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Bargain Travel Europe guide to Europe travel on a budget for unique vacation destinations and secret spots missed by travel tours.

GERMANY'S BLACK FOREST
Not just Ham & Cuckoo Clocks

Germany’s Black Forest (Schwarzwald) evokes images of a secret dark place which produces a unique food style and evokes images of colorful local costumes and gingerbread wood-carved houses nestled in mountain valleys of thick woods. But where is the Black Forest? You’ll find it in the southwest German state of Baden-Weurttemberg. The low mountains which make up the Black Forest push against the borders of Switzerland and France up along the Rhine River which separates Germany from France Alsace (See White Wines of Kings - Alsace Wine Road) from Lorrach (See Burg Rötteln) in the south to Karlsruhe in the north.

Cuckoo clocks we’re invented by clocksmiths of the Black Forest region and carried to other lands virtually on the backs of walking vendors and are still made there today. The world’s biggest cuckoo clock in the world according to the Guiness Book is at the Eble Clock Park and German Clock Museum in Triberg where examples of the local craft can be admired or bought for gifts or souvenirs (see also Max Krug Cuckoo Clocks Munich).

The Black Forest became known around the world as a tourist destination in the late 1800’s when the gentry class of princes and industrial age barons of industry began coming to the Casino in Baden-Baden, the grandest gambling hall in Europe. Known since Roman times for its thermal spring baths this Black Forest woodland town became a world class resort destination when literary lights of the age began to write about it in stories. Mark Twain reported on the pleasures of the health baths (See Friedrichsbad Baden-Baden), Bret Harte brought his colorful California gold rush characters to the high society land of top coats and spats. The casino still remains as one of the symbols of European grand elegance, its horse track Iffezheim/Baden-Baden attracts world class thoroughbreds in May, August and October and the Festspielhaus attracts worldclass performances year round. Baden-Baden is still rich with resort hotels for the first class traveler to the budget minded and central for exploring both the Black Forest and Alsace on the French side of the Rhine (See Wine Road of Northern Alsace).

Pforzheim is the northern gate way to the Schwarzwald and known as the jewelry capital of Germany the ‘City of Gold” since in the 1700's with its reknowned gold craftsmen and now the location of the Museum of Jewelry, the Jewel Industry House "Schmuckwelten" (see Gold Watches and Baubles), a unique virtual shopping experience in another dimension, and the Technical Museum of Jewelry and Watchmaking.

The Danube River (Donau) originates in the Black Forest on its long journey east and and the mountains here have 3,000 kilometers of hiking trails for summer exploring, while winter brings some of the best alpine skiiing to the Black Forest near Feldberg. The first ski-lift was patented here in Schollach and the "Marke Feldberg" brand was the first wooden ski created in Germany 1892. Todtnau is well known for its sled dog races and cross country.

For rail history and scenic wonder, the Nostalgia Train (Sauschwanzlebahn) leaves the city of Blumberg near Switzerland and winds up the spectacular narrow bridges behind a billow of its steam engine into the forest canyons. And for more family amusements the Europa Park, Germany's largest theme park is located in Rust, Baden-Wurttemberg, 20 minutes north of Freiburg. And don't forget to take home some ham. © Bargain Travel Europe

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