabulous railways! Check out ourreservation-free itineraries. Offenburg to Triberg (3) Weisbaden Mainz (connect for Koblenz and Bingen) Frankfurt Flughafen Frankfurt (Main) Erfurt Leipzig Dresden Take your pick from five fully costed fabulous itineraries which include all the departure times! (6) (Munich/Munchen) Augsburg Ulm Stuttgart Mannheim (connect for Heidelberg) Frankfurt (Main) - Erfurt Leipzig - Halle Berlin. We highlight some of these important and idyllic places in Europe that are accessible by train. A 1hr 20min journey by Germanys fastest train will take you from Erfurt to fabulous Nurnberg, the city offers much to see and do, but for rail fans its main attraction is Germanys national rail museum, which is right by the citys main station. Neustadt (Schwarz) to Titisee The icing on the cake for train travellers is that it is very well connected by rail, its main gateway being the aptly named city of Freiburg. Silent Forest in spring with beautiful bright sun rays iStock audioundwerbing, A woman cycling on an unpaved forest road on a cold winter day. So if you opt to stay somewhere with easy access to Frankfurt (Main) hbf, youll then have easy access to a choice of destinations, which make for a fabulous day trips by train. A train ride east of less than 15 minutes will transport you to fascinating Weimar, while brief trips by Regio trains heading west link Erfurt to both Gotha and Eisenach, meaning that both of those beautiful cities can easily be seen on one day trip. 4. A holiday in Erfurt! All the journeys suggested below are by hourly Regional trains, on which the Lander tickets are valid. Offenburg to Rastatt But what makes staying in these five cities so special is the ability of the train travel to combine time amidst beautiful scenery, picture-postcard towns and fascinating museums in multiple locations. At Hausach station an easy connection is available to the The Kinzig Valley Railway, which can take you to Freudenstadt, the location of Germanys largest market square,. Well for railway fans Erfurt is pretty much a dream destination, because if taking a high speed ICE train to visit a railway attraction is your idea of perfect day out, then the city is a wonderful base location. 5. Taking the train is the best way to get to, and explore, the Black Forest. Cross country skiing, or langlaufen, is at the core of Black Forest culture and, indeed, throughout the country. On certain dates in the year steam trains operated by a heritage railway group make trips back and forth along The Three Lakes line between Titisee and Seebrugg and the full length of The Hllentalbahn between Freiburg and Donaueschingen. The routing for a day trip to both of these villages is Frankfurt (Main) > Mainz > St Goar > Baccarach > Mainz > Frankfurt (Main) and all of those journeys can be taken by using a Day Ticket (Quer-Duchs- Lands) ticket which will be particularly good value if you will be travelling in a group. The Three Lakes Railway, the Dreiseenbahn takes its name from the three lakes that it passes; Titisee, Windgfllweiher and Schluchsee. Being based in Frankfurt (Main) is a particularly good choice if you want to see some of those towns and ALSO spend another day of a holiday experiencing the stunning Rhine Gorge. And thanks to the cross-city local S-Bahn trains, multiple locations in central Frankfurt also have easy and quick links to the main station. One of Germanys most celebrated routes is the Black Forest High Road (Schwarzwaldhochstrasse) which runs over 60km from Freudenstadt to Baden-Baden. No less than six ICE train routes now converge on Erfurt providing direct connections with multiple cities that have both international rail links and easy access by train to and from airports. (1) Munich/Munchen Nurnberg Erfurt Halle Berlin (Sprinter service) Given that the Black Forest is around 160km in length and 50km wide, there are plenty of places where you can access it by train.