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Germany

Poppy

By Poppy
in Motorhome Matters

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Don Madge Veteran

Don Madge

Posted
Posted

Hi Poppy,

 

In Oct/Nov 2005 we did 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.

 

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 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.

 

Don

 

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brubell Rookie

brubell

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Try looking at the area called 'Der Harz' an area of low wooded hills and mountains pretty much in the middle of Germany.. the main town is Goslar... a stunningly pretty town will good parking ( the stellplazt is in the Kaiserpfalz car park ) there are so many other amazing town and villages.. especially those in the former 'east' that were never 'modernised'.. but have now been 'restored' one to vist is called Wernigerode... with ( would you believe ) a pink painted town hall.. also an amazing 'must view' castle I have been visiting the area for many years... and have still to discover all that there is to see and do in the region.. for example one of the best 'clock' museums in Europe in Bad Grund.. plenty of mines and caves to vist for the trogladites amongst us.. there are reservoirs with huge dams.. steam trains to the top of the higest mountain called 'The Brocken' and for the very fit.. superbly maintained footpaths to the top too... there are adventure parks.. small 'zoo's... lots of 'spa' towns with plenty of the germanic style of massochistic 'healing' methods. another amazing vist is to the ironworks in Ilsenburg... where you see ladies with blue rinses pink dreses asnd high heals.. being given a guided tour of the 'old style' working ironworks.. rather like Dante's inferno ( and not a hard hat to be seen when I was there)...perhaps I had better stop now before I get TO boring... but you might get the impression that I like this region.. .. as in most of Germany english is widely spoken.. and you will not see many english vehhicles... good luck
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Thai Bry Mentor

Thai Bry

Posted
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Poppy - 2008-04-07 7:44 AM Any sugestions for a trip in Germany.? I put it into search but nothing came up.

Hi Poppy

Like Don & others ahve said, great areas for touring.

We generally tour a little bit further south, into Bavaria mainly. This also includes the "Black Forest" areas as well.

Plenty to see & do, we either use camp sites as part of the ADAC (the German equivalent to the AA/RAC),or the stellplatz's.

They really are geared up for M/Homes and camping. We have "Wild camped" on the Rhine many times and have always felt safe. Normally use sites where there are other vans. You can stay - by law - for 3 nights, before having to move on.

Hope this & what others ahve said, whets your appetite & gets you into looking into touring this great country.The people are also very friendly, and if your German is little to useless, you'll still get by.

Hope you get the chance to go & enjoy it.

Thai

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peejay Community Regular

peejay

Posted
Posted

Hi Poppy;

 

 

Along with all the excellent previous advice you could also consider the Eifel region which is close to the Belgian/Luxembourg borders, so not too far to travel, some lovely places to stay around there.

 

>>Eifel Stellplatze Links<<

 

>>Eifel Campsite Links<<

 

Once you've decided where to visit then you could also combine a 'Ferienstrasse' or tourist route into your itinery, Germmany is famous for them and they can add a bit more interest to your holiday, have a quick look >>Here<< for more info.

 

Finally, if you do decide to use Stellplatze, then try >>This Link<< for an interactive map of the top 52 in the country, or download the pdf brochure >>here<<.

 

You will love Germany, it has to be up there with France as one of the most motorhome friendly countries in Europe.

 

Have a great holiday.

 

pete

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Basil Veteran

Basil

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We like the Rhine, Mossel, Black Forest and our favorites are Ruddesheim am Rheine and Lindau on Boden See and the Zeppelin museum on the south bank of the lake at Konstanz. Breakfast in Germany, lunch in Austria, dinner in Switzerland and supper back in Germany just by driving round the lake. (well short circuited with a ferry across the lake from Konstanz to Meersberg if you take in the cable cars and wild life park at Bregenz and the Zep museaum at Konstanz)!

 

Bas

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DonYates Apprentice

DonYates

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Here are a couple of sites you may find useful for Stellplatz info.

 

http://touring24.info/tou/index.asp?MEN=1&RMEN=1

 

This site gives stellplatz info, photos, maps and aerial photos. You have to register (it’s free) only drawback is that it’s only in German and Italian, but is reasonably straight forward to register, use Google translator for any difficult bits.

 

http://www.top-platz.de/Anwendungen/index.php

 

This site gives details of the top 50 Stellplatz again it’s in German but use the Google translator all will be revealed. No need to register for this one.

 

 

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Thai Bry Mentor

Thai Bry

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Tomo3090 - 2008-04-07 4:11 PM We are planning to do the "Romantic Road" in Spetember, mainly because we are still in love!! The info on Stelleplatz is really good and will keep our costs down even more!

Hi Tomo

We ourseleves will be going back - AGAIN- our 12th trip !! -in late August till Sept this year. Touring along the "The Romantische Strasse". Maybe even see / pass you on your tours

If you wish you can e-mail me - rather than a pm, as I might not get your PM due to times spent logged on to the site.

I can pass on some tips about the area, and also give some furtehr isight to other little town & villages along the way, should you want some further info.

Happy to help anyone who needs the info.

Thai.

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net-traveller Rising Star

net-traveller

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For Stephen and others. The Romantic Road is nothing to do with romance. It's the fault of the translation. It's actually the Roman road. The B17 follows the route of the Via Claudia. The Roman Empire stretched a long, long way. e.g Trier is 2000+ years old and still has roman remains which are open to the public.

 

;-)

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mikethebike Enthusiast

mikethebike

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Hi Bas

We are going back to Germany next year after a wonderful trip last year to the Mosel Rhine and Black forest. Next year we are going to Bavaria and I notice you mention Lindau on Bodensee. We visited this town briefly some years ago whilst travelling back from a motoring holiday in Austria and have always wanted to go back so, next year we will be staying there for a few days. Can you recommend any campsites in the vicinity of Lindau bearing in mind we shall have my sister and her caravan accompanying us.

I will probably be back picking your brains about Bavaria nearer the time so be prepared.

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Basil Veteran

Basil

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mikethebike - 2008-04-10 11:51 AM

 

Can you recommend any campsites in the vicinity of Lindau bearing in mind we shall have my sister and her caravan accompanying us.

I will probably be back picking your brains about Bavaria nearer the time so be prepared.

 

Hello Mike,

 

It has been a number of years since we have been to Lindau, but it still holds some fond memories and we do intend to return at some stage ourselves.

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the site we used last time but it is easily accessed and is around a mile from Lindau Insel and was a nice friendly site that catered for caravans and motorhomes (we had a large twin axle caravan ourselves then) and we never advanced booked just turned up. It appears to still be there as it is visible on Google Maps. If you look from Lindau Insel and head from Europlatz along Bregenzer Strasse accross the railway at the junction follow Bleichweg to Achstrasse which you follow to Reutiner Strasse the site is to the right of that junction bordered by those two roads, though I felt sure we entered it from the southerly end from Bleichweg, but it may well have changed in the interveaning years. Anyway it was signed and easily found so you should have little difficulty once you are at Lindau.

We thought it was a nice part particularly with the walks around the island and spotting the ferries and large steamers plying the lake. With easy access to both Austria and Switzerland making it kind of unusual.

If I can be of any help feel free.

 

All the best Bas

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Way2Go Mentor

Way2Go

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Hi John,

To save you jumping from thread to thread I have attached everything you need here.

I've attached a zipped up .CSV version for your Garmin.  I've also attached a translated 'Guide to Stellplatz Types' which should be displayed against each Stellplatz loaction.

I've also attached a 'how to' guide which I created for another thread.

Hope this helps

W2G

Stellplatz_D.zip

Guide to Stellplatz Types.rtf

TomTom - Converting .OV2 to .CSV.pdf

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  • 3 years later...
Hopesy Experienced

Hopesy

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Hi, we went to Germany for the first time in June. We bought the "BORD ATLAS" guide to Stelplatz. Although we struggled with the stellplatz as we were towing motorbike on a trailer but thats another story. We stayed a few nights at Obermenzing site on the outskirts of Munich whisch is well worth a visit, then onto Berchtesgaden and then onto Mittenwald. Absolutely beautiful. The germans were more than friendly but i think it pays to have a go at the language especially in Bavaria. The prices were reasonable even in the touristy bit and i thought it was better value that France or Spain. We won't hesitate to go back as the whole experience was brilliant. :-D
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