Black Forest

The Black Forest covers an area 160km long by 60km wide in south-west Germany. The area is densely wooded and was settled in the High Middle Ages. We camped just outside a small town called Herrenwies on the Black Forest High Road. The Westweg is the most famous trail through the Black Forest and runs right through the area where we were camping. It is 285km long, but we only explored a small section of this trail, following the white trail signs.

Herrenwies Cathedral

We followed white trail signs

We entered the Schwarzwald just north of Herrenwies and worked our way up to the highest point of the district where the Friedrich Tower stands. We climbed 168 steps up the spiral staircase of the tower and through the iron dome at the top. The views from the top were beautiful - forest stretching in every direction. We then worked our way back down through the forest to the picturesque Herrenwies Lake.

Leaving the campsite

Entering the Black Forest

Friedrich Tower

360° views over the forest from the top of the tower

A forest trail on the way down

Herrenwies Lake

After a very peaceful's night's sleep at the edge of the forest, we headed off to see the Gertelbach Falls. These are a continuous stretch of cascades and pools running down the western side of the Black Forest. We then drove round to the town of Forbach to walk another section along the Westweg, this time to Schwarzbach, a large hydroelectric dam.

The trail to the falls

Beautiful bridges and moss-covered rocks

Part of the Gertelbach Falls

Schwarzbach lake

A squirrel in the forest

Lots of forest

The Black Forest is a beautiful part of the world, full of interesting trails, lakes and waterfalls. Next time we might explore one of the Wine Routes which runs through the forest!

Germany

We drove up to Germany for our friend Annette's wedding in Lennestadt, stopping at the Black Forest along the way. The whole trip was excellent, but the highlight for Daniel was driving really fast on the Autobahn!

Our first stop was in the town of Freiburg, Germany's sunniest city. Freiburg is a medieval town with gabled houses, cobblestone lanes and cafe-rimmed plazas. The old part of the city is dominated by the Freiburger Münster, and the surrounding streets are lined with the famous system of canals. They say that a visitor who steps in these canals has not visited Freiburg for the last time!

Sunny Freiburg

Freiburger Münster

A plaza with a canal in the foreground

Yellow ducks enjoying a canal!

After our trip to the Black Forest we drove up to Lennestadt where we kicked off the wedding celebrations with a trip to the Krombacher Brewery. This was an excellent tour which ended with a superb feast of drink-as-much-beer-as-you-like!

Krombacher Brauerei

We stayed at the wedding venue which was a working farm called Quinkenhof. The ceremony was held in a small chapel on the farm and was conducted by the bride's father. It was lovely to catch up with some old friends and to enjoy the traditional German folk music at the reception!

Quinkenhof Farm

The small farm chapel