–        The temperature is ideal for cycling, and this is a nation that knows how to treat its cyclists well. Long distance cycle routes are well documented in the German Tourist Board’s ‘Discover Germany by Bike’ brochure, which unfortunately doesn’t have an online presence. Particularly recommended routes are the top half of the Danube, from Donaueschingen to Ulm, and the vineyard-lined Mosel between Bernkastel and Zell. But there’s lots more.

–        It’s also a good time for walking in the mountains, particularly at leaf-change time. There are great forest trails, for example, in the Pfälzer Wald in the Rheinland-Pfalz region (nearest airport Frankfurt) or in the Bayerischer Wald (nearest airport Nuremberg).

–        Germany’s vineyard regions will be celebrating the end of the season. There are wine festivals everywhere, including a big Grape Harvest Festival in Neustadt on the German Wine Road (nearest airport Frankfurt), at the beginning of October, when wine queens from various wine growing regions come together to elect the German Wine Queen

–        Museums and galleries, which have been ticking over through the summer, unveil their big autumn shows. In Berlin, for example, the Faces of the Renaissance exhibition at the Bode Museum features portraits by the likes of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and Da Vinci. It runs until November, and is expected to attract big numbers.

–        It’s a good time to try a new city. Ryanair is launching a new route to Leipzig, particularly good for cutting edge arts and grand opera, on 3^rd November. Lufthansa has been operating an under-publicised route to Dresden for a while now, and the city is about to open a new and controversial military history museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind.  And the otherwise sedentary northern city of Bremen (also Ryanair) is about to reveal its lively side with the Freimarkt, a massive celebration which lasts for two weeks from mid-October, with parades, fairground and lots of open-air music.

–        Beer season is upon us. It is, of course, Oktoberfest time. But you don’t have to go to Munich. Stuttgart’s Cannstatter beer festival which starts at the end of September is meant to be the nation’s second largest. There are others, particularly the festival at Straubing and the Bergkirchweih at Erlangen, but they’ve already taken place, so for those you need to plan ahead for next year.

It is a bit of a misnomer, the Black Forest, because it is neither black, even barely dark green, and not a lot of it is forest, at least compared to how it used to be. It’s a region of relatively low-lying, low-slung tree-covered mountains which gets a fair bit of snow in winter, and a fair bit of sun in summer. Its topography means that it has managed to avoid over-industrialisation, and to keep its crafts, costumes and traditions relatively intact, in part helped to do so by the tourist market.

It covers a mountainous part of Baden-Württenberg 200km long and 60km wide which runs close to the borders with France and Switzerland (and is therefore particularly attractive tourist destination for the Swiss and the French, too). The Romans were the first to refer to the region’s then dark and dense forest as ‘Silva Nigra’ (black forest), although deforestation, agriculture and mild urbanisation have thinned out the woods a lot since.

Famous for ham, for gateau, and for cuckoo clocks

The northern part, south of the spa resort of Baden-Baden, consists of high plateaus (usually between 800 and 1,000 metres), while the highest mountains are in the southern part, rising to the Feldberg at 1,493 metres. There are mineral spas and lakes regularly distributed at various levels, of which the most popular is the attractive-sounding Lake Titisee.

Famous for ham, for gateau, and for cuckoo clocks, it’s a region of striking scenery where the farmhouses are very handsomely maintained, villages are splendidly neat, old and clean, and traditional costumes are widely displayed. There’s a bit of skiing in winter, and lots of excellent driving, walking or hiking trails in the hills during spring and summer. Most trails are well supplied with places to rest and refresh, all in the name of good health. So what’s not to like? Well, some Germanophiles find it simply too popular, because the Black Forest is the British coach tour destination par excellence.

It is easy enough to avoid the crowds. Most tours schedule some of their journey along the Black Forest High Road (Schwarzwaldhochstrasse), which runs between Baden-Baden in the north and Freudenstadt in the south. There are magnificent views of the Black Forest valleys, the Rhine Valley and Alsace and the Vosges Mountains along the entire route.

But you can get equally good views on foot, for the region is criss-crossed by well-signposted trails that allow walkers to reach areas and vistas often inaccessible by car, including castle ruins and waterfalls. Of the long-distance hiking trails, the most celebrated is the Westweg, running the length of the forest from Pforzheim to Basel via Mummelsee, Hausach, Titisee and Feldbach. It covers 280km, and makes for a fine fortnight’s walk for a moderately fit person.

If you’d rather have your forest free of Brits, however, then consider the Bavarian Forest, which is almost as big, and in the same climactic zone, but this time over on Germany’s eastern border, next to the Czech Republic.

Black Forest Tourism.

For airline tickets to Black Forest gateways (ie Stuttgart, Freiburg, Strasbourg, Basel) go to www.flighthub.com

The Alps are threaded with long-distance paths, many of them originally routes used by cattle drovers, bandits and the military. In Germany they are well organized, carefully signposted and made more accessible thanks to a network of mountain refuges, or alpine huts, which mean you don’t have to carry a whole lot of gear, or even food, when you set off for a high-level hike.

These alpine huts are often substantial buildings, maintained (and usually staffed) by the local alpine associations, sometimes with sufficient accommodation for 60 or 70 people. Many of them serve hot food (bewirtschaftet in hut specifications), and have bunk beds with mattresses, arranged in a combinations of dormitories (Matratzenlager) and smaller rooms. Overnight costs are minimal, although food and drink is likely to be a bit more expensive than down in the towns and villages below, if just because of the transport involved. Supplies (including the mountaineer’s essential, beer) arrive via a choice of methods: either by rugged all-terrain vehicle from the nearest road end, or by improvised cable car system, or even by helicopter.

You don’t have to carry the world on your back

However they are serviced, these huts transform the upper alpine experience. They allow hikers to set off with only a small pack, containing only clothing and personal effects, and the opportunity to kick back on a sunny deck and enjoy a beer and a magnificent view after a hard day on the trail. There’s usually plenty of international camaraderie, and hut meals are hearty and simple.

Coming out of the resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, for example, there are a handful of huts in the Oberreintal region, just below the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak. If you start out from Elmau, one of the main access points, you can reach the first, the Schachenhaus, in around three hours, and two thirds of the way up you pass the Wetterstein-Alm, a high pasture where cows spend two or three months in the summer, where the herdsman run a refreshment hut and sell their cheese. The rambling, full-service Schachenhaus itself was originally the staff quarters for King Ludwig’s villa at Schachen, so isn’t really your typical alpine hut, but up beyond it another couple of hours is the Meilerhütte, a more rugged and exposed place where mountaineers gather, ready for early morning assaults on the peaks. Alternatively at Schachen you could choose to go on towards the Zugspitze and stay in the Reintalangerhütte before returning to Garmisch on a path that brings you out by the giant ski jump.

Huts like these are generally open from June to September or early October, and usually have a telephone contact, so it is possible to check in advance that there’s not going to be a shortage of space (actually very rare).

And although they facilitate quick and relatively un-burdened sorties up into the Alps, they are not there to encourage recklessness: you do need to check the weather before setting out, to make sure you know your route and your abilities, and to carry suitable emergency supplies.

A website for huts in Germany (including Meilerhütte and Reintalangerhütte).

Schachenhaus hut website. (site in German only)

For more informationon the region: www.bavarian-alps.travel/zugspitze