For backpackers, the 1,000 family-owned holiday apartments in the region are a great alternative to hotels.

In Hotel Silberdistel - one of the most popular family hotels in Hinterzarten, I stayed in a single room that only cost $72 a night in peak season, including a hearty breakfast with local fruits, ham and sausage.

It was a great experience to stay in this traditional Black Forest style house - the ceiling, floors, stairs and even the beds and most furniture in the room are wooden.

Curled up in the soft armchair with a book in hand, breathing the fresh air and the fragrance of the pine trees and floors, enjoying the sweet silence outside of the window, it was the perfect holiday for relaxing.

If you go

The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range located in the southwest corner of Germany in the German federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The closest airports are: Karlsruhe, Strasbourg (France), Basel (Switzerland/France), Stuttgart, Zurich (Switzerland), or Frankfurt, then take the train or hire a car.

If you are planning on visiting the Black Forest there are several ways on how to get here. Freiburg - the capital of the Black Forest - might be a good base to start your touring from. You can either fly into Germany, Switzerland or France to get to Freiburg and the Black Forest.

Flying into Germany: If you are flying into Frankfurt you can easily catch an ICE train to Freiburg and find yourself in the heart of the Black Forest within 2 hours. The Baden-Airpark in Baden-Baden is about an hours drive from Freiburg. Stuttgart Airport is about 1.5 hours away from Freiburg and reachable via Airport Shuttle.

Flying into Switzerland or France: You can also fly in Zurich and take an airport bus to Freiburg. The Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is 40 minutes from Freiburg and has regular shuttles leaving to the city.