Black Forest outdoor swimming bliss

A couple of weeks in Schwarzwald with family meant I almost infinite outdoor swimming options. Here's a rundown of the pools and lakes I enjoyed. 

There are many German words for swimming pool. There is your basic Schwimmbad, but also: Freibad - an outdoor pool and Hellenbad or Allwetterpool- an indoor pool. We also encountered Familienbad, which I assume to mean a family friendly swimming pool, and a Waldterassenbad which translates as wood, terrace pool.  

Most towns have a pool, and they are well maintained, inexpensive to visit and usually have a cafe where you can buy excellent chips, beers and sodas, among other things. They will also have plenty of surrounding grass, usually with some trees for shade, so you can catch your breath, chill, maybe even read a couple of pages of your book if you're lucky. 

In Baden-Württemberg tourists get a travelcard to use public transport for free during their stay. This card will also give you discounts for entry to many of the swimming pools, so your Euros will go further than you expect. 

See means lake, so where you see See in the list below, this is where we went wild swimming. Though one of those spots has a cafe/bar, kids playground, waterslide, beach volleyball and lifeguards. So not as wild as some wild swims, though there was pondweed!   

1. Familienbad Zell am Harmersbach

A gorgeous complex of pools: a lane pool, a fun pool and a diving pool, as well as a shallow, splashy paddle pool for the really little ones. This really hit the spot for us. The seven year old loved the waterslide, the diving and excitement and even did some lengths. The four year old enjoyed a bubbly area of the fun pool near the landing zone of the slide which meant we could all stay in the same area for at least some of the visit. 

2. Freibad Oberharmersbach 

A simple but beautiful pool, Freibad Oberharmersbach celebrated its 100th anniversary earlier in 2024. It is supported by the Oberharmersbach Swimming Pool Support Association who promote the pool and work to keep it open despite financial challenges of the municipality. A long, lane pool with a children's paddling pool, it sits in a charming setting and the Schwimmeister is extremely friendly and helpful. 

We visited twice, the first time the cafe was closed but they suggested we could pop across the road to the minigolf cafe and bring our purchases back to poolside. On both visits, there were large, floaty mats for the kids to play with, there is a small slide that kept us all entertained, and the atmosphere was light and upbeat. I highly recommend this lovely pool. 

3. Schwimmbad Bad Peterstal-Griesbach

Bad Peterstal-Griesbach pool is another stunning pool with a gorgeous backdrop. The pool itself is painted blue so is extremely striking to the eye. It is high in the hills and although the website claims it is heated, we found the main pool to be chillier than others we went to during our trip. 

The kids pool is larger than some, and was warm, which saved us from whinges, and our children made friends there too. 

We visited late afternoon, so couldn't get anything from the cafe, and I am not convinced the Schwimmeister has set prices: he tried to wave us in for free and then when we looked confused, seemed to make up a random price. Hey ho. We had fun. 

4. Waldterrassenbad Biberach

We had seen this pool from a distance during a bike ride and were excited to visit. The entry with the tourist travelcard was surprisingly cheap, and the complex is excellently maintained. The cafe is excellent, though the staff were not very charismatic or helpful. There is a waterslide but it runs pretty slowly. The Schwimmiesters were lovely, and spoke French as well as German which helped when they explained the 'no goggles on he high diving board' rule. 

Mainly though, this was super super busy the day we went, so it became a bit painful to do anything. There was shade under the trees, thankfully, but we ended up a bit hot and bothered. The kids rated it highly though, partly because there was a large shallow area to play in and partly because of the lovely kids paddling pool with squirty jets and a mushroom house. 

5. Pappelwaldsee Berghaupten

Gorgeous. A wild swimming lake with a small cafe (closed during our summer weekend visit), toilets, and no other facilites. No charge to go in and no lifeguards. We loved it. 

People were hanging out all around the small lake, hopping into the water and back out again. There were families, teens and golden oldies. Swimmers, splashers and paddleboarders mixed together happily. It was a hot hot afternoon but it wasn't overcrowded, and everyone was very chill. 

I did a couple of back and forths across the lake and then swam the whole circuit, with a total swim of around 1km, so it's not huge, but eminently swimmable and glorious. I want to go back. 

6. Gifiz Strandbad

A very different lake from Pappelwaldsee, Gifiz Strandbad. There is a small entry fee and well maintained facilities: showers, toilets, cafe, playground, changing cubicles and even a waterslide. Overall we absolutely loved this but there was no denying the waft of manure wafting over it from nearby farmland - fairly unpleasant. 

Within the lake's allocated swimming area there are three floating platfomrs to climb up, lounge around on and dive or jump off. Paddleboarders pass both within and outside the swim zone, and we noticed later in the day that there were a few swimers in the lake beyond too - I guess this is just not covered by the lifeguards. 

There were lots of trees for shade, the cafe was excellent and time passed quickly. Before we knew it we'd spent most of the day there. We weren't the only ones. Plenty of the people who were there when we arrived were still there as we left to head back for our dinner. 

7. Kinzigtalbad Ortenau

This was an unplanned but fortuitous visit after we mistimed an day trip elsewhere. Kinzibtalbad has incredible pools: three indoors and four outside, as well as an outdoor,shaded splashpad and an indoor paddle pool with squirty jet toys for the little ones. 

The slide is quick but short so perfect for entry level sliders, as well as us old pros. The diving pool was large enough for two boards to be 'open' at the same time with a quick turnaround of jumpers and divers. And the day we went was a bit blustery so the fact that both indoors and outdoors have heated pools as well as warm bubble pools was perfect. The highlight was the indoor bubble pool with a view down the stunning valley to the west. I could have stayed here for hours, even with kids squirting me with their pool toys!