# Touring Auswich Germany and France



## blackbirdbiker (Mar 12, 2007)

Happy new year All.

This April/May we are planning to first visit (over a couple of months) Auswich, then onto Germany heading to the Hertz Mountains, Romantiche Strasse (Romantic Road) then onto south west France to met up with friends.

What I need to know is are there any special things that I need to get/aquire for the journey through........ eg. local town licence, motorway licence, special Aires card, Stelplatz card etc. And any idea about places/things that must be seen on route

Although I've travelled these countries it has only been for short times. Any help would be greatly appreciated  

Keith


----------



## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

Hi Keith, Auschwitz we did Last Year 2009, Get ready for a fantastic experience, If I was you I would check into a place called Centrum Dialogue and Prayer for camping, It is not what it sounds, It is a fantastic campsite in the Grounds of a Large Hotel, It is about 200 yards from the entrance to Auschwitz 1, The locals will try and direct you to a car park to camp but don't even think about it, It is dangerous and no facilities and more expensive than the Centrum, I did a write up earlier last year about the experience and the camping location and include a link to some pictures I took of it.

I didn't need anything extra as you suggest it was just a great experience and I know you will enjoy it.

My advice would be to get a guide at Auschwitz and Birkenau as they will tell you things you would not know for yourself and take you to places not marked.

If you need any more advice just ask.


----------



## blackbirdbiker (Mar 12, 2007)

Hi Les,

A couple of questions if I may, is the park you suggest easy to find? are there any tomtom co-ordiates available. Not sure what time our arrival in France is but a halve way stop over is likely, any sggestions?/ :roll: 

Many thanks,

Keith


----------



## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

Hi
See my personal site/blog for a couple of trips we've done to germany with some GPS locations of wild/aires etc. 
Bordatlas 2009/2010 are very good especially for germany. On their site they have the GPS downloads that tie in nicely to book. For germany at least - nothing much to worry about......
You *may* need an emissions permit if you plan going into some city centres.
Thule is worth a visit in Harz - lots of fun to be had there!


----------



## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

Hi Keith, When we went we visited a few places we had never been to, I am a war history addict and so I googled all stuff like that, we went via Zeebrugge so it would be a different route, We also went to Prague which was a great experience.

The coordinates are 50.023375 19.198394 for the camp site, It is actually on the main road so no problems, The name of the road is "Maksymiliana Kolbego"
The cost of living there is extremely cheap, we also went to Krakow which is 75k away from Auschwitz, The proper name for the village where Auschwitz is "Oświęcim", so if you don't see signs for Auschwitz that is why.

When you are camped up you walk out of the Hotel Entrance turn left, take your first turn right which is about 100 yards down road, when you get to end of that road, again about 100 yards, Auschwitz is directly in front of you.


----------



## scept1c (May 10, 2005)

Hi Keith, we did a Germany / Krakow trip last year and can highly recommend it.

If you go to Auschwitz make sure you go to Krakow for a few days as well, it's really good and you can visit the salt mines http://www.krakow-info.com/wielicz.htm as well, it's amazing. All the Polish people we met were extremely helpful and friendly.

We travelled to Krakow from Germany via Dresden and Gorlitz, the road was good and it was motorway nearly all the way to Krakow. Other Polish roads may be quite rough.

We stayed at Clepardia camp (free wifi and security guarded) site http://www.clepardia.pl/English_ver/index_english.htm at approx €15 per night. Bus stop is 10 mins walk. The city is a great place to visit especially at night and it had a very relaxed atmosphere. A fantastic restaurant in main square is the Wesele http://www.weselerestauracja.pl/ and the prices were very reasonable, it's in the Michelin guide, we ate there 3 nights in a row it was soooo good. We saw Nigel Kennedy (violinist & Aston Villa fan) eating there one night.

If you go to Krakow via Dresden, plan to stop there as well, there's a good stellplatz not far from the rail station, the city and Koenigstein fortress if you like castles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königstein_Fortress

The Romantic Road in Germany is very good as well with lots of good towns and cities to visit. Fussen is at the southern end of the road and if you go there make sure to visit Neuschwanstein castle, it's incredible (see my avatar) http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

We used mostly stellplatz and wild camped a couple of times as well. If you use ACSI sites be careful about how much electricity you use as most sites have meters and they are likely to charge for use over 5kw per day, we got caught in Groslar and had to pay an extra €15 as it was so cold in early March.

Check out the Umwelt Zones info http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-28943-germany.html+emissions you may want to get a sticker for your windscreen.

Have a good time, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


----------



## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

If you go to Krakow You MUST go to the salt mines, They are fantastic the place is full of sculptures in rock salt there is even a church in it all underground.

The main roads in Poland are quite good actually, we never ever do motorways and we had absolutely no problem at all, I can also recommend the romantic road in Germany as being an extremely nice journey.


----------



## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

Auschwitz Camp Site Link

Hi Keith Here is the link for camp site picks topic earlier last year

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-66655-auschwitz.html


----------



## fender (Dec 31, 2009)

*touring germany*

hi ,friends persuaded us to go to germany 2 years ago. we always did france,spain. It was brilliant been 2 yrs now .we did all the rivers Rhine Mosel. Aar. Lahn. 4 weeks each year and then through Alcas Lorraine. across france.We only stoped on Stelplatz cheap or free and loads of them. Got that huge book from Vicarious, but can get maps books on campsites from german tourist agency free. This year I am awar freak and insisted on going to Colditz a splendid 2 hour tour of the castle. They show you all tge escape tunnels , it is exatly same as in the movie as it was in East Germany nothing has changed. has good camp site nearby.and not far from Prague. All roads free, Aldi every where with great cheap beer and drinkable whisky 5 euro.


----------

