Black Forest Spa Route
Be good to yourself!

The Black Forest Spa Route is a fascinating 270 kilometre circular route that takes you from Pforzheim to Bad Rippoldsau and back again. On the way you pass through the idyllic hills and valleys of the northern Black Forest at the confluence of the Nagold and Enz rivers, between the "gold town" of Pforzheim and Mount Kniebis near Freudenstadt, a plateau almost 1,000 metres high. No other region has as many hydrotherapy, climatic, thermal and mineral health resorts as the northern Black Forest, one of Germany's largest nature reserves. But leisure and recreation should be fun as well as about improving your fitness and energy levels, and there is something for everyone in the large choice of leisure activities - from walking, cycling, golf, climbing, paragliding and fishing to a wide range of winter sports.

The region's deeply carved valleys have been home to beneficial thermal mineral springs since time immemorial: Bad Liebenzell and Bad Teinach in the Nagold valley, Bad Wildbad in the valley of the Enz, Bad Rotenfels in the Murg valley, Bad Herrenalb (situated between seven valleys) and Waldbronn in the Alb valley, Bad Rippoldsau in the upper Wolfach valley and the famous spa town of Baden-Baden in the valley of the Oos. Many spa resorts use the hot or mineral springs in these valleys for a variety of therapeutic treatments. There are also plenty of other spas and health resorts, for instance Neubulach with its "health mine" situated within an old silver mine. The abundance of picturesque Black Forest towns with their pretty timber-framed houses, numerous abbeys, castles, stately homes, secluded lakes and lonely moors, hills and idyllic valleys make this a fascinating nature reserve, ideal for health and recreation and offering pretty much everything you could want from a holiday.