Altstadt
First-timersThe old town: the Münster, the market, the Bächle and everything within fifteen minutes.
Freiburg city guide
Things To Do In Freiburg
The sunniest city in Germany, on the edge of the Black Forest, with little streams running along the streets and a cathedral tower that took three hundred years.
2
Hostels in the city
8.9
Average, from 1,368 reviews
116 m
The Münster tower, finished around 1330
1,800
Hours of sunshine a year, the most in Germany
15 km
Of Bächle, the streams running through the streets
Green, sunny and pressed against the Black Forest
Freiburg sits in the far south-west corner of Germany, closer to Basel and Colmar than to anywhere German, and it gets more sunshine than any other German city.
The Bächle are the thing everyone notices first: narrow open water channels running along the streets, fed from the river, medieval in origin and originally used for fire-fighting and livestock. Local superstition says that if you step in one accidentally you will marry a Freiburger. People do step in them constantly.
The Münster is the cathedral, and its 116-metre openwork spire is one of the few Gothic towers actually completed in the Middle Ages. A market runs around it every morning except Sunday.
The city rebuilt itself after 1944 bombing and then spent the following decades becoming Germany's environmental showcase — the Vauban district is a car-reduced solar neighbourhood that planners visit from around the world.
Two days, and use one for the Black Forest.
Where to stay
A small old town with the hills immediately behind it.
Stühlinger
Value and studentsWest of the station: cheaper beds, student bars and a five-minute walk into the old town.
Vauban and Wiehre
Green and residentialSouth: the solar district and a handsome nineteenth-century quarter, both on the tram.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 2 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Freiburg
Climb the Münster tower, about €5 and 209 steps, for the view over the red roofs to the Black Forest and the Vosges in France. The openwork spire was completed around 1330, which makes it one of the very few Gothic towers finished in the medieval period rather than the nineteenth century.
The market around the cathedral runs every morning except Sunday and is where to buy a long red sausage in a bun, which is the correct Freiburg lunch.
Take the Schauinsland cable car, about €17 return, to 1,284 metres — Germany's longest loop cable car, and from the top you can walk down through forest into the city over several hours.
Walk the Bächle and try not to step in one. They run for about fifteen kilometres through the old town and children float boats in them.
The Vauban district, reachable by tram, is a genuinely interesting piece of urban planning — solar houses, almost no parking, and a design that planners come from abroad to study.
Free things
Free things to do in Freiburg
The Bächle, the old town and the Münster interior are all free — only the tower charges.
The Schlossberg, the hill immediately above the old town, is free to climb and has a lookout tower at the top with the city below and the Black Forest behind.
The market around the cathedral is free to walk through and is the best hour in the city.
Vauban and the Rieselfeld eco-districts are free to visit and are quietly fascinating if urban planning interests you at all.
The Black Forest trails start at the edge of the city and are free — and many hostels issue a KONUS guest card giving free regional transport across the whole Black Forest area, which is worth asking about because it turns an expensive day into a free one.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Freiburg
Baden food, which is the lightest of the German regional traditions and heavily influenced by Alsace across the border. Flammkuchen — thin dough with cream, onion and bacon — is €10 to €15 and shareable.
The Lange Rote is the local sausage: a long thin red sausage in a small bun with mustard, sold from the cathedral market stalls for €4 to €5 and eaten standing.
Black Forest gâteau is from here and the real version is heavy on kirsch and light on everything the export version does.
Baden wine is excellent and under-appreciated — Spätburgunder, the German name for Pinot Noir, grows well on the Kaiserstuhl volcanic hills just west of the city. A glass is €4.50 to €6.50.
A restaurant main is €13 to €19 and a beer €4 to €5.50.
Nightlife
Going out in Freiburg
Student-driven and relaxed. The university has about 25,000 students in a city of 230,000, and term time from October to July is when the bars are full.
The old town has the pubs and wine bars, and Stühlinger west of the station has the cheaper student places.
A beer is €4 to €5.50, wine €4.50 to €6.50 and cocktails €8 to €12.
Freiburg drinks outside whenever the weather allows, which given the sunshine figures is most of the year — the Augustinerplatz steps fill with people and bottles on any warm evening, which is free and is the local default.
There is a small club scene but nobody travels here for it. This is a city for a long evening outdoors and an early start into the hills.
Getting around
Getting around Freiburg
Trams are frequent and cover everything, with a day ticket around €6. The old town is pedestrianised and walkable in fifteen minutes.
Ask your accommodation about the KONUS guest card. Most hosts in the Black Forest region issue it free to overnight guests and it gives unlimited free regional transport across the whole area for the length of your stay — it is one of the best deals in German tourism and plenty of visitors never hear about it.
Freiburg is among the best cycling cities in Germany, with a dense separated network and hire at €10 to €15 a day.
Basel is 45 minutes by train, Colmar in France about an hour, and Frankfurt two hours by ICE.
For the Black Forest, regional trains and buses fan out from the Hauptbahnhof and the KONUS card covers them.
Costs
What Freiburg costs
Mid-range for Germany. Dorms are €20 to €38, a main €13 to €19, and a beer €4 to €5.50.
A day is €45 to €85.
The KONUS guest card is the big saving — free regional transport across the Black Forest for the length of your stay, issued by most accommodation, which turns day trips from a €20 expense into nothing.
The Münster tower at about €5 and the Schauinsland cable car at about €17 are the main entries.
The market sausage at €4 to €5 is the cheapest good lunch in the city and eating it standing at the cathedral is the local way.
Safety
Staying safe in Freiburg
Freiburg is among the safest cities in Germany and crime against visitors is minimal.
The Bächle are the genuine everyday hazard, which sounds like a joke and is not — they are open channels twenty to thirty centimetres deep running along the edges of pedestrian streets, they are easy to miss while looking at the buildings, and twisted ankles are common. Watch your feet in the old town.
Petty theft occurs around the station and at the market.
In the Black Forest, the weather turns faster than the gentle scenery suggests, trails at altitude hold snow into spring, and phone coverage thins in the valleys. Tell someone your route and take layers.
The cable car and the high trails close in bad weather. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Freiburg
The Black Forest, plus France and Switzerland within an hour.
Schauinsland
A 1,284 m summit above the city, with walking trails down through the forest into Freiburg.
Colmar, France
Half-timbered Alsace at its prettiest, with canals and the Unterlinden Museum.
Basel, Switzerland
Three countries meet here, with a serious art scene and Rhine swimming in summer.
Titisee and Feldberg
A Black Forest lake and the highest peak in the range at 1,493 m, with trails and winter skiing.
Kaiserstuhl
Volcanic hills west of the city producing the best Baden wine, with vineyard paths between the villages.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A wine festival in July and a market that has run for centuries.
Staff pick
18 Dec – 6 Jan
Circolo: Freiburg Christmas Circus
Circolo – Freiburgs-Weihnachtscircus in Freiburg, Germany, invites audiences to experience a magical blend of world-class circus artistry and festive atmosphere. Curated by the Mack…
Staff pick
6–8 November
Plaza Culinaria Food Festival
Plaza Culinaria in Freiburg, Germany, is a premier gourmet and experiential fair that draws food enthusiasts from Germany, France, and Switzerland. Featuring around 280…
16–26 October
Freiburger Herbstmess
The Freiburger Herbstmess is a lively 11-day festival held at the Neuer Messplatz in Freiburg im Breisgau. You will find over 100 attractions, food…
28 November
SC Freiburg vs. RB Leipzig
A Bundesliga match between SC Freiburg and RB Leipzig is scheduled at the Europa Park Stadion. The game promises competitive football action for fans…
19 December
SC Freiburg vs. VfB Stuttgart
A Bundesliga match between SC Freiburg and VfB Stuttgart is scheduled at the Europa Park Stadion. The game kicks off on Friday, 28 August…
24 Sep – 3 Oct
Ganter Oktoberfest
The Ganter Oktoberfest in Freiburg is a ten-day celebration held at the Ganter brewery grounds featuring a special Festbier served in Maß. You will…
3 October
Waldsee Festival
The Waldsee Festival Freiburg takes place on October 3, 2026, offering an open-air experience by the city lake with live performances, a vintage market,…
10 October
ORSO Rock Symphony Night
ORSO Rock Symphony Night brings together rock and classical music in a unique concert experience. Wolfgang Roese and the ORSO Rock Symphony Orchestra perform…
Hostels
Where to stay in Freiburg
A small scene near the old town and the station, most of it issuing the KONUS card. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
May to October. It is the sunniest city in Germany and the shoulder months work better here than elsewhere.
Jan
Cold in the city, snow in the hills. Skiing at Feldberg
Feb
Cold and bright. Quiet
Mar
Early spring. The south-west warms first
Apr
Very good. Blossom and comfortable walking
May
Excellent. Everything open and the forest green
Jun
The best month. Long evenings and high trails clear
Jul
Hot. The city is the warmest in Germany
Aug
Hot. Go uphill for the temperature
Sep
Superb. Harvest on the Kaiserstuhl and clear air
Oct
Excellent. Autumn colour through the Black Forest
Nov
Grey and wet. The quietest month
Dec
Christmas market, and snow in the hills above
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs, and the highest in Germany — Freiburg gets around 1,800 hours of sunshine a year and regularly records the country's warmest temperatures. The hills above are several degrees cooler, which in July is the point.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
The shoestring transport line is zero because the KONUS guest card, issued free by most accommodation, covers regional travel across the whole Black Forest.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Freiburg travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
What are the Bächle?
Narrow open water channels running along the old town streets, medieval in origin and fed from the river. Local superstition says that stepping in one accidentally means you will marry a Freiburger. They are also twenty to thirty centimetres deep and a genuine cause of twisted ankles, so watch your feet.
What is the KONUS card?
A guest card issued free by most accommodation in the Black Forest region, giving unlimited free regional transport across the whole area for the length of your stay. It turns a €20 day trip into a free one and a lot of visitors never hear about it — ask when you check in.
Is it really the sunniest city in Germany?
Yes, at around 1,800 hours a year, and it regularly records the country's highest temperatures. It sits in the far south-west, closer to Basel and Colmar than to most of Germany, and the climate reflects that.
How do I get into the Black Forest?
It starts at the edge of the city. The Schauinsland cable car climbs to 1,284 metres for about €17 return and you can walk down into Freiburg from the top. Regional trains reach Titisee and Feldberg in forty minutes, free with the KONUS card.
What should I eat at the market?
A Lange Rote — a long thin red sausage in a small bun with mustard, about €4 to €5 from the stalls around the cathedral. It is the correct Freiburg lunch and you eat it standing up.
Is the cathedral tower worth climbing?
At about €5 for 209 steps, yes. The 116-metre openwork spire was completed around 1330, making it one of very few Gothic towers actually finished in the medieval period, and the view reaches the Black Forest on one side and the Vosges in France on the other.
What is Vauban?
A car-reduced solar district south of the centre, built on a former barracks site, which urban planners travel from around the world to study. It is free to walk around on the tram line and is quietly one of the more interesting things in the city.
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