Boat Cruises in the Black Forest
Photo: Excursion boats at the landing stage on Lake Titisee
Key Facts
- Excursion boat trips
- Opportunities are available at Lake Schluchsee, Lake Titisee, and on the Rhine
Description
Boat cruises are offered on two of the lakes in the Black Forest: Schluchsee and Titisee. In addition, boat trips are available at several locations along the Rhine, which flows to the south and west of the Black Forest.
Boat Cruises in the Black Forest
- Lake Schluchsee: boat cruises are offered on the Black Forest's largest lake. Passengers can take the full round trip (lasting approximately 70 minutes) or travel only part of the route. The main landing stage is at the Schluchsee lido, just 400 meters from the Schluchsee train station. Additional stops include Aha, Unterkrummenhof, and Staumauer (Blasiwald).
- Boat cruises are also offered on the considerably smaller Lake Titisee, with a journey time of approx. 25 minutes. Only the complete tour is possible here; there are no other landing stages apart from the one on the lakeside promenade in Titisee.
Excursion boats on the Rhine
The Rhine flows along the southern and western edges of the Black Forest. The following locations have landing stages for boat trips:
- The MS Karlsruhe departs from the landing stage in the Rhine port of Karlsruhe for trips upstream and downstream, as well as various themed cruises.
- From Breisach, approx. two-hour round trips take you along the Old Rhine and the Rhine side canal to Neuf-Brisach (France), including passage through a lock whenever possible. Various special cruises and group offers are also available.
- In Basel, sightseeing and harbour cruises (approx. 75 min.), evening cruises and lock cruises are offered, as well as party and culinary cruises.
- In Bad Säckingen, the approx. two-hour round trips on the passenger vessel "Trompeter von Säckingen" start and end at the same location. On certain dates, breakfast cruises are also offered, and private charter trips can be booked as well.
- In Waldshut-Tiengen, there is a ferry service across the Rhine to Full in Switzerland. In the afternoons, one- and two-hour round trips are offered, and the boat can also be privately chartered.
- At the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen (Switzerland), boat trips of various durations are offered in the basin below the falls on somewhat smaller boats carrying around 30 to 50 passengers. These trips take you quite close to the waterfall, and you may even get wet.
Further Boat Cruises
- The Upper Rhine is also navigated by large cabin vessels on multi-day river cruises, traveling from Basel via Strasbourg and Karlsruhe further north.
- There are several ferry services across the Rhine, including the Rhinau–Kappel Rhine ferry (Kappel-Grafenhausen), the Greffern–Drusenheim Rhine ferry (Rheinmünster), and the Plittersdorf–Seltz Rhine ferry near Rastatt.
- If you would like to take a somewhat longer boat cruise, you can do so on the nearby Lake Constance.