Germany. Black Forest

SeamusG97

What a pleasant surprise how good this place is. After years of motorhoming in France (we're lucky to have a month) with the occasional foray into Italy and Spain we thought we'd try Germany and maybe later travel,south to Austria . As usual we had no real plan beyond getting to Strasbourg and then into Germany and Baden Baden.
The idea was to do some exploring in the black forest and two days into it I can't believe how well set up it all is. Currently we are in Sasbachwalden at the North of the schartzwalde.
First off the stelleplatze:€7 per night with electrical hookup €1. Nice location in the town near a stream
Then the walking trails for hundreds of miles all around. Signposted to perfection and idyllic. They've been doing hiking trails since the 1800s and you can tell. Plenty of places to get a drink if overcome by thirst along the way. Always a seat or a bridge where needed. Still you expect to meet hansel and gretel around the next bend.
Then there's the beer.. 90c Erdinger 500ml in the supermarkets.
The thing that impressed me the most though was today after a morning in the hills the four of us thought we'd like a dip in the six-pooled swimming complex at the edge of the village. Man at the till insisted that instead of paying €10 that I should take my parking ticket from the van and apply next door at the tourist information centre for a card that would allow a free entry to the pool. Duly did this and the lady who dealt with me was apologetic when she could only give me two tiny bottles of schnapps and two packets of sweets for the kids as a welcome present. I was (almost) embarrassed to accept these on top of the free pool entry. The countryside is picture postcard and the weather is perfect.
Totally safe and child friendly. Carlsberg don't do.........

moodrater

SeamusG97 wrote: »

What a pleasant surprise how good this place is. After years of motorhoming in France (we're lucky to have a month) with the occasional foray into Italy and Spain we thought we'd try Germany and maybe later travel,south to Austria . As usual we had no real plan beyond getting to Strasbourg and then into Germany and Baden Baden.
The idea was to do some exploring in the black forest and two days into it I can't believe how well set up it all is. Currently we are in Sasbachwalden at the North of the schartzwalde.
First off the stelleplatze:€7 per night with electrical hookup €1. Nice location in the town near a stream
Then the walking trails for hundreds of miles all around. Signposted to perfection and idyllic. They've been doing hiking trails since the 1800s and you can tell. Plenty of places to get a drink if overcome by thirst along the way. Always a seat or a bridge where needed. Still you expect to meet hansel and gretel around the next bend.
Then there's the beer.. 90c Erdinger 500ml in the supermarkets.
The thing that impressed me the most though was today after a morning in the hills the four of us thought we'd like a dip in the six-pooled swimming complex at the edge of the village. Man at the till insisted that instead of paying €10 that I should take my parking ticket from the van and apply next door at the tourist information centre for a card that would allow a free entry to the pool. Duly did this and the lady who dealt with me was apologetic when she could only give me two tiny bottles of schnapps and two packets of sweets for the kids as a welcome present. I was (almost) embarrassed to accept these on top of the free pool entry. The countryside is picture postcard and the weather is perfect.
Totally safe and child friendly. Carlsberg don't do.........

Haven't been there for 20 years but definitely the friendliest part of Germany we encountered especially when they found out you were Irish. Have vivid memories of one campsite owner coming out of his office with a CIE cap on when he saw us coming.

niloc1951

We travelled the 462 / 294 from Rastatt to Freiburg back in 2009 (I think), it's a spectacular drive.
One of the places which we still specially remember was Schiltach a real Schwarzwald town.
We spent a couple of nights there and enjoyed a few servings of the best Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest gâteau) ever .

SeamusG97

niloc1951 wrote: »

We travelled the 462 / 294 from Rastatt to Freiburg back in 2009 (I think), it's a spectacular drive.
One of the places which we still specially remember was Schiltach a real Schwarzwald town.
We spent a couple of nights there and enjoyed a few servings of the best Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest gâteau) ever .

Ok. That's tomorrow sorted then.......
After then I'm open to suggestions. Aim to hit Austria in five to six days time.

niloc1951

SeamusG97 wrote: »

Ok. That's tomorrow sorted then..😎

Just to whet your appetite

Schiltach

SeamusG97

niloc1951 wrote: »

Just to whet your appetite

Schiltach

Cheers it looks great. Thanks NIloc1951. Appetite duly whetted.

Do you mean the cars or the buildings? This is very near to where I am now. So will visit. Thanks. Every second car seems to be a Porsche or a vintage VW. Everywhere is impossibly pretty as in your street view.
Definitely worth the trouble to get to the Schwarzwald . It is a two day journey from the boat.

moodrater

Theres another vivid memory the smell of the Tannery in Schiltach :-& :pac:

Benbecul97

SeamusG97 wrote: »

Definitely worth the trouble to get to the Schwarzwald . It is a two day journey from the boat.

Seamus, what sailing route did you take from Ireland to France, and then the driving route on to Schwarzwald?

Keep blogging about your adventure in this thread!:)
Would hope to make this trip in the not too distant future.

bobdcow

I'll second that above post - keep blogging Seamus, love to hear about peoples trips, and future places to visit!

SeamusG97

SeamusG97 wrote: »

Cheers it looks great. Thanks NIloc1951. Appetite duly whetted.

Do you mean the cars or the buildings? This is very near to where I am now. So will visit. Thanks. Every second car seems to be a Porsche or a vintage VW. Everywhere is impossibly pretty as in your street view.
Definitely worth the trouble to get to the Schwarzwald . It is a two day journey from the boat.

Thanks Niloc1951 for a great recommendation. We had a very nice 24 hours there. Again the locals are so friendly. And such good value in the shops. €20 goes a long way.

SeamusG97

bobdcow wrote: »

I'll second that above post - keep blogging Seamus, love to hear about peoples trips, and future places to visit!

Thanks to you and to Benbecul for your interest. A chance to bore people with holiday stories on the Internet while I am actually still on holiday would be a personal best for me.!! I normally do this with all my nearest and dearest as soon as I get off the boat.
I'll happily post on where we go and how we got there when I get a better internet connection and can use a laptop to type.

digger58

Currently in Greece, yes it's still open for business!!!, France, Italy, ferry to Albania, yes a place well worth visiting, and then Greece. spending a couple of weeks here then off to Macedonia, Serbia and after reading this hopefully Austria and Germany, Keep posting. I was in Serbia last year as well and found the campsites great. also Slovenia.Italy is probably the worst and dearest BTW! Post the names of the sites if you can please.

SeamusG97

SeamusG97 wrote: »

Thanks to you and to Benbecul for your interest. A chance to bore people with holiday stories on the Internet while I am actually still on holiday would be a personal best for me.!! I normally do this with all my nearest and dearest as soon as I get off the boat.
I'll happily post on where we go and how we got there when I get a better internet connection and can use a laptop to type.

Hi folks. Now on the Adriatic coast after a cracking time in Germany Austria Slovenia and Italy. Seen some great places and will post the lot once I get a proper wifi connection to the laptop.

SeamusG97

SeamusG97 wrote: »

Hi folks. Now on the Adriatic coast after a cracking time in Germany Austria Slovenia and Italy. Seen some great places and will post the lot once I get a proper wifi connection to the laptop.

Here's a post to test your attention span:-) as promised and some details of the route taken so far. I've been making a few notes as we went along and finally got
Wifi to post them so sorry for the long post. Note that what works for us will not be for everybody. We generally don't have a fixed plan but rather let things unfold on a day to day basis. The big plan is to travel east across France from Cherbourg into Germany, South to Austria and then Slovenia, then west into Italy and France. We're using All the Aires/Bord Atlas Reisemobil/www.motorhomefacts.com as a means of finding places to stopover. We prefer Aires with a campsite thrown in when the washing needs to be done or where nothing else is available. We've been away often and long enough to know that you'll always find somewhere to stay with a MH so we're lazy/easygoing about the planning ahead stuff.

Starting out we arrived into France at Cherbourg from Rosslare. First night was the Aire in Grandcamp Maisy, a short drive from the port. €7.50 per night but nobody came to collect it. One of the few Aires with a fixed place barbecue. There's tons of WWII stuff to see in this area but we've been here a few times so we headed east next morning.


The plan for the next night was to travel east and to park up in Versailles in the parking place we usually stay in next to the train station. No luck. No MH parking between 20h and 07h.. Access has been limited and signs have been helpfully added to direct you to the official campsite at a hefty price.. Looks like the other parking places in Versailles are gone the same way. We didn't look too hard. So we left and backtracked to Giverney where there is free parking but no services in a nice green area near Claude Monet's garden. Lovely place and well worth a visit, whether you are into painting or gardening.

Continuing eastward, we overnighted in Metz. Northeastern France all about grain farming and a bit monotonous. Metz itself has a pleasant historic centre but the Aire is shabby and crowded. It is free though- If you can find parking. Bring a screwdriver or similar and a pair of gloves to lift the grille if you need to empty a cassette. Be prepared to work in front of an attentive and helpful audience whilst doing so. I used a nail bar and the bloke leaning out of a nearby van explained how it dismantles in two parts. Zero star rating.


Moving on, we finished the eastward part of the journey at Strasbourg. Aire is by the river, right on the border with Germany. It is a bus and tram journey to the centre of Strasbourg and to be honest too much trouble given how much of the same we will be seeing. Again free parking and a beautiful cycle path across the river by a footbridge into Germany and the small town of Kehl. Kehl is worth the visit alone to climb the 40 metre high wooden tower.

Next morning on to Germany and to Baden Baden. A short drive from Strasbourg and a very pleasant town. There is a stellplatz clearly marked on the entry to the town. It is a long way from the town centre though. Ten minutes cycle,45 mins walk via a wooded cycle path. Free parking and electricity 1€ for 12 hours plug in and pay by coin at the meter. About halfway towards the town on the cycle path you might notice a sign for a beer garden off to the right next to a sports complex. We parked there a long time ago and enjoyed the food and beer. There were a few vans there parked up when I cycled past and it may be worth a look. From there the travelling will be more or less toward the south until Italy.


In Kehl we picked up a Walking/Rambling guide to the Schwartzwald that had a map of some walking tracks. That led to Sasbachwalden and my original post. It is a smallish village with good walking trails in the surrounding hills. They are well signposted and offer fantastic views. The town/village is quiet and has an excellent swimming pool (free) as I described earlier. Stellplatz €7 per night has electrical hookup on a Meter.

Based on advice given here ( thanks again Niloc1951) we travelled on to Schilltach. A medieval village with half timbered houses. The Stelleplatz is by the river which is swimable if you don't mind the algae. – parking is free – and is right in the centre of the town.- . The place has a history of logging and leather tanning and there is evidence of this along the riverside. An old railway carriage is on display at the station nearby. Again the surrounding countryside is beautiful and there are opportunities for walking and cycling. Within five minutes of arriving, Erich from Stuttgart parked nearby who appears to spend his entire spare time there in his campervan comes over and announces triumphantly that he has ‘concluded from our number plate that we must come from Ireland’. Over the next day he advises us (and every other stranger he can capture on the way in and out) on everything from the best local beers, to what supermarket to use to where to see next. On his advice we set off for Meersburg on the Bodensee.
As we leave he turns up with a bag of large pretzels, a local speciality. These are the things that make these journeys special.

So next on to Meersburg.
A Touristy town with an historic centre situated the edge of the lake. Konstanz is the main town a few km away but we were told that parking was easier to find here. Free Stelleplatz again with electric hookup next to a roundabout 1km from the town centre. Not that inspiring so we move on the next day,.

From here we plan to travel on to Salzburg. Heading east, the journey takes us through a northward projecting tongue of Austria and back into Germany. The drive is fascinating, - the countryside becomes more and more Swiss-like with neat chalets and high grazing, cows with bells, goats with bells.. Switzerland is just to the south. The Alps appear as a line on the horizon and grow and grow until they fill the entire front window. At the last minute, when there seems to be nowhere else to go, a tunnel appears and you pass under the huge mass and emerge in Austria after a few km. .
Later and back again in Germany, we end up in Einsiedl at the edge of a small lake in a Stellplatz, €6 per night and electrical hookup (long cable needed). The lake is very beautiful ( there are many lakes in this area, all incredibly blue/green and surrounded by forests and mountains) there is direct access via a wooded path to a pebble beach. Calm waters. Good place to bring that inflatable boat bought in Lidl.
As the area is so nice we move only a few km to another lakeside Stellplatz - this time in Schliersee to a privately owned parking lot on the banks of a small lake. €12 per night. Lots of walking and cycling paths and a cable car station just nearby. The mountains are spectacular.

Then on to Salzburg and to a campsite, Panorama Camping Stadtblick, just outside the town. Pricey at €44 per night but has a nice restaurant and bar. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for the 'Sound of Music' filmed fifty years ago.. The 'Sound of Music Tour' is very popular. We found it pricey and not very good. Doing it again, I'd research the locations and do it on foot or by bike. The historic centre of Salzburg is very pleasant and worth spending an evening there. The surrounding countryside is all Alpine and very impressive. It seems that many places do not accept Visa cards so be prepared.
Driving on the motorways in Austria requires a vignette (€9.80 for ten days) which can be bought at motorway service stations.
Leaving Salzburg, and heading southwards towards Slovenia and Lake Bled we overnighted in a campsite at St Johann im Pongau. Apart from the spectacular views, both the town and campsite were unremarkable.

Finally the next day we cross the border (and pay a toll) to enter Slovenia via a tunnel. The motorways are very good and even though tolled, I think they offer value for money besides taking the long way round ( we usually avoid tolls and take the smaller roads ) as the countryside is so hilly. I may be wrong on this. Arriving at Lake Bled, it has been described as one of the prettiest places in Europe and this is no exaggeration. However the place is crowded and the campsite is full – as we expected – so we continue along to Bohinj and Camping Danica which had been recommended by another motorhomer we met in Germany. Just as beautiful but not so frantic. This campsite is again expensive at €40 per night but is very pleasant. There are no marked pitches so if you can find a place to park then there’s room. It is in a woodland setting with cycle tracks, walking trails and a lake that looks identical to Bled a 20min spin along a very scenic cycle way that takes you through farmland, small villages and woodlands. There’s a swimming river at the rear of the site. Excellent services at this site and again a bar and restaurant which is discounted for campers. There is a tennis court, with coaching available, other sports facilities and organised walks and cycles. This is a very good campsite. The village nearby is unremarkable except for paying only €2 for a half litre of draught beer in a bar. I think Slovenia has cottoned on to the tourist Euro and from what I hear ten years ago might have been its unspoilt best. That's the touristy areas though.
Outside of these the countryside seems unchanged for decades and idyllic.

That’s enough for now. Up to this point the focus has been on exploring new places. The remainder of the time will be enjoying familiar ones at a more leisurely pace. Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore, the Alps, the Haute Savoie in France, Provence and then up to the Atlantic coast. Or maybe not as things develop. The only fixed thing is the boat in two weeks time.
I'll post a bit more if anyone's interested.

Martin_D

Thanks SeamusG97 - really enjoyed that post. Just back at weekend after 3 weeks in France and am jealous of your 4 week trip - big distances covered but you seem to have really enjoyed the route. Now that you have given us Part 1 you'll have to give us the complete log in due course - enjoy the rest of the "Grand Tour"

SeamusG97

Martin_D wrote: »

Thanks SeamusG97 - really enjoyed that post. Just back at weekend after 3 weeks in France and am jealous of your 4 week trip - big distances covered but you seem to have really enjoyed the route. Now that you have given us Part 1 you'll have to give us the complete log in due course - enjoy the rest of the "Grand Tour"

Thanks
Yes it sounds like a lot of travelling but we just spent the last week in Italy without moving very far and will meander northwards slowly over the next fortnight. I hope you had a good time in France and maybe share some of your experiences? Three weeks isn't a bad break so hopefully you should have some stories to tell...
Seamus.

SeamusG97

digger58 wrote: »

Currently in Greece, yes it's still open for business!!!, France, Italy, ferry to Albania, yes a place well worth visiting, and then Greece. spending a couple of weeks here then off to Macedonia, Serbia and after reading this hopefully Austria and Germany, Keep posting. I was in Serbia last year as well and found the campsites great. also Slovenia.Italy is probably the worst and dearest BTW! Post the names of the sites if you can please.

Now that's a real adventure. Bet you won't see too many Irish registrations in your journey. Let us know how you get on.
Edit: is mainland Greece very hot at this time? Or did you get to any of the islands?

now online

Resurrecting this thread as we're hoping to do something similar in a 4-5 week time frame.
Plan so far Wexford to Fishgard and channel tunnel to Calais.

We're thinking of starting in Belgium, onto Luxembourg Germany Switzerland France to go to Italy. (Bad roads between Switzerland and Italy) Driving up the east coast of France on our return journey home

What you've done sounds amazing Seamus, just wondering has anyone else done this and what tips and advice would you offer.

We've signed up to France Passion, we have our wild swimming book !

niloc1951

now online wrote: »

Resurrecting this thread as we're hoping to do something similar in a 4-5 week time frame.
Plan so far Wexford to Fishgard and channel tunnel to Calais.

We're thinking of starting in Belgium, onto Luxembourg Germany Switzerland France to go to Italy. (Bad roads between Switzerland and Italy) Driving up the east coast of France on our return journey home

What you've done sounds amazing Seamus, just wondering has anyone else done this and what tips and advice would you offer.

We've signed up to France Passion, we have our wild swimming book !

If you're visiting Switzerland and/or Austria don't forget to have your Vehicle Registration Certificate (RF 101) with you. You will have to produce it at the entry point so the relevant toll system can be applied to your travels in the country, they are different depending on the GVW, up to 3,500kg is one system over 3,500kg is a different system.

now online

niloc1951 wrote: »

If you're visiting Switzerland and/or Austria don't forget to have your Vehicle Registration Certificate (RF 101) with you. You will have to produce it at the entry point so the relevant toll system can be applied to your travels in the country, they are different depending on the GVW, up to 3,500kg is one system over 3,500kg is a different system.

Thanks Niloc,

We'll have to do some investigation on the Switzerland part so then! We hadn't intended on Austria. Btw we upgraded our motorhome here instead too much uncertainty around vrt

kelbal

now online wrote: »

Resurrecting this thread as we're hoping to do something similar in a 4-5 week time frame.
Plan so far Wexford to Fishgard and channel tunnel to Calais.

We're thinking of starting in Belgium, onto Luxembourg Germany Switzerland France to go to Italy. (Bad roads between Switzerland and Italy) Driving up the east coast of France on our return journey home

What you've done sounds amazing Seamus, just wondering has anyone else done this and what tips and advice would you offer.

We've signed up to France Passion, we have our wild swimming book !

We've done that whole area a few times now. If I could pick one highlight to head to in south Germany, it would be Koenigsee, amazing crystal clear lake with boat trips around it. Its down by Berchtesgaden, with Hitlers "Eagles Nest" visible on a mountain top. One of our favourite spots anywhere. And if you've gone that far across you may as well explore some of the amazing castles - Neuschwanstein, Linderhof. Go see Munich too! There's overnight motorhome parking at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena, where you can get the subway into the city. Going South from Munich, you can cross the border at Mittenwald (where there is an amazing river gorge walk), via Innsbruck in Austria and into
Italy via Bolzano which will bring you down towards lake Garda. We didn't bother with the motorway in Austria, we wanted to avoid the hassle of stopping for the toll tag for such a short crossing of the country, we just went the national road (the 182), great road, great scenery.
If all of that doesn't suit your plans, we also crossed from South Germany into Italy, starting from Lake Constance (eastern side), and going through Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and then Italy at Lake Como (5 countries in one day!!). Again, we did it non toll roads, very doable with some quick planning in advance and a satnav. Let me know if you want more details in this route.

now online

kelbal wrote: »

now online wrote: »

Resurrecting this thread as we're hoping to do something similar in a 4-5 week time frame.
Plan so far Wexford to Fishgard and channel tunnel to Calais.

We're thinking of starting in Belgium, onto Luxembourg Germany Switzerland France to go to Italy. (Bad roads between Switzerland and Italy) Driving up the east coast of France on our return journey home

What you've done sounds amazing Seamus, just wondering has anyone else done this and what tips and advice would you offer.

We've signed up to France Passion, we have our wild swimming book !

We've done that whole area a few times now. If I could pick one highlight to head to in south Germany, it would be Koenigsee, amazing crystal clear lake with boat trips around it. Its down by Berchtesgaden, with Hitlers "Eagles Nest" visible on a mountain top. One of our favourite spots anywhere. And if you've gone that far across you may as well explore some of the amazing castles - Neuschwanstein, Linderhof. Go see Munich too! There's overnight motorhome parking at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena, where you can get the subway into the city. Going South from Munich, you can cross the border at Mittenwald (where there is an amazing river gorge walk), via Innsbruck in Austria and into
Italy via Bolzano which will bring you down towards lake Garda. We didn't bother with the motorway in Austria, we wanted to avoid the hassle of stopping for the toll tag for such a short crossing of the country, we just went the national road (the 182), great road, great scenery.
If all of that doesn't suit your plans, we also crossed from South Germany into Italy, starting from Lake Constance (eastern side), and going through Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and then Italy at Lake Como (5 countries in one day!!). Again, we did it non toll roads, very doable with some quick planning in advance and a satnav. Let me know if you want more details in this route.

So here we are in Luxembourg at the mo, we started our journey with one night in Dunkirk. Moved onto Belgium and visited ostende and brugge absolutely beautiful city and very bike friendly. From there we went into Holland it was lovely but belgium was more scenic. We're currently in Luxembourg staying at a lovely campsite with all the facilities to keep the kids entertained and happy! Moving in from here tomorrow and plan on going to Luxembourg city only 30km away from where we are now. Germany is probably next and after that wherever the road takes us! More than halfway through our first week with 4 more left. Hopefully we'll mirror some of your trip!

niloc1951

Happy touring, if convenient think about the bus/train for visiting cities if you are staying someplace you are happy to leave the MH for the day. It's much more relaxing than looking for parking and sitting in city traffic.
Public transport is usually way better value (cheaper) than we are used to here in Ireland

CelticRambler

now online wrote: »

... Luxembourg Germany Switzerland France to go to Italy. (Bad roads between Switzerland and Italy) Driving up the east coast of France on our return journey home

Not quite sure what you mean about bad roads between Switzerland and Italy. They were fine when I did that route last year, and am planning to do it again next month. I went over the Great St. Bernard pass into the Aosta Valley, and it was no worse than any of the Italy-France Alpine routes that I've done.



If you've uprated your MH to more than 3.5t, I don't think you've got the option of going toll-free in Switzerland, but if you (can/do) avoid motorways, pay close attention to the speed limits - up and down every few kms in the flat parts of the country, and speed cameras to keep you in line.

CJhaughey

We are just back probably a very similar trip to what you are doing, we went Cherbourg-Omaha beach-Flanders-Amsterdam-Maastricht and then down to the Jura area, some very nice lakes around there to cool off in. Moulins has a lovely municipal aire next to the River Allier and an Intermarche within walking distance.
10c per hour and EHU if you want/need it.

now online

We left Germany about a week ago, seriously beautiful country and from our experience very friendly people! Last stop in Germany was Munich which unfortunately we didn't see much off due to back weather. Off we went to chase the sun and ended up in Croatia ! From there into Italy where we still are now. We've used a mix of parkings and campsites and I must say the Germans come out tops for motorhome stops!