Black Forest

This is upland forest far from any sea, so swimming means lakes and outdoor pools. Titisee and the larger Schluchsee have bathing areas, small beaches and boat hire, and the water reaches about 20°C at best in July and August. The Nonnenmattweiher and a few reservoirs offer quieter dips, and most spa towns have heated outdoor pools.

It is pleasant on a hot afternoon after a hike, but the season is short and the water stays cool. Nobody plans a stay here around swimming.

Food is one of the region's quiet strengths. Its south-western corner of Germany has long eaten closer to France than to the rest of the country, and the small village of Baiersbronn holds an extraordinary concentration of top-level restaurants. Lower down, country inns serve smoked Black Forest ham, trout, venison, Flammkuchen, Schäufele and, of course, the cherry and Kirsch cake named after the place, with Kirschwasser and other fruit brandies from small distilleries.

Wine matters as much as the cooking. The Kaiserstuhl, the Markgräflerland and the Ortenau vineyards produce Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and seasonal farm wine taverns open in the villages. Freiburg's daily market around the Minster is the place for sausages and local produce. Cheap and international options are thin outside Freiburg.

Heritage here comes in scattered pieces rather than one great centre. Freiburg has the finest of them: a red sandstone Gothic Minster with an openwork spire, medieval gates and a car-free old town laced with small water channels. Baden-Baden adds the grand nineteenth-century spa quarter, the Kurhaus and art museums along the Lichtentaler Allee.

Elsewhere the interest lies in small places: the half-timbered towns of Gengenbach, Schiltach and Alpirsbach, the domed abbey church of St. Blasien, the monastery ruins at Hirsau and the UNESCO-listed Maulbronn monastery on the northern edge. The Vogtsbauernhof open-air museum in Gutach and the clock museum in Furtwangen explain the farmhouses and cuckoo clocks the region is known for.

Evenings in the forest end early. Village inns and hotel bars wind down after dinner, and the spa towns are built for rest rather than going out. Baden-Baden has its casino and a few elegant bars.

The exception is Freiburg, a university city where student pubs, wine bars and a handful of clubs keep the streets around the old town lively on term-time weekends, with beer gardens busy on summer nights. It is a pleasant night out, not a reason to choose the region.

This is walking country on a grand scale: rounded mountains covered in dark fir and spruce, open high pastures, deep valleys and gorges. The Feldberg, at 1,493m the highest summit, gives wide views that reach the Alps on clear days. The Westweg crosses the whole range from north to south, and the Wutach Gorge, the Triberg waterfalls and the Ravenna Gorge are classic shorter outings. The northern ridge around the Schliffkopf forms a national park of moorland and wild forest.

Mountain biking and road cycling are strong, especially around Todtnau and Kirchzarten. Winter brings cross-country skiing and small downhill areas on the Feldberg. Late spring to October is the main season for hiking.

The region sits on the edge of three countries, and that is its great advantage. From Freiburg, Basel is about forty-five minutes by train, and Colmar and the wine villages of Alsace, such as Riquewihr and Kaysersberg, are about an hour by car. From Baden-Baden or Offenburg, Strasbourg's cathedral and Petite France are well under an hour away.

The northern end reaches Heidelberg, Karlsruhe's palace and Speyer's cathedral. From the south-east, Lake Constance offers Konstanz, Meersburg and the monastery island of Reichenau, with the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen nearby. Within the region, the Kaiserstuhl vineyards and the small half-timbered towns make easy half-days.

Europa-Park at Rust, on the western edge of the region, is one of Europe's largest theme parks, with themed hotels and a big indoor water park alongside, enough for several days. The forest itself suits children too: summer toboggan runs, treetop walks, wildlife parks, the Steinwasen park with its suspension bridge, cable cars up the Feldberg and pedal boats on Titisee.

Farm stays and family guesthouses are common, the countryside is safe and orderly, and walks can be short and gentle. In winter there are sledging slopes and beginner ski areas. The main effort is the driving between sights.

The Rhine valley line links Baden-Baden, Offenburg and Freiburg quickly, and two scenic railways climb into the hills: the Schwarzwaldbahn through Triberg and the Höllentalbahn to Titisee. Many hosts give guests a card for free local buses and trains, which makes car-free stays possible from towns on these lines.

Away from the railways, buses to villages and trailheads run sparsely, and combining waterfalls, half-timbered towns and lakes in a day is far easier by car. The roads are good but winding and slow in the hills, and the popular spots get busy on summer weekends. Freiburg's centre is compact and best on foot or by tram.

Shopping is modest and regional. The craft everyone knows is the cuckoo clock, sold in workshops and showrooms around Triberg and along the clock road, alongside wood carvings, hand-blown glass and bottles of fruit brandy. Freiburg's old town has a good spread of independent shops and department stores, and the Minster market is the place for local foods.

Baden-Baden has a compact quarter of upmarket fashion and jewellery shops to match its spa clientele. Beyond that, the villages offer little more than farm shops and souvenirs.

Prices are typical of southern Germany. Family-run guesthouses and farm stays in the valleys are reasonable, inn meals are filling and fairly priced, and the free local transport cards many hosts provide save real money. Hiking, waterfalls and village wandering cost little.

Baden-Baden, the grand spa hotels and the famous restaurants of the northern forest are expensive, and Europa-Park and the thermal baths add up for a family. Summer and the Christmas market season are the dearest times.

Classical music is the strength, centred on Baden-Baden. Its Festspielhaus, one of the largest concert and opera halls in Germany, draws international orchestras, singers and ballet companies, with an Easter festival as the high point of the year, and the town's own philharmonic plays in the Kurhaus.

Freiburg adds a municipal theatre with opera, drama and dance, a concert hall, and a well-known baroque ensemble based in the city, plus a summer tent festival of rock, world music and cabaret. In the forest villages, live music means brass bands and the masked processions of the Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht before Lent.

Taking the waters is the region's oldest tradition. Baden-Baden is the heart of it, with the Friedrichsbad, a Roman-Irish bath of hot rooms and pools under a nineteenth-century dome, and the Caracalla thermal baths beside it, in a town of parks and promenades built for slow days. Around it lie a ring of smaller spa towns: Badenweiler with its Roman bath ruins, Bad Wildbad in its narrow valley, Bad Krozingen and Bad Bellingen near the Rhine.

The forest adds the rest: quiet guesthouses, sauna landscapes in many hotels, forest bathing trails and a pace that slows to the rhythm of walks and long dinners. It suits visitors who want rest with a little culture rather than a lively scene.