# Germany travel info



## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi all,

Just returned from our hols in Germany, had a fantastic time, here is a potted edition of our travels and a few hints and tips if you're thinking of 'Doing Deutschland'.

We sailed from Hull to Europoort on the Friday evening, we decided to push the boat out (pun intended) on a long crossing this time to avoid the nightmare of the journey down to Dover via the dreaded M25/M11, a lot quicker and only a 1 ½ hour drive from home in Boston to Hull. Mind you it does have its drawbacks, ie it's a bit expensive! (£400) and you haven't got the flexibility that you do with the many crossings fromDover/Calais. A pleasant crossing was had by us both and we would particularly recommend pre-paid evening meal tickets, You're served soup at the table, then it's self serve from the buffet, an altogether excellent meal was had, real top quality and as much as you can eat, just keep going back for more. Don't bother with wine or beer at the table as its expensive, self service coffee and water is available from the self serve bit for free, which is not immediately obvious when you first sit down and get asked if you would like a drink from the list. We had to buy a 4 berth cabin as all the 2's had gone, but it wasn't much more expensive and you then get more room. No drink making facilities in the cabin, just a pot of tea or coffee for two and two biscuits (wow) delivered outside the cabin at 6.30o/c in the morning, no doubt a ploy to get you to spend money in the cafes, so worthwhile taking a few bottles of juice with you for overnight thirst. Another skinflint tip, don't buy beer or wine at the bars, the prices are on a par with UK, we bought a couple of bottles of red from the shop and wandered around the ships bars bottle under arm and plastic glasses from the bathroom in hand! Sounds stingy but everyone else was doing it, so why not? Off the ship by 0815 and out to Belgium and Germany.

First stop was the area near Gutersloh to explore where I was stationed a few (28) years ago. We found a stellplatz outside the swimming pool at Harsewinkel, the town where we lived all those years ago, was taking piccys of the flat where we lived, tripped over the bike and smashed the camera. No more digital pictures for this holiday! Stellplatz was really nice, on a grassy area and free, but no facilities apart from the use of the swimming pool (2.60euro entrance fee).

Next stop Hameln, no stellplatz here so found a nice little site just outside the town. Found an electrical superstore on the outskirts and bought a cheapy camera to last for the rest of the hols. (When the pictures come back from the developer I'll post all the sites/stellplatz visited into the database). Messing about with films really makes you appreciate the wonders of digital cameras. Hameln is a lovely town and every Sunday at 12o/c they re-inact the fairy tale story about the pied piper using local schoolkids dressed as rats. Every Wednesday theres a musicfest in the town as well, all free. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and left on the Tuesday morning, so missed both!

Next stop, Harz mountains, beautiful area, but I wouldn't call them mountains, more like very big hills, but nice none the less. Stopped a few nights in the area. One Stellplatz at Schulenberg (6.80euro p/n) was nothing more than a large layby halfway up the hill to the town, but wow, what a view over the forest and lake below. Spent an exhausting half an hour walking the rest of the incline to the town trying to find the tourist info to pay for the night and discovered it was located at the swimming pool which was right next door to the stellplatz, still, I needed the exercise after far too much German beer and bratwurst. Spent the next few days exploring the region and stayed on a site near Zorge before heading back to the Mosel via Winterberg.

On our travels to Winterberg we stayed at Helmfurth at another cracking stellplatz at the base of the Edersee, this was the less famous dam that was destroyed by the Dambusters in the war, the most famous one being at Mohnesee. Cycled up to the Edersee and cycled half way round, had a picnic, then back to the site. The stellplatz overlooks the river Eder and we had a pleasant but bloody cold swim in its waters. We were the only ones on site to do this and now I know why. This stellplatz cost 4 euro p/n and an extra 1 euro to empty your toilet and a further 1 euro for 53 ltrs of fresh water, why 53 I don't know. Stayed 2 nights here. On the way to Hemfurth we also passed through Bad Sachsa a very pleasant town and there was also a stellplatz there on the outskirts of town.

Eventually got to Winterburg and found the stellplatz, a huge car park at the top of town, not very inspiring, but this is more geared towards the ski-ing season and I'm sure it would look different again with a few inches of snow on the ground, 8 euro p/n inc electric. Winterburg is a huge sprawling ski resort and this is a possible place for motorhomers looking for somewhere quite close to the ports for the ski-ing season as an alternative to the Alps or Vosges mountains. We decided not to stop but might return early next year and give it a try. Eventually ended up at a place called Beidenkopf, there are 3 stellplatz in the area, we ended up at the one outside the swimming pool (again). Not very picturesque but we were tired and didn't want to travel further.

Final destination for us before heading home was the Mosel WineStrasse region stretching from Koblenz to Trier. This is truly a paradise for the wandering wine loving motorhomer. I checked the Stellplatz book and came up with over 30 stellplatz strategically placed all along the 50 or so mile length of the river, so there is always somewhere to rest your weary loins. It's a magnet for motorhomes and it's a bit like going to one of the motorhome shows, you end up getting tired with waving to other vans. On this subject, I have to say that the Germans are not as prolific wavers as the Brits, some wave, some don't. We spent the next 4 days exploring the area and stayed at one huge stellplatz at Enkirch (counted over 120 vans and still loads of space, 5 euro p/n) and several vineyard stellplatz at Ernst, Ellenz-Poltersdorf and Piesport, all bordering the Mosel river.

As we were a day ahead of schedule, we decided to do a dogleg to Calais and stay the night at the aire and also stock up with some French wine from Auchan, we also had a quick look at Cite Europe and we were glad we did as the motorhome parking used to be awful there but has now improved immensely. Another improvement has been to the Calais motorhome park, this has been resurfaced, properly marked out and a new service point has been built, still no charge for parking and 2 euros for fresh water (not working at the time of our visit).

Heading home we stopped at Brugge for another look round one of our favourite cities, we parked at the motorhome aire on the outskirts of the city, all free and easily found, just follow the signposts for the coachpark and Katelijnstraat. Brugges is beautiful and well worth a detour for a few days if you're in the area.

Final destination Zeebrugge for our return to Hull. This route uses the older, smaller ships, but are just as nice and the food as good as the other route. Another pleasant evening wandering the bars with bottle under arm followed by a good nights sleep and back to good old Blighty, traffic jams and work on Monday. 

As stated earlier, as soon as I get the photos back, I'll enter all the sites and stellplatz encountered into the campsite database. 

Now, to plan the next trip….


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

Hi Pete,

Really glad you had such a great time, I enjoyed reading about your adventures, also a lot of useful info, shame about the camera though.

Homer....Rob


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