Author: Troy Hartenstine

Cuckoo clock of The Black Forest Germany

Tours from Freiburg of The Black Forest Germany

Published by Troy Hartenstine

If you are arriving in one of the nearby cities and wish to book one of our Black Forest tours, we can make arrangements to meet or tour according to your agenda. For example: tours from Stuttgart, day trips from Zurich, Offenburg day trips, best day trips from Strasbourg, day tours from Basel Switzerland, tours from Baden Baden Germany. We only offer customized tours, so there is no cookie-cutter tour packages to join, each visitor has their interests and therefore, we intend to make your visit unique. Book a tour here Some of the areas and towns we can visit and Things To Do in The Black Forest are: Renchtal, Kinzigtal, Höllental (also called “Hell’s Valley“) Titisee, Schluchtsee, Mummelsee, Hornberg, Gutach, buy a Cuckoo Clock in Triberg and see the largest waterfall in Germany, visit the Badische Weinstrasse, Hornisgrinde, Kniebis, Freudenstadt, Freiburg Münsterplatz, drive the Panorama Road (Schwarzwald Hochstrasse), Schiltach, Alpersbach, Todnau Waterfalls and side the Todnau mountain coaster, Feldberg and Feldsee, hike the Ravenna Gorge (Ravennaschlucht), eat some Black Forest Cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte), recuperate …

Schnapps Trail Tour

Published by Troy Hartenstine

Interested in touring the schnapps areas of Germany? Schnapps tastings have always been included in our tours, but recently we see more and more interest specifically in schnapps. So we can orient a tour focused on the many schnapps distilleries (called Brennerei). To new-comers, schnapps may require an orientation, because few people know that there are two different types of Schnapps. Germans know nothing about American schnapps and typically, Americans know nothing about German schnapps. Both are often surprised that the other exists – and disturbed that these two very different beverages go by the same name. So if you are from North America and visiting us in The Black Forest, you should set aside your notions – that schnapps is sweet for example. German Schnapps is pure distillate of fruit, similar to a brandy, whereas American Schnapps’ includes added sugar and are often labeled liqueur. American’s use Peppermint Schnapps in (usually cold) mixed drinks, whereas Germans drink schnapps of every fruit flavor, straight and at room temperature. Schnapps in Germany is made mostly from …

A Treatise on Tourism

Published by Troy Hartenstine

An experience is a private thing. (we don’t do mass-tourism and this is why)… Are you looking forward to seeing another cathedral? Are you going to wait in line to visit another museum? Will you really pause to read the inscription on another monument to some dead person? It sounds like you are a mass-tourist. Why are you doing this? Who convinced you that this is what you should be doing with your spare time? Your children hate it too. Mass-tourism is boring. That kind of tourism kills what it loves as someone has eloquently put it. A bit of tourism is healthy and beneficial to all. But the balance between just right and too much is precarious, and in the recent years the scale is tipping over to the decidedly negative. Didn’t you come to this place to experience something of a place far from home? That is very different from walking through a museum so you can tell the folks back home “you did it”. Stop being a mass-tourist. Think about how you …

Winter Tours

Published by Troy Hartenstine

November through March are considered winter months in the Black Forest. During these months, skiers take over the mountains and many typical tourist attractions are closed. We are still out touring because there are many things to explore even in winter. Just make sure to dress warm and be ready for some rain or snow if you want to see the Black Forest in its full winter glory.