Southern Black Forest Cycle Route

Cycle touring on holiday is offered by all the major German holiday companies. I was pleasantly surprised recently to see cycle touring holidays in a brochure put out by ALDI, the German discounter. It is therefore no surprise to find that the regional tourist authorities have planned and executed cycle routes and that one can book self-guided holidays.

The Southern Black Forest Cycle Route or as it is known in German Südschwarzwald-Radweg is a fairly gentle circular 240km long route around the edges of the higher regions of the southern Black Forest. The main route crosses the Rhine into Switzerland and goes through Basel/Basle. After Basel you can also visit the French nature reserve "Petite Camargue" in southern Alsace, before crossing the Rhine again to return to vineyards and picturesque villages of Markgräflerland to reach Freiburg and return to the Black Forest heights. There is a rail link between Kirchzarten and Hinterzarten. There is no shame in taking the train. If the vision of the odd slight climb is too much you can also hire e-bikes. This is an ideal route for families.

There is more information in German about trips of up to a week from the following companies:

Original Landreisen AG
http://www.original-schwarzwald.de/Radwandern-im-Schwarzwald-Suedschwarzwald-Radweg.
The company is based in Hinterzarten. Price per person sharing a double room range from € 289 to € 949 for up to a week depending on the quality of the accommodation and the length of the holiday.


Radissimo GmbH
 http://www.radissimo.de/en/bike-holidays/self-guided-tours/
This company is preparing information in English. It is based in Freiburg or Hinterzarten. Price per person sharing a double room is from €429 for up to a week. If the photographs of the Black Forest Cherry cakes shown on the website are anything to go by you may end weighing more after a few days cycling than before you started.