Schwarzwald - Mummelsee, Nationalparkzentrum

Pre-flight Checklist

• The cold weather rules apply. Layered clothing, waterproof shoes and woolen socks are important.
• Apps:
  • DB Navigator [android | ios]: As always this will help you navigate through the amazingly complicated, yet efficient Deutsch Bahn system.
  • KVV.info[android|ios]: The travel to Schwarzwald falls under the KVV Transport Authority based in Kalsruhe. This app will help in bus and local train (S-bahn) timetables.

Getting to Schwarzwald

The goal here is to reach the Baden-Baden Bahnof and then commute from there to various Schwarzwald locations through the local bus system, specifically the X45 Bus that starts from the railway station and goes all the way to Nationalparkzentrum Ruhestein, an access location to hike the Schwarzwald. The route taking with the X45 is very scenic and takes you through many valleys of Schwarzwald.

I will describe the one I found easiest for me coming from Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemberg.

As the Black Forest area lies in the same state as my start location, all I had to do was to buy a Baden-Wurttemberg ticket. You can find more information on Baden-Wurttemberg Ticket here: [German | English(translated)]

If you do not live in the Rhine-Neckar Kreis, you can skip reading this paragraph. The Baden-Wurttemberg Ticket was useful for me as I used it also to get to the Mannheim Hauptbahnof (Central Railway Station), and back home. One more way to do this would have been to calculate the number of Honeycombs I would pass to reach Karlsruhe and then buy a corresponding day ticket from the VRN Network, and then buy a day ticket in the KVV Network. All in all, it would’ve saved me a euro or two, but as this was a bit spontaneous in planning, I just called it a day with the Baden-Wurrtemberg ticket. Also, if you are going in groups, it will always be cheaper to buy a BW-Ticket.

Karlsruhe Hauptbahnof is a major railway station. It has direct connectivity to many cities in Germany and rest of Europe. You can travel to here in an ICE/IC/EC trains if you don’t live in Rhine-Neckar Kreis.

To summarize, you have to

1. Reach Karlsruhe using any of the following options
   • Take S3/S9 from Mannheim Hauptbahnof: I took the S9 in the morning.
   • Take IC/EC/ICE from Paris, Frankfurt, Dortmund or any other major city in West/Central Europe
2. From Karlsruhe take an RE/S-Bahn that goes towards Achern or Konstanz (I took the prior one), depart at the Baden-Baden Bahnof
   • Funny story, I actually slept through the arrival of Baden-Baden Bahnof. My eyes opened for a moment and I saw the Bahnof just passing. I rushed downstairs (it was a double-decker train), and waited till the next station, which was Buhl. I got down at Buhl, rushed to the adjecent platform and took an S-Bahn which was few minutes to arrival in the direction of Karlsruhe to alight at Baden-Baden Bahnof. Its times like this I find comfort in knowing that I bought a day ticket and didn’t have to worry about missing stations adding to my travel cost and ticket purchase complications.
3. From Baden-Baden Bahnof, take the X45 to Nationalpark Zentrum Ruhestein
   • After you exit the Bahnof in the direction of platform 1, the bus stop at the right end of the bus station is the boarding point for the bus X45. It took me few minutes to figure that out. You can read the board on the Bus Stop signs to know if you are at the right place. They write the destionations on there.

Iternary

After arriving in Baden-Baden, I checked out 2 locations in the far end of the bus route of X45.

Mummelsee photos

• I was dealt with what some people might call a bad weather. It was foggy all over the place and visibility was quite low. However, from my perspective it had its own beauty and feel of it.
• I hiked along the Mummelsee which was pretty easy except for the accumulated snow that had shortened the width of the path such that sometimes I had to get onto the slippery snow if there were people coming from opposite directions. It was safe, just something different.
• I then hiked to Mummelsee Blick. The whole path was elevation but the trek was on a road so it was pretty easy and quick.
• After that I rushed down in the hopes of catching the next X45 to Nationalparkzentrum, but alas I was a couple of minutes late to the bus stop. It meant that I had another hour to spend at Mummelsee.
• What better way to spend it than having a Cheesecake + Coffee at the shop on the Seeseite, and having it with the view of the Mummelsee. However, that only took 20 minutes.
• So, later I explored some more areas around the lake. There were different shops that sell Schwarzwald style good such as Holzhofenbrot (Wood-fired bread), assorted meat cuts, assorted liquors (cherry, hazelnut, heidelberry you name it!) and famous Schwarzwald Honey. I did not really buy anything there, as I can always come back if I need it ;)

Nationalparkzentrum Ruhestein

• It had started to rain y this time so I couldn’t really take good photos. I could quote a couple of them but they are not really useful
• I just took a small trek into the Schwarzwald and noticed the dark regions that form due to density of trees in the Black Forest.
• There is also a museum, and a ski-lift for skiing here, but I didn’t really take that

This is one of the trips where I realised doing it with a car would have been a much more convenient way of exploring. There are ample parking places here and you would be incharge of your own schedule to explore different parts and treks Schwarzwald has to offer. I had to align my timings with the public transport and defnitely missed out on quite a few things. However, as this place is not so far away from where I live, I can always visit it again.