Freiburg im Breisgau

Münster market Saturday and Schauinsland Sunday

A weekend in Freiburg im Breisgau splits into the old town on Saturday and the Black Forest hills on Sunday, when shops are shut. Saturday covers the Münsterplatz market, the Münster tower, the Augustinermuseum and the Schlossberg at sunset; Sunday takes tram 2 and bus 21 to the Schauinsland cable car.

Saturday morning. Start on Münsterplatz when the farmers' market is at full stretch: stallholders from the Kaiserstuhl on the south side, flowers and cheese to the north. Go into the Münster, then climb the tower before it gets warm. Across the square, the oxblood facade of the Historisches Kaufhaus is the building everyone photographs.

Afternoon. Walk south along the Bächle to the Augustinermuseum, where original Münster statues and medieval altarpieces are displayed in a converted monastery. Continue to the Fischerau and Gerberau, two lanes beside the old trade canal, then out through the Schwabentor with its painted figure from 1572.

Evening. The footpath up the Schlossberg starts near the gate and takes about 15 minutes to the Kanonenplatz terrace. Push on to the Schlossbergturm for sunset over the Kaiserstuhl and, on a clear day, the Vosges. Come down by the Schlossbergbahn and eat around Oberlinden.

Sunday. Shops are shut, so use the day for the hills: tram 2 to Günterstal, bus 21 to the Schauinsland cable car, and a ridge walk at around 1,280 metres. Back in town, finish with a drink at Augustinerplatz, where students sit on the steps until late.

The Münster's west tower rises about 116 metres, and its open stone tracery lets you see sky through the spire from the square below. The tower was finished around 1330, and its hours are shorter in winter, so check before you climb the long, narrow spiral stair.

On the city's edge, the Schauinslandbahn cable car runs 3.6 km up to a top station at 1,220 metres, a short walk below the 1,284-metre summit of the Schauinsland, and a tram and bus connect it with the centre. Allow half a day for the round trip with a walk at the top, where on clear days the Alps show on the southern horizon.

A Lange Rote at the market stalls and Kaiserstuhl wines

Freiburg's street food is the Lange Rote, a 35 cm pork sausage in a short roll sold at the Münster market stalls before lunch. Sit-down Baden cooking means Schäufele with potato salad, Brägele and Flammkuchen, and the wines to try are Gutedel, Grauburgunder from the Kaiserstuhl and Spätburgunder.

The cheapest good meal in town is a Lange Rote, a red-skinned pork sausage about 35 cm long, served in a roll far too short for it at the stalls on the north side of the Münster. Locals add fried onions and mustard and eat it standing up. It is a market-hours food, so go before lunch.

For a sit-down Baden meal, look for Schäufele, cured and smoked pork shoulder served with potato salad, and Brägele, pan-fried sliced potatoes. Traditional Gasthäuser in the Altstadt and Wiehre serve both, along with Flammkuchen, the thin onion and bacon tart shared with Alsace across the Rhine. Black Forest cherry cake, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is on every café counter; the version made with a real hit of kirsch is the one to order.

Wine matters here more than beer. Baden is a major growing region, and three styles turn up by the glass: Gutedel, a light white from the Markgräflerland to the south; Grauburgunder, the fuller Pinot Gris of the Kaiserstuhl; and Spätburgunder, Germany's best-known red. Wine taverns and the July wine festival on Münsterplatz are the easiest places to taste.

On a budget, the Markthalle near Bertoldsbrunnen serves curries, pasta and fish from small counters until late on Fridays and Saturdays. The Atlantik on Schwabentorring has fed generations of students with plain German plates.

Höllental railway to Titisee, plus the Kaiserstuhl and Basel

The best day trip from Freiburg is the Höllental railway to Titisee, about 40 minutes, with buses on to the Feldberg at 1,493 metres. Schauinsland is the city's own mountain by cable car, the Kaiserstuhl wine hills and Breisach lie to the west, and Basel is about 45 minutes by train.

The most rewarding day trip leaves from the Hauptbahnhof. Regional trains climb the Höllental gorge, one of the steepest railway lines in Germany, and reach Titisee in about 40 minutes. The lake town is busy with tour coaches by midday, so walk the shore path away from the souvenir strip or rent a rowing boat. Buses continue to the Feldberg, at 1,493 metres the highest summit in the Black Forest, with a summit trail in summer and pistes in winter.

Closer in, Schauinsland is the city's own mountain, technically inside the municipal boundary. The cable car lifts you from the valley station to the top, and from there marked paths lead down through meadows and forest back towards Günterstal.

West of the city, the Kaiserstuhl is an old volcanic massif covered in terraced vineyards and loess cuttings. Trains run to Breisach on the Rhine, where the Stephansmünster overlooks the river and France; local wine cooperatives pour Grauburgunder at the door. South of Freiburg, the small town of Staufen ties itself to the Faust legend.

Crossing the border takes no effort. Basel is about 45 minutes by train and makes a strong day out for its art museums and Rhine swimming in summer. Colmar in Alsace is roughly an hour by road, with half-timbered lanes and wine villages around it.