Getting active in and around Freiburg

With its sunny climate and lovely countryside, Freiburg is perfect for action-packed outdoor adventures. The varied topography promises thrilling rides, with routes suitable for all levels of mountain and gravel bikers, racing cyclists and longboard fans.

Mountain biking

With its approved tracks near the city, Freiburg is taking on a pioneering role for mountain biking in Germany. A network of trails ranging from easy to pretty challenging has been established in close collaboration with the State Forestry Office and the Freiburg Mountain Bike Club.

There are a total of 11 trails with promising names such as Flying Gufi, Badish Moon Rising and Canadian Trail. The Flying Gufi is simple but varied. It is a 400-metre trail leading slightly downhill through the forest with banked turns, straight sections, humps and unwinding jumps.

Combined with the Canadian Trail, the Badish Moon Rising Trail adds up to a lovely long ride down from the Schauinsland, Freiburg’s very own mountain, to just outside the city gates. The 3.5-kilometre Badish Moon Rising trail is rated as easy to moderately difficult, with lots of variety and not much downhill, as it follows the mountain ridge. The endpoint of the trail is also the start of the 3.2-kilometre Canadian Trail. From this point, it gets trickier and is only recommended for experts. Canadian trail builders spent weeks fashioning a top-notch trail dotted with countless banked turns, little jumps and humps. The Freiburg Mountain Bike Club website provides extensive information about difficulty levels, starts and finishes, routes and altitude differences for all trails.

Gravel biking

Gravel bikers love switching from asphalt roads to gravel paths and unmade tracks. The varied countryside around Freiburg offers a wide range of routes for this, from the flat Rhine valley to the uneven terrain of the Kaiserstuhl and Markgräflerland, to the climbs in the Black Forest.

There is a circular route from right outside the city leading into the charming Dreisam valley, affording wonderful views into the Black Forest. The tour is around 51 kilometres in length, with an altitude difference of 400 metres.

Longboarding

Longboard fans can enjoy nearly an hour of riding just outside the gates of Freiburg. An asphalt track leads around 14 kilometres from the little Himmelreich railway station into the centre of Freiburg. It is slightly downhill all the way: you can carve and cruise your way past meadows, farmyards and the river Dreisam. The longboard tour is perfect for beginners and for more advanced and professional boarders. The ‘Himmelreich Tour’ is described in detail on Freiburg’s official website: visit.freiburg.de.

Skating

The Dietenbachpark skate park is perfect for both beginners and professional skaters. The largest and most modern skate park in Germany covers 2,400 square metres and offers a range of skating elements, slip edges, rim stones and skate railings. The highlight of the park is the to-scale reproduction of the famous Arto Saari Bowl in California. This is a rounded-off swimming pool, also known as a backyard pool.

The skate complex is suitable for skateboards, inline skates, roller skates, BMX bikes and manual active and sports wheelchairs.

Anything else?

If you prefer to enjoy the countryside on foot or by bike, there is an extensive range of trails and paths around Freiburg. The official Freiburg website visit.freiburg.de lists the loveliest routes with all the information you need, such as level of difficulty, length, altitude differences and duration.

With some 230,000 inhabitants, Freiburg offers really relaxed city life and a natural balance for ambitious people. The city has all the variety you could ever want: outdoor activities, a rich cultural heritage and lots of popular pubs and restaurants. Freiburg is all about freedom and individuality, whether on the Schlossberg, at the weekly market or on a stroll around the city.

For more information on Freiburg, please visit https://visit.freiburg.de/en or contact Christina Zimmer.

How to get to Freiburg
Freiburg is the capital of the Black Forest in the south of Germany. Freiburg is 7.5 hours from London via Paris on the Eurostar, TGV and ICE.