GERMANY

[tamworthkamper]

Hi Next summers tour is to be germany .Best areas to go .Do they wild camp or have airies . We will be going to barden barden as inlaws are coming and father inlaw was based around here in the late 60s early 70s He would like to show us where he was. Also navigator is in wheelchair .This has never been a problem in france or Holland as long we ve planned things .

[Thai Bry]

tamworthkamper - 2007-11-22 11:47 PM Hi Next summers tour is to be germany .Best areas to go .Do they wild camp or have airies . We will be going to barden barden as inlaws are coming and father inlaw was based around here in the late 60s early 70s He would like to show us where he was. Also navigator is in wheelchair .This has never been a problem in france or Holland as long we ve planned things .

Hello Andy

We tour Germany on a regular basis & prefer the Black Forest area & other parts of Bavaria.

The equivalent of aires in Germany are called "Stellplatz". Every major city has a dedicated praking area for m/homes. Some have electric hook ups, but the majority have waste water dump points and fresh water points.

In German law, you have the right to "wild camp" for up to 3 nights before you are asked to move on.

Hope this info helps. Would be glad to offer any other advice.

Thai

[laikaman]

Hi there

 

We went to Germany this year stayed in the Black forest and then up to Heidelberg which is really worth visiting stayed on a site right next to the river which was smashing (in the c&c euro book).

One thing we did find that some sites are very reluctant to accept credit cards ie mastercard etc due to the amount they have to pay.

The card that was accepted though was a Maestro card which I understand you can get from your bank I think it is another form of credit card?.

 

[laikaman]

Hi there again

I forgot to add also depending when you are going have you heard of the ASCI camping card which offers discounts on sites?

[Thai Bry]

Hi again

If in the Baden Baden area, then within striking distance there are places like Frieburg in Briesgau, Stauffen, then further along you have Lake Konstanz, slightly further north there's Neu ULM. Then Augsburg. Up by Heidelberg there are lovely areas like Mosbach.

Then further east you have an area called the Almuthal nature park, with lovely towns like Eichstatt.

Maybe too much to cover in a short time.

Hope I've confused you even more.

As I've said, if you require any further info, then please feel free to contact me.

Thai

[Herri]

As an Ex-Pat working in Germany let me explain the Maestro Card.

In Germany and Holland Credit cards are not usually used for small item as in the UK. Petrol stations, expensive restaurants, disigner clothes shops etc will accept credit cards. Most others expect cash or a Maestro Card. This plastic card has taken over from what used to be your bankers card. It has a chip and you will have a PIN number. It then works like a credit card in shops and you can get money out of almost any bank machine with the "Maestro" logo. The big difference is (at least to us) is that the money is taken from your bank account the same day (or if youre lucky) the next day. You probably refer to it as a Debit card. If you are going to do any serious travel in Germany or Holland It'll be probably worth getting.

 

I'm new to this lark (Motorhoming and Forums) so hope this info has helped someone.

 

[Don Madge]

tamworthkamper - 2007-11-22 11:47 PM

 

Hi Next summers tour is to be germany .Best areas to go .Do they wild camp or have airies . We will be going to barden barden as inlaws are coming and father inlaw was based around here in the late 60s early 70s He would like to show us where he was. Also navigator is in wheelchair .This has never been a problem in france or Holland as long we ve planned things .

 

Hi Andy,

 

You might find the following useful.

 The German Stellplatz.

 

In Oct/Nov 2005 we did a 30 day tour of Germany.  We started at Trier on the Mosel with three nights on the Messepark car park. We arrived after dark and when we saw all the vans we assumed it was the Stellplatz, in the morning we realised it was the Messepark which is free and it's right next door to the Stellplatz which charges €5 per night, there were about fifty campers on the Messepark and about 30 on the Stellplatz. We were amazed at the number of campers about for the time of year. We pottered along the Mosel to Koblenz using the many Stellplatz in the area. Some were free and at two we paid €6 per night. 

 

From Koblenz we moved down the Rhine to Bingen, we had one night at Oberwesel and two at Bacharach, both very pleasant places to watch the Rhine traffic, like the Mosel little had changed since we were last here ten years ago. We then moved on to  tour the Odenwald slowly moving down the River Neckar from Heidelberg to Heilbronn. After that it was the turn of the Black Forest, it was nineteen years since we last toured the area. We had two nights at Oberkirch, two nights at Freiburg then across the river into France for a couple of nights at Chalampe. Then it was a quick trip into Switzerland for a look at the Rhine falls at Scaffhausen and then back into the Black Forest for two nights at Unterkirnach and one night at Buhl. The forested sides of the valleys are beautiful, full of autumn colours and so far the weather has been very kind to us..

 

We spent a night at Bad Bergzabern before moving north on the Deutsche Weinstrasse then it was back back along the Rhine and Mosel to Trier.

  

For those who are not familiar with the German Stellplatz here are a few personal observations on the ones we have used so far on this trip.  

 

We used the ADAC (German AA) Stellplatz Guide, the 2005 edition (ISBN 3-89905-213-7) cost us €12.90 from the ADAC office in Freiburg.

 

Stellplatz are found in many cities/towns/villages and come in all shapes and sizes (4 to 200 pitches). They can be found in town/village car parks with Motorhome designated parking bays, swimming pool/sport centre car parks, specially built landscaped areas usually maintained by the local authority, on river bank and quayside car parks, attached to and sometimes even inside campsites. They can also be found at restaurants where it's obligatory to eat in the restaurant. We have also come across them attached to the Wine Caves but have never stayed the night. This is a few examples of where Stellplatz can be found.  After talking to the locals I'm led to believe that there are now 2000+ Stellplatz available in Germany with more opening each month. We found three new ones that were not listed in the 2005 guide. We never came across any indications of length of stay restrictions. 

 

Cost vary from place to place, expect to pay more in the popular tourist areas. On this trip so far we have paid €50 for 23 nights. The most we paid was €7 for the night at the Rhine Falls. The average for the areas we visited was €5 per night. Out of the 23 night stops we have had so far 13 were free. Many night fees are collected by machine and the ones we encountered only took coins. So if you are planning to use the Stellplatz make sure you have a ready supply of one and two Euro coins and 50 cent pieces for the electricity box. Some sites require you to visit the tourist office or Rathaus (Town Hall/Council Office)

 

Facilities also varied considerably, many had a service point (named Sani Station & Holiday Clean) or directions to the nearest one. Charges were usually one or two Euros for fresh water (80 to 120 litres), emptying toilet and waste tanks. On many sites we used a 8+ metre motorhome would have problems trying to dump waste. Unlike France we have yet to come across an unserviceable Sani Station/Holiday Clean.

 

Electricity is available on some sites, usually metered. The only one we used cost 50 Euro cents for 1 Kilowatt. The Stellplatz at Unterkirnach was €6 per night which included electricity and free use of the Sani Station, a very good bargain, on the 1 & 2 November the Stellplatz was full (14) places.

 

Just some observations that some one might find useful.

 

Mosel.

 

We toured both banks of the river between Trier and Koblenz in glorious sunshine (well most of the time), there are many Stellplatz on either bank, almost every other village has one. We found the Sani stations were not so frequent. If you have a 8+ metre van you might find it difficult emptying waste tanks. In one or two places it was fairly tight with the Timberland.  The popular places like Cochem and Bernkastel Kues we found were very crowded and the Stellplatz in both towns were small, sloping and close to the main road. We tended to use the ones in the smaller quieter villages.

 

Rhine.

 

We also toured both banks of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rudishiem. The road on the west bank (road 9) has more stopping places than road 42 on the east bank. There are a few small ferries that connect either bank, we paid €5 for the Timberland plus two passengers for a single crossing. One the west bank we only found two sani stations, at Bacharach and Bingen and we did not spot one one the east bank.

 

We checked the camp site at Oberwesel and they were offering overnight parking only for €6, €2 for water and dumping and if you wished to use the site facilities there was an extra charge (€4 per person) I believe other sites in the area were offering similar services.

 

Luxembourg

 

If you plan an overnight stop in Luxembourg the Aire de Capellen is an ideal location, they are situated between junctions 1 & 2 either side of the A4/E25 motorway as you enter Luxembourg from Belgium. The area on the north side is laid out better for overnight parking than the south side. On both areas if you keep to the far right as you approach the fuel pumps you can refuel the vehicle and your LPG tank at almost the same spot. On the 11th November we paid 89 Euro cents for a litre of diesel this was down 4.5 cents from the previous month (14 Oct).

 

Dunkirk

 

We used Norfolk Line for the first time and stayed overnight both ways in the car park at the front of the terminal building. No problems at all, you're well away from the trucks and there was minimal noise from the ferries. If you are looking for an overnight stop away from the port area there is an ideal spot 40 miles from the port situated just off junction 10 on the A25 (direction Lille) motorway. It's a Leclerc Hypermarket with a large parking area. We paid 99 cents for a litre of diesel on the 11th Nov.

 

Safe travelling

 

Don

[DonB]

We toured in the Rhine and Mosel areas in August and September of this year. To add to Don's comments, we also found in several places something called a wohnmobil park. Wohnmobil is the German word for motorhome. These places were campsites exclusively for and designed for motorhomes. Most of the ones we stayed on had hard standings, electric, dump point, etc but no sanitary block, and cost about 8 euros a night. Therre are indeed plenty of stellplatz about.

[twooks]

hi David, welcome to the site and for the helpful post, we've always found the reluctance / limited availability of credit cards a bit a pain - we get so used to them -

 

B-)

[Don Madge]

Hi twooks,

 

I will second that, we use the plastic for everything while touring and one has to be very careful in Germany or one could drop a monumental clanger.

8-)

 

The thought of trying to explain to a German policeman that you don't have any cash and you weren't trying to steal 60 litres of Derv does not appeal to me. :-D

 

Don

[laikaman]

re the maestro card...where do you get one from?

[twooks]

isn't it a debit / guarantee card as issued by some banks -

i know my natwest account came with a 'cheque guarantee card' that also worked as a Cirrus cash card - which worked a treat in germany

[trigrem]

Thanks Don, like tamworthcamper we are thinking of Germany for 2008.

You have provided much usefull information.

 

Doug

[Thai Bry]

trigrem - 2007-11-25 10:15 PM Thanks Don, like tamworthcamper we are thinking of Germany for 2008. You have provided much usefull information. Doug

Hi Trigrem

I've made a liitlle booklet,just for our own travels, about the castles on the Rhine. Journey starts at Bonn & ends up at Rudesheim.

If you're interested then let me know & I'll mail you a copy.

We're going back to Germany for our 8th time in August / Sept 2008.

Thai

[Mel B]

We went to Germany in 2006 for the first time, our most 'special' night was spent at the side of the road on the far side of the river opposite Heidelberg castle, it was magical, to see the castle lit up at night and then in the morning (Sunday) at 7.00 am being able to potter outside to take some photos of the river in the early morning sun, the lovely bridge over the river was wonderful in that light! Good night's kip as well! B-)

[Brian G.]

Re. card usage. Has anyone used a Halifax Visa debit card,which is the same as Maestro? We intend to travel through Germany in the new year and would like to know if they will accept this.

 

Brian

[twooks]

I think that as long as you have either a Maestro or Cirrus logo on your card you can use the ATMs ok - which should also show the same logo

 

B-)

[tamworthkamper]

Am I the only person who still uses cash and travelers checks .I find this better so I know what we ve spent and that the morgage will be paid on return. Has anyone used thomas cook card ? I ve been told it works like a pay as you go phone charge it before you go and you can use it at any atm or visa out let .We thought this would be better than cash but can still keep eye on your spends .

[Guest Syd]

tamworthkamper - 2007-11-27 9:27 PM

 

Am I the only person who still uses cash and travelers checks .I find this better so I know what we ve spent and that the morgage will be paid on return. Has anyone used thomas cook card ? I ve been told it works like a pay as you go phone charge it before you go and you can use it at any atm or visa out let .We thought this would be better than cash but can still keep eye on your spends .

 

Like me, you are a Dinasaur

Cash is still king in my book, cuts out any aprehension/embarresment at the till.

 

What's better than tendering plastic at the till hoping they accept it, and then, at the front of a long queue, having it refused

[Brambles]

Came a cross this a few weeks ago and wondered about it. They claim to be the best exhange rate. I have not checked it out in depth.

In the past I have always used Halifax credit card and loads of cash exchange with Travelex after ordering online (better exchange rate).

mainly use the credit card for fuel and the more expensive purchases.

Jon.