The Best Of South West: Nature, Myths And More – 7 days / 6 nights

The south-western corner of Germany is where the forest, the river and the legend all overlap. Seven days and six nights, private throughout, run from the Neckar valley into the Black Forest and out to the Upper Rhine, following the landscapes that produced the fairy tales rather than the towns that market them. This is the outdoor and folklore half of our south-west programme; the cultural and spa half runs as a separate itinerary.

The landscapes on the route

The Black Forest is the spine of the journey – not the postcard version but the real one, which is a high, dark, working plateau of spruce and pasture cut by steep valleys. Your clients see the waterfalls at Triberg, the clock-making valleys that turned a winter craft into an industry, the open farmhouses with their vast hipped roofs, and the moorland lakes further south. From the forest the route drops to the Upper Rhine plain and the Kaiserstuhl, a volcanic hill in the middle of the valley that is warm enough to grow orchids and Pinot, and reaches Freiburg with its cathedral and its water channels running through the streets.

The myths, and where they come from

Folklore here is geography rather than decoration. The Rhine maidens, the forest spirits, the glass-blowers and charcoal-burners of the Wilhelm Hauff stories, the Devil’s Pulpit rock formations – each one attaches to a place your clients can stand in. Guides on this itinerary are chosen for being able to tell those stories properly and to explain where the tale ends and the documented history begins, which is a more interesting conversation than either on its own.

How the week is built

• Seven days and six nights, private, with a driver-guide and local specialists where the terrain or the subject calls for one
• Two or three bases rather than a new hotel each night, so the walking days are not spent packing
• Walking is part of the product: valley paths, forest tracks and short summit routes, graded to the party
• Vehicle throughout, so a walk can always be shortened without stranding anybody
• Tastings, admissions and cable cars are quoted separately once the route and season are fixed

Season and how it fits with the rest

Late May to early October is the working season for this version: the paths are dry, the high roads are open and the wine villages are busy. Autumn adds the harvest and the best light of the year on the Rhine plain. Winter turns the same region into a different product, which is why the culture and spa version of the south-west week is the better booking between November and March. Clients who want a single day in the forest rather than a week should take the Black Forest full-day excursion. Regional background is on our Black Forest destination page, and the wider product range in our South West Germany portfolio.