After the Freiburg Marathon: Schauinsland

The Route: Freiburg city centre → Talstation Schauinslandbahn → Schauinsland summit → return Logistics: Tram and bus to the valley station, then a 20-minute cable-car ride that does essentially all of the climbing. Marathon Month: April Duration: Day trip

Freiburg centre ──(tram + bus, ~25 mins)──> Talstation ──(cable car, ~20 mins)──> Schauinsland summit

Schauinsland is Freiburg's local mountain in the most literal sense: a 1,284 m Black Forest summit visible from the city on a clear day, and reachable from the valley floor without walking uphill at all. That makes it an unusually good fit for the day after a marathon, when the idea of climbing anything voluntarily has lost its appeal but the idea of sitting still all day hasn't earned its keep either. The Schauinslandbahn cable car, one of Germany's longest, covers the 1,200 m of ascent in around 20 minutes, leaving legs to do nothing more strenuous than stand at a viewpoint.

April on Schauinsland runs noticeably colder than April in Freiburg itself. The city may be shirt-sleeve pleasant while the summit still carries the last of the winter chill, sometimes with patches of snow lingering in shaded spots; check the mountain forecast separately from the city one and bring a proper layer rather than trusting what the valley looks like from the tram window.

The cable car and the summit

The valley station sits a short tram-and-bus ride from central Freiburg, and the ride up is the main event in itself: cabins climb steadily above the Black Forest treeline, with the city of Freiburg and the Rhine valley opening out behind as the gondola gains height. At the top, a short, level path leads to the main viewing terrace, from which the Vosges mountains across the French border are visible on a clear day alongside the folded ridgelines of the southern Black Forest.

A restaurant at the summit station serves straightforward mountain food, soup, sausages, a slice of Black Forest gateau, at prices that reflect the setting rather than being unreasonable for it. Sitting on the terrace with a coffee and the view does most of the work this excursion is for; the summit's own hiking trails exist but call for proper boots and a level of exertion better saved for a different day.

Runners who want slightly more activity without real exertion can walk the short, flat loop path near the upper station, a matter of a few hundred metres on packed gravel, before returning to the cable car for the descent.

Return cabins run at frequent intervals throughout the day, and the tram and bus connection back into central Freiburg mirrors the outward journey.