When winter sets in and every one cosies in their heated houses watching the falling snow over hot chocolate, I get behind the wheel and set my destination. This time it was a drive in the black forest. The route 500 from Baden Baden to Freudenstadt is a marvel in all seasons.
I was expecting some beautiful snowy landscape and it did not disappoint me. There isnβt much to talk about but to leave you to enjoy the beautiful landscape.
I left Basel around 11 am and reached Baden Baden around 14.00, not wanting to miss the daylight I headed straight to Black Forest High Road.
The route 500 is called Schwarzwaldhochstrasse meaning Black Forest High Road is 35 kms drive up to Freudenstadt. Germany has beautiful roads to drive on but ensure your car is wearing winter tires π
It is pure fun for skiers as they enjoy themselves through day and night skiing. Snow reliability is virtually guaranteed owing to the altitude between 700 and 1164 m. A large number of ski-lifts and a connection to the Nordschwarzwald cross country skiing trail offer something for everyone. The huge floodlights are a show to watch as past midnight the skiiers enjoy themselves in the activity even more.
I stopped every time I got a perspective of a nice picture. That is the beauty of lush pine trees against a blanket of snow. The trees and branches wrapped in sheets of snow made a mesmerising view.
The temperature of subzero didn’t give a lot of scope for keeping my hands off gloves to click pictures. It so reminded me of Norway where the Northern Lights tempted me to capture its beauty and the cold threatened to freeze my veins.
Freudenstadt was a sleepy town with quiet cafes and shut shops by 16.00. It looked like a fairy tale land same as Gstaad albeit a smaller version.
I roamed around a bit with not much to do stepped in a beautiful cafe for some hot chocolate and yes guessed it right the famous Black Forest Cake. The Cake I have had at Titisee (West side of Black Forest) was a delight, it was huge with a lot of cheery liquor but Freudenstadt had its own flavor! Delicious and gooey!!
My base was still Baden Baden, as it got 17.00 it grew darker but brighter as the snow reflected light. The roads had visibility of not even 50 meters due to passing clouds. Baden-Baden, Germany s a spa town, located in the state of Baden-WΓΌrttemberg in southwestern Germany. It lies at the northwestern border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, just 10 km (6 mi) east of the Rhine, the border line to France, and about 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Strasbourg, France.
The springs at Baden-Baden were known to the Romans as Aquae (“The Waters”)[citation needed] and Aurelia Aquensis (“Aurelia-of-the-Waters”) after M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus.
In modern German, Baden is a gerund meaning “bathing” but Baden, the original name of the town, derives from an earlier plural form of Bad (“bath”). (The modern plural has become BΓ€der.) As with the English place name “Bath”, there are various other Badens at hot springs throughout Central Europe.
Sorry to say that the springs in Baden-Baden were a no match to the Iceland hot springs and I recommend a visit to the Blue Lagoon island if you are visiting Iceland. However Baden-Baden does offer good relaxation just in my backyard so I was game for it.
The weekend was full of enjoying the cold and feeling the purity of snow. Sunday evening went by in planning the next weekend trip.
P.S. – a resolution is to make a trip every weekend, hope I am able to fulfil it
What beautiful clicks of snow……You are truly an adventurer to step into the frigid cold and enjoy it…..I am stuck with the long names, cannot pronounce them….:P….
that I can agree, I surely can get adventurous and do crazy things hehe thanks for liking the post Sunaina π
Wow! I never knew that there was an actual place called Black Forest High Road! So, when I read the title of your post, I thought it would be a road full of bakeries selling black forest cake! *hides face* *runs away*
The pictures are really beautiful… And the snippets of information are superb π
Yes there are many backeries selling blackforest cake hehe π Thank you so much Mithila for liking my pictures and post π
I am bookmarking this post in case I visit. I fell in love with road’s name itself. ?
I hope there is atleast on bakery serving black forest cake ?
Beautiful pictures there. ?
you will love the place Ramya am sure of that π there were many bakeries all serve Black Forest its quite popular here π
Wow..awesome pics Shweta..reminded me of our time in US wisconsin. All the best for your resolution and thanks for this virtual trip. π
Thank you so much Deepa…hope to keep the resolution π
Hi Shweta, must say very nice post. The temperature must be below minus and we in Gurgaon feels that this winder is very cold. A small suggestion that try to convert the images in JPEG format, the pictures will be easy to view.
yes Mithun the temperature was subzero π The pictures are in jpeg π
Rarely seen snow pics! Thanks for sharing!
you are most welcome Rajeevji π
Its an amazing post, such a journey can never be forgotten in life. Shots are just mind blowing, earlier seen your captures and you are really good in it.
Trying pronunciation of some names read here.
wish you travel more(including every weekend) and share such interesting posts.
the pronunciations are indeed difficult π thank you so much for liking my pictures and post Jyotirmoy π
Blanket of snow always produces great pictures and charm to visit .Great Pictures Shweta Ji
thank you so much Yogiji π so happy you liked it π
Oh what a beauty, looks like a fairy land indeed! You did a great job of capturing the charming landscape in that cold, loved it!
Coming from you is awesome π Thank you so much for liking it Arti π
We remember seeing lush green landscape of Black Forrest, but these pictures show us an entirely different sight! So beautiful and a true winter wonderland! π
That is the beauty of the place, its awesome in all seasons especially in Autumn π
Wow! This is a dream! Awesome pics, Shweta, Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Moon π
Gorgeous white landscapes. And awesome pictures. Thank you for these beautiful sights, Shweta.
Thank you so much Dee for liking them π
Stunning captures Shweta!
Thank you Rashmi π
wonderful pictures. Winter and springs are so different in European countries compared to ours.
yes as there is very little plastic allowed, air conditions are banned and people use a lot of public transport π Thank you so much π
Looks like a scene out of a Walt Disney tale! π SO SO awesome Shweta π Hope you fulfil your resolution! π And we get to see more pics!
Yes….resolution is in place but you know editing and writing takes so much time π So happy you liked the pictures Divsi π
Such a beautiful scenery…a fairy tale setting π
Thank you Amrit π
These pictures are making me plan my next trip to some snowy destination. Great share there
you should plan, Black Forest is best in Winters and Autumn π thank you π
‘The Black forest’ looking every inch the snow blanketed white forest! Beautiful!??βΊβΊβΊ
hahah yes so true but autumn here is awesome bestie π thank you so much π
Is there anything black about black forest? Knowing how acid rain almost destroyed this area – it is pretty beautiful how it has survived π Beautiful post!
Nature has a beauty to rebuilt itself π thank you so much for liking the post π
Hi Shweta,
You must resize your pictures to Kilobytes from Megabytes π Otherwise, loading your blog takes a lot of time.
Thank you very much for the great story of your journey!
Wow..The images are very good. Natures beauty is beyond words and is the most beautiful thing one can never imagine.