First trip to Germany

[Bojitoes]

Hi All

We are thinking of going to Germany for about 10 days in early September. We have not been before on holiday so are looking for some ideas of a few places to stay / visit. Initial thoughts are that we will catch ferry to Dunkirk and then drive to Luxembourg first day, after that open to suggestions. (We need to visit Luxembourg on way out and back to stock up on essentials for daughters wedding in december.)

We have the ACSI book but no real info on Stellplatz so far, will need to download info on to Tom Tom .Interests are castles,history,wine, beer & visiting places of interest.

 

Any suggestions much appreciated as always

Bob

[Frankkia]

If it is wine festivals you are after then you are going at the right time.

 

If you can get to Germany a bit earlier the best (IMHO) one is at Bernkastel - Kues which this year is 30/08/12 to 03/09/12. If you pass through Bernkastel on the north bank of the river and drive about a mile out of town you will see signs for a camp site on the left - pass that entrance and you will see a temporary sign for motorhome parking in a field which is next to the camp site. From the field there is a shuttle bus (and a boat trip if you prefer) in to the festival. It is a great weekend.

 

Other wine festivals of note are "The Rhine in Flames" at Oberwesel on the Rhine, of course, and that is the following week end 8th September. The firework display on Saturday night is something else. If you are intending to go to that one there is a camp site called the Lorely Blik about 2km north on the river but you will need to get there early (by Wednesday) as it gets packed.

 

Other than that there are wine festivals up and down the Mosel and Rhine valleys on most week ends in September but the 2 above are the best. Although later in September (3rd w/end) is another Rhine in flames at Sankt Goarshausen with anothe rspectacular firework display on Sat night.

 

As for stelplatze you will see 1 every half mile or so along the side of the Mosel and there are heeps of them on the Rhine too.

 

There are a few publications giving the addresses of stelplatze all over Germany (most in German). If you want a free list take a look at http://womosp.wo.ohost.de/womo_SP_D.asc .

[KeithR]

most towns and villages in germany have their own beer/wine fest, and most are excellent. if you google you will find a number off websites listing them, so perhaps they could help you define your holiday route that way, ?? :-D

[Mike B.]

I agree with all the above-great time to visit Germany for wine festivals and the Mosel/Rhine areas are awash with stellplatz-get the Bord Atlas and they are all in there but up the Mosel virtually every village has one. Piesport is particularly nice with each pitch having a grass area for BBQ etc right alongside the river. If you call at the TIO on your first stop after Trier, they have a map of the Mosel with all the stellplatz marked on them

The Beer festivals also start around end of September and you could take in a couple of Belgian ones en route home

 

Mike

[mirage]

We have just been to Berlin (Potsdam) via Hamburg on way and Hartz Mountains and Munster on way back as well as some time in Holland. Berlin is OK if you are interested in Germanys recent past which we are. Also Bavaria and Lake Constance are very good to visit. Rhine is OK if you want to spend time with other Brits (no offence) a Norwegian neighbour at Potsdam could`nt believe the Brits at Rudesheim, where they had just come from. Munster the bike capital of Germany was nice as was Camping Munster.

One word of warning whilst the Autobahn is good for speed its quite nice to get off and drive through the towns and villages however they are littered in some parts, we noticed particularily the further east you go, with Speed Cameras. They are`nt painted yellow and they do hide behind trees etc, they do occur at junctions (in the middle of the countryside) where the speed limit drops to temporarily to 70Km/hr, and often very shortly after you enter a 50Km/hr which is generally after you pass a village name sign. It was noticeable that the Germans themselves stick to the speed limit. Our own experience of campsites is mixed from excellent to the not so good. Public transport is excellent throughout and cycling well catered for like Holland. Supermarket and Cafe prices were good, in fact we were surpised as the last time we went to Germany it was relatively expensive. (even allowing for the improved exchange rate)

[Cliffy]

 

Went through Germany on the way to Italy in May this year. We stopped at the campsite below and it is excellent both value and quality. Easy bus ride in to Luxemburg City.

Bon Accueil Kat I

2 rue du Camping

5815 Alzingen

Luxembourg

 

GPS N 49°34'9" E 6°9'36"

 

The Aire at Kayserberg although in Eastern France is on the Wine Route and close to the German border. It comes highly recomended.

 

GPS N48°08.148' E007°15.740'

 

Also when in Germany you need a Umweltplakette to enter a number of towns and cities. This is a sticker for your windscreen to show your emmissions meet a particular standaed. The sticker will be Red, Yellow or Green. You can apply before you leave the UK but it is dead easy to get one when you get to Germany, I asked at the campsite where the nearest garage was that issued them. They sent me to the local Bosch agent who charged 5 Euros and very easy to talk to. You need to show them the original vehicle registration document.

 

We are going to the French Alps in September and will be stopping in Luxemburg on August 27th then working our way round to Chamonix.

 

Enjoy your trip

 

Cliff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bojitoes]

Thanks for the suggestions- absolutely ideal! We cannot wait to go now. I recall that Bernkastel Green Label was one of the first wines I ever tasted more than 45 years ago,- no doubt I will be reacquainted with the taste!

Thanks

Bob

[Bojitoes]

Just got back from our trip to germany, really enjoyed it and yet another place that we will have to return to -again& again I think. We did the wine festival at Bernkastel, (super fireworks display) where we stayed at a super site in the village of Erden, a few miles outside but with regular buses. Campsite cost 10€ per night inc EHU and had excellent facilities, including bar with very cheap prices. We "did" the Mosel and the Rhine but preferred the Mosel. Simple reason : there are not so many railway lines beside the Mosel so it is much quieter at night. We also went to Heidelburg and again found a brilliant site, we thought the town somewhat boring but the Neckar valley lovely.

 

This was our first time in Germany and for anyone else doing it for the first time the following really surprised us :

With the exception of petrol stations nearly everyone wanted payment in cash, even ACSI sites. We came across another English couple who were going back to France because they were running out of cash. Many banks also only accept Mastercard debit cards, not Visa. We were told bank charges are too high for retailers to accept credit cards and it made us wonder if thats why the German economy is so strong- they dont use credit.

 

Very few places had accessible wifi and those that do usually charge for it- we saw very few McDonalds either, so skypeing and accessing e mails was difficult.

 

Wherever there's an Aldi theres a Lidl, but you can go for miles without coming across a supermarket of any sort so it is best to stock up when you do come across one.

 

Stellplatz charges vary from being very cheap to quite expensive, we paid all prices from 6€ to 21.3€ per night but all had similar facilities.

 

Diesel in Luxembourg is 1.304€ per litre, in Germany 1.57, in Belgium 1.42 and 1.47 in France so all future trips will definitely include a stop in Luxembourg.

 

Thanks again to all those who offered advice before we went, we took heed of it all!

Bob

 

[Robinhood]

....we've also returned from two weeks or so in Germany (again).

 

Maybe some of our experience emanates from previous learning, but is slightly different from yours - I don't lay it out to be confrontational, simply to present a different view.

 

Germany certainly is not a "credit card economy"; it used to be difficult to find a petrol station that took any kind of card, though now virtually all do. Many supermarkets (still including Aldi and Lidl it would seem) don't take credit cards, but REWE (consistently in our experience), and Edeka (more often than not - they are a "franchise" type organisation), do. Certainly, many small businesses will not take credit cards, but on restaurants, campsites, etc., our experience for the last few years is that they do more often than not. We do make sure we always have cash to fall back on.

 

I've never had any problem with Banks and Visa debit cards for ATM cash withdrawal.

 

On this visit, we have been pleasantly surprised by the availability of (generally free, but sometimes low-cost) WiFi on sites, or in bars/restaurants we have visted. Of the sites (and stellplätze) we used on this trip, 4 were free, one was nominal charge (though free to me, as they gave me the key because it had been "flaky"), one more than I wanted to pay, and one not available. In the two circumstances where we didn't have a connection, we were easily able to use "refreshment stops" for access.

 

Costs varied from €8 per night for the excellent stellplatz at Wintrich (with hook-up and Wifi) to over €40 per night for Camping Allweglehen at Berchtesgaden (there were three of us, and having visited here before, we know the site and prices - see also footnote *).

 

Unless there is a reason to visit Luxembourg, I'm unconvinced by the "cheaper fuel" argument for a diversion (particularly to the middle Mosel area). The (currently at least) lightly loaded A27 motorway via Verviers makes a quick and easy route from the Channel via Belgium, and is shorter, quicker and less demanding on fuel consumption - I find there is little if any advantage in using our previous routes via Luxembourg.

 

We cycled into Bernkastel on the eve of the festival, with much activity taking place in setting it up - our participation was limited to buying a bratwurst as a snack, our plans (yes Brian Kirby!) defined that we moved on.

 

(* footnote - as a hint, if you stay on a site that offers a free Gästekarte for your stay, make sure you get one, and check out what it gives you. The one in the Berchtesgaden area covers free public transport throughout the area, which is a very useful facility for motorhomers, gave us a couple of free day trips out, and went quite a long way to offsetting the higher costs of the (very good in itself) campsite).

[Guest JudgeMental]

we had an enjoyable few days in Germany on way back from Croatia, great cycling on safe cycle ways reasonable but basic sites, not sure I would like paying non ACSI prices....food not so good, menu very boring and meat orientated, Mrs M a vegetarian.

 

You need to shop around for fuel, we payed 1.49€ in Germany and 1.38€ in France. we start looking for fuel when on half a tank, if we dont see any at reasonable cost on route we carry on until we do. if you only look when low not much choice then.

 

Robin, Luxembourg hardly a diversion if coming from southern Germany, our last night was in the Landu area and Metz and Hans sur lesse favourite overnight s. If just heading for upper Mosel you route makes sense I guess...Most stop for cheap fuel at Luxenbourg because they are passing through on route.

 

while I like Germany I prefer better weather and food to be honest, so will continue to venture south to Med

[Champstar]

Our first time in Germany as well..along the mosel as far as Bernkastel and most of the Stellplatz have been very busy with hardly a space.

 

lokking forward to more as the days and weeks flow...Romantic Road and Black Forest.

[Losos]

Frequent traveler through Germany usually staying near Koln and Erfurt on stellplatz which are free or maybe up to Euro 5 per night.

 

I would never divert through Luxemberg just for the cheaper diesel ('tho it is definately cheaper)

 

Credit cards are not used in the smaller shops especially in the Eastern part and it does show how the German people are not fooled into thinking that everything can 'go on the card' which is partly how the USA and UK got into their financial mess. Have never run out of cash......yet!!!

 

I don't have to look for WiFi as I have WWW access in the van.

 

[maggyd]

We have gone into Germany the last five years, we also prefer the Moselle rather than the Rhine :-D although we still go there. You are best buying the map of the Moselle which is a fold out one and shows the villages on either side, you are better staying on a stal in one of the less busy villages and taking a boat trip into places like Bernkastel-kues/Traben/Trabach.

 

This year is the first time we have had a Credit card :-S we were misled into thinking we wouldnt pay any charges!! that isnt true!! if you take money from the machines you pay about £6.50 in bank charges for every 300euro, and it isnt excepted anywhere we found!!! it was getting a bit ridiculous even in a large electrical store where we had to buy a new TomTom!! so needless to say we wont be taking one again, in fact O.H has cut his up and I am following suit as soon >:-( as I see they have taken their last charge this month!!! we have been home since 18th July and had set up a direct debit so it was cleared every month !!! every year I have used my debit card to take money out as we need it probably once a week depending on what we are spending, and I think that is the best way to go and you will find a bank

in most villages.

 

Bavaria is well worth a visit and staying on the Stal at Fussen were able to catch up with our washing and stock up at Aldi and Lidl which are next door, the bike riding around the lake is lovely and you can go on a boat from very near there, the scenery in that area is lovely. Oh and you can use the WiFi free there so you can Skype and catch up with the family.

 

 

[maggyd]

maggyd - 2012-09-19 4:07 PM

 

We have gone into Germany the last five years, we also prefer the Moselle rather than the Rhine :-D although we still go there. You are best buying the map of the Moselle which is a fold out one and shows the villages on either side, you are better staying on a stal in one of the less busy villages and taking a boat trip into places like Bernkastel-kues/Traben/Trabach.

 

This year is the first time we have had a Credit card :-S we were misled into thinking we wouldnt pay any charges!! that isnt true!! if you take money from the machines you pay about £6.50 in bank charges for every 300euro, and it isnt excepted anywhere we found!!! it was getting a bit ridiculous even in a large electrical store where we had to buy a new TomTom!! so needless to say we wont be taking one again, in fact O.H has cut his up and I am following suit as soon >:-( as I see they have taken their last charge this month!!! we have been home since 18th July and had set up a direct debit so it was cleared every month !!! every year I have used my debit card to take money out as we need it probably once a week depending on what we are spending, and I think that is the best way to go and you will find a bank

in most villages.

 

Bavaria is well worth a visit and staying on the Stal at Fussen were able to catch up with our washing and stock up at Aldi and Lidl which are next door, the bike riding around the lake is lovely and you can go on a boat from very near there, the scenery in that area is lovely. Oh and you can use the WiFi free there so you can Skype and catch up with the family.

 

 

Oh and Im not keen on all that pork they eat :-D it comes in all shapes and sizes but as I prefer to cook our own food and sit alfresco outside our van I dont find it a problem!! :-D