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Warming up at the central bonfire of the Christmas market in the Ravenna Gorge in the Black Forest at Christmas

Guide to traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas: costs, map, route, tips and the 20 essential plans

Enjoy our guide to traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas. In this post, we want to share our experience and what we learned while traveling there, helping you plan your next independent trip to the Black Forest at Christmas.

We are the Kucavana family, and we travel with our two children, ages 7 and 10, and our two adopted dogs . We usually travel in our campervan, also called Kucavana, but we also enjoy flying and backpacking. We love learning as a family and hope to help you enjoy traveling as much as we do.

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Our personalized route assembly service for your trip to the Black Forest

If you want to save time and rely on our experience of two trips through the Black Forest, we remind you that we have a personalized motorhome route assembly and organization service.

With our service you will have a fully interactive Click & Go roadmap, so that you only click and the GPS will take you to each of the essential places without losing any setbacks. Access the service by clicking and filling in the following form:

Mount custom route
Mount custom route

Summary of our experience of traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas

Our trip through the Black Forest is a 5-day trip during the Immaculate Conception and Constitution Day long weekend in December.

A trip, which as always, we do as a family. With our two children, ages 10 and 7, and this time with our motorhome by road.

In total there are 10 hours of driving and about 1000 km is what separates Barcelona from the Black Forest on our route, although it can be accessed by plane from Stuttgart and from there rent a vehicle.

This route is actually part of a larger trip. A 10-day journey we take through Alsace and the Black Forest in Germany at Christmas, during the 10 days of the December long weekend.

We have loved this route, so much so that it is the second time we repeat it, with that we tell you everything.

It's like walking into a Christmas story. With its decorated towns, all full of lights, its endearing Christmas market stalls, its “gluhwein” (spiced hot wine with a thousand flavors) and beautiful towns and cities with a lot of Christmas magic.

The largest cuckoo clock in the world
The largest cuckoo clock in the world

Costs of our trip: the Black Forest at Christmas

On our 10-day trip through Alsace at Christmas and the Black Forest, we spent a total of €1710 for the four of us traveling.

If you want a breakdown and more information on each of the costs, we have made a more detailed post which you can see here about the cost of Alsace Christmas Price , which is what it will cost you for the Black Forest as well, since our costs are for the same trip to both places in 10 days.

What we liked the most and what we liked the least about traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas

The best thing about traveling to the Black Forest Christmas on our trip has been…

  • The first thing we have to highlight that we liked was finally physically meeting a family friend who lives in Germany and from whom we were able to enjoy their company. It was a pleasure to talk and share part of this route with them.
  • Traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas is to see fairytale towns like Triberg, Freiburg or Gengenbach where Charly and the Chocolate Factory was filmed.
  • The calm and tranquility of this region, at Christmas there is no feeling of crowds, on the contrary, we were often alone. For us the best of our trip.
  • All the Christmas markets in this area are amazing, much more authentic and full of local life than those in Alsace. They are meeting places for the residents of the area, where they go to have a drink with family and friends after work. It is a totally different environment from Alsace, where the markets are pure tourists and you don't see locals.

Keep reading to find out the rest of the good things and also all the bad things about our last Christmas trip through the Black Forest

On the road between Titisee and Triberg snowing in the Black Forest Germany at Christmas
On the road between Titisee and Triberg snowing in the Black Forest Germany at Christmas

14 Things you should know and tips for traveling to the Black Forest at Christmas

Before we move on to the route and the must-sees and things to do in the Black Forest at Christmas, here are some tips to keep in mind before you go.

1 In the Black Forest at Christmas it is cold and it often snows: Mandatory winter tires

That said, if you are going to travel to the Black Forest at Christmas with your vehicle, keep in mind that in Germany it is mandatory to wear winter tires when there is a forecast of snow or it has snowed. Therefore, take winter tires on your trip to the Black Forest at Christmas.

2 Documents needed to travel to the Black Forest at Christmas

For this trip, don't forget to bring your valid ID card or passport for both adults and children, and also, in case of any health problems, the European Health Insurance Card , which you can get on the social security website and receive at home.

Furthermore, we've been using Iati Escapadas travel insurance for years now . Its affordability gives us peace of mind when traveling with the children, and we know it will help us avoid the co-payments that healthcare in Germany often requires. Here's a link with a discount; if you use this link, you'll also be helping us keep writing on the blog.

Just see the rest of the tips and things to know about the Black Forest at Christmas here:

Our map of visits and plans we made to travel to the Black Forest at Christmas

Discover our interactive map with all the points of interest, Christmas markets and places to visit in Alsace and the Black Forest at Christmas.

Proposal for a 5-day route through the Black Forest at Christmas

Based on our experience of two trips through the Black Forest, we propose a route to fully enjoy Christmas in the Black Forest but also its essential places.

1st day: accessing the Black Forest through one of its capitals and gateways in a big way: Freiburg

On this route we suggest the following stops:

  1. On the way to Freiburg you will pass through the French Alsace with very German traditions. Maybe that's why you want to stop before going to Freiburg at a couple of points on the way, like we did:
    1. Tahnn visits his Christmas market and beautiful church. We suggest you eat at a restaurant with a menu of the day that we loved
    1. Ecomuseum of Alsace: visit this impressive museum essential to understand the history of Alsace at Christmas. As the open-air folklore museum of the Black Forest is closed in winter and at Christmas, you may really like this museum and it can be a very good stop before entering Freiburg.
  2. Freiburg: late night to fully enjoy this lively university city, with fairytale streets and Christmas markets full of local and great life.
Having a Glühwein, mulled wine, at the Ravenna Gorge flea market in the Black Forest
Having a Glühwein, mulled wine, at the Ravenna Gorge flea market in the Black Forest

2nd day: From the hot springs to the best Christmas market we have seen

  1. Titisee: Our first stop is the small lakeside town of Titisee. Here the first thing we do is go to the Badeparadise Spa. A spa with three very cool thermal areas. For us, if you go with children, the Galaxy area and the Palmenoase area with palm trees and a bar in the indoor and outdoor pools are essential. Then we visit the beautiful lake.
  2. Ravennaschlucht or Ravenna gorge: we access it from a Titisee shuttle bus that in 10 minutes takes us to this place with the most magical and beautiful Christmas market that we have experienced on our route through Alsace and the Black Forest at Christmas this year. You have to book everything in advance. Below I tell you everything.
Cuckoo clocks, one of the symbols of the Black Forest
Cuckoo clocks, one of the symbols of the Black Forest

Day 3: Along the most beautiful road of endless forests and cuckoo clocks

  1. Stops at roadside lookouts
  2. Triberg: arrival to visit the waterfalls and the Triberg Black Forest museum that enters with the same entrance of the waterfalls.
  3. Visit the world's largest cuckoo clock just off the road from Triberg.
The world's largest Advent Calendar in the Gengenbach Town Hall
The world's largest Advent Calendar in the Gengenbach Town Hall

4th day : From the world's largest advent calendar, a village from a Christmas story to the most important spa town in Germany

  1. Gengenbach: visit the beautiful town where Charly and the Chocolate Factory was filmed, its Christmas market and at 18:XNUMX p.m. we see the daily show with the opening of the window of the new day of the largest Advent Calendar in the world that is in the Town Hall from Gengenbach. This year it was about the Little Prince.
  2. Baden-Baden: Overnight and visit of the pretty spa town and Christmas market
Tower of Fortune at the Pforheim Gold Flea Market
Tower of Fortune at the Pforheim Gold Flea Market

Day 5: From the Spa to the city of gold in the Black Forest

  1. Morning in one of the Baden Baden Spas
  2. Pforheim: Afternoon and night in the Black Forest city of gold, named for its jewelery tradition. We can visit its jewelry museum, its two Christmas markets, one medieval, its artificial skating rink, the gasometer and the Wildpark where we recommend you spend the night around, a very large free park with animals and in a very beautiful place.

The 20 essential plans to travel to the Black Forest at Christmas

In this post you will find plans to do and what to see in the Black Forest at Christmas or even in summer. They serve the same for most plans.

Next, we show you a selection of the 20 best plans for what to do in the Black Forest at Christmas and, above all, what to see in the Black Forest at Christmas. A selection made after our two trips to the Black Forest.

They are all plans to travel at Christmas in the Black Forest that you will be delighted with whether you are traveling with children or not!

Eating Kartoffenpujjer, the kind of potato omelette but without egg at the Ravenna Christmas market in the Black Forest Germany at Christmas
Eating Kartoffenpuffer, the kind of potato omelette but without egg at the Ravenna Christmas market in the Black Forest Germany at Christmas

The Black Forest in a motorhome at Christmas: regulations, services, overnight stays and more

In the following article, discover how to travel by motorhome through the Black Forest at Christmas or at any time of the year. Here you will see all the regulations, route and places to spend the night to go by motorhome or camper through the Black Forest at Christmas

Well, here is our complete guide to help you plan a route through the Black Forest at Christmas and what to see in the Black Forest at Christmas. We hope this article has been useful to you. Remember that for us this is a hobby and that the best way to thank us for the time and dedication to writing our experiences as articles for your help is by leaving us a comment below or subscribing to our social networks, commenting and giving likes.

See you on the road, see you soon!

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