After starting the day with a delicious buffet breakfast at the characterful Hotel Hirschen which included ham, eggs, cheese, fresh fruit and rye bread we were ready to load up the car and continue our road trip through the Black Forest.
Our first stop of the day was the town of Triberg, famous for its waterfall which is one of the largest in Germany. The journey time from Schluchsee was about an hour and it was shortly after 10.00 a.m. when we arrived in town. I’d advise planning an early arrival as Triberg is a popular tourist destination with its car parks filling up quickly.
The entrance to the waterfall trail is conveniently located at the top of the high street with the standard admission price of €8 also including three of the town’s other attractions. Once through the entrance gates, there are three routes to follow around the falls depending on how energetic you are.
We chose the steeper route which we actually found quite easy. This led us along paths, up flights of steps and over wooden bridges to access multiple viewing platforms from where we had splendid views of the falls.
The Triberg waterfall originates from the Gutach River where it tumbles down 163m (535 ft) in a series of seven cascades which are beautiful to view. We climbed to the top of the falls so that we could view the cascade from above before making our way back down to the exit.
Despite our visit being in mid-summer, the force of water was still quite strong and we were able to feel the refreshing spray from several of the viewpoints. Each of the woodland trails are well maintained and these provided us with some welcome shade from the hot sun.
After viewing the falls we held on to our tickets to visit the Schwarzwald Museum which is located across the road, sharing its entrance with the local tourist office. The museum contains a small but varied collection of artefacts demonstrating how local people lived and worked. Of particular interest were a collection of barrel organs and displays of traditional Black Forest costumes that are still worn by local people on special occasions.
Leaving there, we popped into the other two smaller attractions included in the waterfall ticket. The first, Triberg Land features a room filled with small model railway layouts popular with children whilst the second Triberg Fantasy is a kind of Instagram museum with themed Black Forest zones for taking photos.
After our morning hike around the waterfalls and visits to these smaller attractions we enjoyed lunch at the LandGasthof Zur Lilie which faces the entrance to the waterfalls. The restaurant has a large outdoor terrace and traditionally furnished indoor dining rooms. We opted to eat indoors and our regional dishes of pork knuckle and schnitzel were both well cooked and very tasty.
After sipping cooling drinks we headed back to the car and onto our next destination the Black Forest Open-Air Museum (standard entrance €12), located in Gutach, a 20 minute drive from Triberg. I adore visiting open-air museums wherever I travel and had been looking forward to adding this one to my list.
The museum consists of 19 buildings from across the Black Forest that have been transported and completely reassembled on site creating an authentic village of traditional farm buildings, mills, cottages, chapels and even a manor house.
The earliest buildings date back to the 1600’s and each one of them can be explored to view their humble furnishings and household items. Many of the properties are surrounded by delightful cottage gardens filled with summer blooms, vegetables and medicinal plants beneficial for curing ailments in days gone by.
At various times during the day demonstrations take place of traditional weaving, spinning and apple juice making. Visiting the museum more than lived up to my expectations and for anyone interested in social history I’d highly recommend spending between 2-3 hours looking around.
Back in the car once again it was just a short hop to reach the Park mit allen sinnen, (a sensory garden). Standard adult admission for the 2.1 km trail costs €6.50. After placing our shoes in one of the lockers provided, we set off along the marked barefoot trail.
We started on soft grass then moved to sections of tree trunks, dried mud, gravel and crushed pine cones. Due to the recent period of prolonged hot, dry weather some of the surfaces were harder than normal and I noticed other people struggling to walk in bare feet on some of the surfaces.
In addition to sensory feelings through our feet, we came across zones appealing to our other senses with aromas to test our sense of smell and a dark box where we needed to feel our way around the obstacles to find our way out. Back at the kiosk we made use of the foot washing zone before putting our shoes back on and returning to the car.
Just down the road from the sensory park an exhilarating experience awaited us as we had come for a ride on the Summer Toboggan (adult single ride €3.80). After climbing into our toboggans each one is pulled to the hilltop starting point by a lift mechanism.
Once at the top, the sled disengages and we enjoyed the rollercoaster thrill of whizzing down the winding 1190m long track at top speed, just using the brakes to slow down slightly as we approached bends. I’ve included photos that I took afterwards of other people on the course as it’s not permitted to take a phone or camera on board in case you drop it along the way.
Also included on the site is a cafe with outdoor seating serving a range of snacks and drinks. I rewarded my efforts on the toboggan course by sipping a drink sitting under the shade of a parasol before we drove to our hotel at the other end of the village.
As with the previous night’s accommodation in Schluchsee, we’d arranged to stay at another family run traditional Black Forest hotel which was set back from the main road. Gasthof Zum Hirsch.
A warm welcome awaited us and after settling in we enjoyed a 25 minute stroll to Weber’s Esszeit Restaurant where we’d booked a table for dinner. The restaurant is located just across the railway from the Open Air Museum that we’d visited earlier. The dining room looked very inviting but as it was such a warm evening we chose to eat outdoors.
We both settled on dishes of whole trout served with potatoes and side salads. As we’d had ice creams earlier we resisted the temptation of ordering desserts and after finishing our beers, sauntered back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.
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