Freiburg Day Trips and Excursions

From the Rhine to the Black Forest

Freiburg isn't just a tourist destination in its own right--it's also within easy reach of the Rhine, and it's renowned as a gateway to the Black Forest.

Breisach am Rhein is only about 25 minutes from Freiburg by Breisgau S-Bahn train. The town has an appealing hilltop cathedral, a museum (free admission), the fortress of Neuf-Breisach (5 km from the center of town), wine-cellar tours at the Badischer Winzerkeller, and  boat excursions from the quay where international river-cruising ships call on their way up or down the Rhine. A bridge crosses the Rhine to France.

St. Peter's Abbey, in the Hochschwarzwald village of Sankt Peter im Schwarzwald, is easy to reach from Freiburg by car or train. St. Peter's former Benedictine monastery complex has an ornate church and an rococo library. The Black Forest village, whose population of 2,400 includes both farmers and city commuters, has various festivals and markets throughout the year and makes a good base for hiking and touring in the region.

To plan excursions in the Schwarzwald, visit the Black Forest Tourism Web site. When you're in Freiburg, see if you can find a copy of A Guide to the Black Forest (with Markgräflerland, Kaiserstuhl and Freiburg) at a local bookstore.

Another useful resource is the Web site of Regio-Verkehrsverbund Freiburg, the regional transportation system, which is mostly in German but has several pages of English-language information for visitors. (RVF operates a remarkably comprehensive network of bus, tram, and train lines.)

Finally, see the Freiburg tourist office's excursions page to learn about nearby destinations such as the Schauinsland mountain (an easy tram ride from the city), the Animal Park Mundenhof, and Europapark, Germany's largest theme park, which is only 30 km or 20 miles from Freiburg.