Black Forest Vacation

In our research at home in Sydney Australia Black Forest Tours became our preferred tour company, as they could personalise a tour to suit our requests. We spent eight days in the Black Forest area and stayed in three towns. At this point, I am not going to identify all the towns, as Simone likes to give each client an experience that matches closely their requests. A change was made close to our departure date from Australia, when accommodation became available in one of Simone's favourite towns, and we loved this small town. We did start, however, in Freiburg.
Our tour was for ourselves only, which meant when something popped up that we liked the look of, it was easy to accommodate our request to "stop and look" .
We had guided walking tours in two of the towns, with exceptionally knowledgeable local guides - clear spoken English (our only language), interesting history / stories and could take us through the smaller back streets to see things that we would have missed. One guide also kindly showed us the outside of her house, (as we walked passed on the tour) and explained many quirky things about the street, and the history of the individual houses.
The travel between each town was by car, with a driver who gave us a very good insight the countryside; took us through small towns; pointed out interesting features and stopped at shops where there were unique things to learn about the Black Forest. For example, we had a stop at a Cuckoo Clock shop, and there are so many things to learn about the history of the wood carvings, decorations, painting, how often clocks need winding and how this works. We stopped at waterfalls for walks; saw squirrels; took in scenery from the top of mountains overlooking a patchwork of green vineyards; saw grape harvesting; old buildings and churches; learned about traditional costumes.
When not travelling, Simone had provided very comprehensive booklets / brochures for things we could do on our own. We made good use of our free Konus card, for the trains. We visited the Open Air Farmhouse Museum, where the train station is adjacent to the site, so easy to access. The outdoor museum was very interesting with original buildings from a number of eras transported to the site; easy walking and a good restaurant for our lunch.
We used the trains and buses to do day trips on our own.
We took the train and bus to Freudenstadt, where the weather worked against us (cold and rain) to be able to see a great deal of the town. We did manage the plaza, which had many flower beds, fountains, an interesting Protestant church, with surrounding shops / cafes.
Having 3 days / 4 nights in each town gave us plenty of time to see things, and also rest a little, knowing that we would not be pushed for time.
A beautiful and unique part of Germany to visit.

We usually travel on our owns but we had only limited times (3 nights) and there were few "must do" on the list. We are very glad we had chosen to use Black Forest Tours for that portion of our trip. Simone was great in communication. She answered all our questions during the planning phase; more importantly, she did not just answer the questions, she took the time to identify what we like (or don't like) and come up an itinerary that was perfect for us. We had fantastic guides for walking tour in Freiburg and hiking in the Black Forest. The drive from HInterzarten to Gengenbach enable us to visit all the sites we wanted. Simone knows the area well-- from needing dinning reservations for certain dates to where to look for souvenirs (we don't like shopping but need souvenirs; so this part was very helpful). Simone provided us a package with detailed information for each town we visited. Although we could not do everything outlined, we felt we had accomplished a lot because of the information from her. We highly recommend her and her team.

This tour was perfect! Simone did such a great job putting together a tour to meet the needs of a family with teenagers. The hotels were all beautiful, friendly, and perfectly located. The food was delicious. The activities were diverse, ranging from spa to museum, from hikes to adventures like the sky bridge and mountain coaster. Everything was incredibly well organised, communication was fantastic both before and during , and Simone's instructions were considered and clear allowing us to explore easily by ourselves. Our drivers were punctual and incredibly helpful, our walking guides simply amazing - such knowledgeable and interesting women! We couldn't be happier, and feel so lucky to have found Black Forest Tours and have had the opportunity to discover this beautiful part of the world. We will certainly be back.

We are a senior Canadian couple who generally travel on our own. Because we wanted to travel to the Black Forest we wanted to be able to enjoy the sights rather than concentrating on driving.
We found Black Forest Tours on line and were really happy with the tour that Simone set up for us. I think there three different types of tours. We chose the three day tour with car and driver. Simone made the hotel arrangements and those were superb.
We had a driver, Monika, who was just amazing. She spoke some English and we spoke no German. However, we worked well together. We were taken to a waterfall where we could climb and to see the cuckoo clocks. There are so many sights that Monika took us to mention each one. It was fantastic experience .
Travelling on the Black Forest Train was a highlight especially for my husband.
Thanks Simone

We are a senior Canadian couple who generally travel on our own. Because we wanted to travel to the Black Forest we wanted to be able to enjoy the sights rather than concentrating on driving.
We found Black Forest Tours on line and were really happy with the tour that Simone set up for us. I think there three different types of tours. We chose the three day tour with car and driver. Simone made the hotel arrangements and those were superb.
We had a driver, Monika, who was just amazing. She spoke some English and we spoke no German. However, we worked well together. We were taken to a waterfall where we could climb and to see the cuckoo clocks. There are so many sights that Monika took us to mention each one. It was fantastic experience .
Travelling on the Black Forest Train was a highlight especially for my husband.
Thanks Simone