Dark woods, cuckoo clocks and spa towns
The Black Forest is a range of wooded mountains in Baden-Württemberg, its dense fir forests giving the region its name. Hiking trails wind through valleys and past waterfalls such as those at Triberg, among the highest in Germany. Baden-Baden has been a fashionable spa town since the 19th century, and Freiburg is a sunny university city on the region's edge. Farmhouses with deep roofs, cuckoo clocks and Black Forest cake are the clichés, all genuinely rooted here. The Schwarzwaldhochstrasse is a classic scenic drive.