Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
moorland, meadows, rolling hills
(3077 sq km)
Naturpark Sch-
warzwald Mitte/
Nord
mixed forest, deep valleys, lakes
(3750 sq km); deer, wild boar,
raven, capercaillie
hiking, Nordic walk-
ing, mountain biking
late
spring
to au-
tumn
Naturpark Süd-
schwarzwald
mixed forest, pastures, vineyards,
lake, moorland (3700 sq km); ca-
percaillie, deer, lynx
hiking, Nordic walk-
ing, snowshoeing,
mountain biking
year-
round
Wild Food
Bavaria and the Black Forest's woods brim with berries, herbs and mushrooms, many of
which are perfectly edible. Summer and autumn yield rich forest pickings, with bilberries,
raspberries, blackberries and strawberries; wild herbs like bear's garlic, dandelion, dill,
buckhorn and sorrel fringe meadows and woodlands. The fungi-foraging season kicks off
with apricot-hued, trumpet-shaped
Pfifferlinge
(chanterelles) in June/July, peaks with the
prized
Steinpilz
(cep or porcini) around August and ends with autumnal delights like
button-topped
Maronen
(Bay Bolete).
Tourist offices can point you towards local
Kräuterwanderungen
and
Pilzwanderung
(herb and mushroom walks), such as those run by the German Alpine Club
(
www.alpenverein.de
)
or Schwarzwaldverein (
www.schwarzwaldverein.de
)
; you'll need
to join as a member first.
National & Nature Parks
Bavaria is home to Germany's oldest national
park, the Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald,
which was founded in 1970. There is only one
more of Germany's 14 national parks in Bav-
aria but it's a good one: the Nationalpark Ber-
chtesgaden on the Austrian border, a ravishing
mountainscape of big-shouldered Alps and
jewel-coloured, fjordlike lakes. Both parks preserve places of outstanding natural beauty,
rare geographical features and various wildlife species.
For the inside scoop on the region's nature and na-
tional parks, surf German-language
