Romantic road trip May 2012

THE  plan was to visit Prague, Dresden, Berlin. All changed in a moment and we were heading to Wurzburg then down the Romantic Road to Fussen.

16/5/12 So having spent a peaceful night at Black Horse Farm Folkestone, we were up at 4.30am, heading for Dover for 6am DSFS ferry to Dunkerque, no issues at customs etc., and we were in the queue for ferry in our Elddis Sunseeker 200 complete with bikes, and kettle on. Outside it was another summer’s day (not) grey and drizzle was the order of day.

On reaching Dunkerque the sun came out and we headed to one of our favourite stops the Aire at Genk in Belgium N50D 57' 26"  E5d 31' 59", takes 7 vans free, if you don't want electric,5 euros with electric and water. On site there is a Planetarium, two restaurant’s, stables and numerous foot and cycle path's through the forest. We like this site as when you are on early ferry it’s an easy 170 miles, so after lunch we cycled into town, easy ride all cycle path’s. On our return we noticed there was now 12 vans on the site, by 8pm there was 20,most of them Belgium plates,  during evening 5 more vans arrived but  there is plenty of room to park in car parks around site. Did not understand why so many where there.

17/5/12

. We were on the road early heading for Wurzburg 260 miles away, after about 30mins we realized there was no lorries on the road and it was Thursday not the weekend ,at the first service station we saw it was packed with lorries it was a Bank holiday, what a joy very few lorries hence all the vans at Genk ,although the joy soon disappeared when we turn of the road into the Stellplatze in Wurzburg it was within a sports stadium  and it was packed with local's and a football tournament we turned the second corner 200yards up the road we could see a motor home reversing to get off the site ,with some luck we were able to turn round and headed off to second option Camping Estenfeld about 10ks out ACSI site but not in the book cost Inc. electric two nights 32.50 euros nice friendly site. We now have an invitation to Norway from a Norwegian couple we got talking to, while the only brits on site did not want to speak

18/5/12

The bus for Wurzburg no 43 goes every 30 minutes from just below the junction at bottom of hill, on the right side of the road going down, it was only 4 euros return each into Wurzburg bus station. We set of early in morning looking forward to a full days sightseeing.

Armed with a tourist map from tourist office in the market sq. we started to explore, a city with many churches and spires, and beautiful buildings then we headed towards the River Main and after watching four very large boats go through the locks, we made the first mistake of the day a very long hard walk in the sun to the Marienberg fortress, which shuts between one and two for lunch, so only able to view the courtyard disappointing. .Next visit was to the Unesco World heritage monument the former Prince Bishop's Residenz you can only visit as part of a tour 8euros each, English tours three times a day, you must be with a guide to see the best of the palace as most of it is behind locked doors, if you visit you can see why, certainly a place not to miss. After a nice meal near the River Main bridge we caught the bus back, where we found the downside of the bus stop at  the bottom of the hill was the walk back up, not good after long day sightseeing.

Wurzburg castle.                                                                                   City of many spires

Unesco World Heritage site in Wurzburg

19/5/12

Heading for Stellplatze at Bad Mergentheim page 141 Board atlas for the night, we set the Sat nav first of all for Tauberbischofsheim the main town of the Main-Tauber district and one of the oldest towns in Tauber valley. Pleased to say easy to park, as I must say where all the town/villages we stopped at, they all want the business!!!,the highlight of Tauberbischofsheim was the neo-Gothic Town hall with its Glockenspiel in the market sq. Couple of hours where enough and we were on the road again towards Bad Mergentheim sat nav set on non-motorway roads. On arrival at Stellplatze we had no problem finding a slot with electric, should have been 5 euros plus electric nowhere to pay and no one collected money. Again easy cycle ride into the town and in fact through countryside to next village. The town itself is the former residence of the Grand and German masters of Teutonic Knights also a Spa town. It was very hot and we lost the will for sightseeing and stopped at ice cream shop for refreshment. After the cycle back to van we crashed out in the sun with books and cold drinks.

ENTRANCE TO MUSEUM BAD MARGEHTHEIM                                          THESE HOUSES WERE AT ENTRANCE TO BEAUTIFUL PARK

AT BAD MERGEHTHEIM

20/5/12

No set plan for day as we set off, first stop was Rottingen, found a lovely Stellplatze, right next to river pity we did not want to overnight, but a good parking spot for couple of hours. Then onto Creglingen lots of half-timbered houses and remains of the old city walls, not to be missed is the altar by Tilman Riemenschneider in the Chapel of our lord and the Jewish museum. We drove straight through Schillingsfurst could not find the Baroque castle the book says you can see for miles away!!!! By then it was mid-afternoon and we started to look for a place to sleep for the night, Pauline found in Bord atlas pge239 Feuchtwagen-Thurnhofen restaurant site lovely site with great food try the Carp fillet. Site with electric was 6 euros a night.

SITE AT FEUCHTWANGEN-THURNHOFEN

21/5/12

Plan was to reach Augsburg Stellplatze for the night, so we set of with first stop at Dinkelsbuhl ,once again well sign posted motor home car parking with easy walk into town(take note UK).The half-timbered buildings where brilliant, a visit to the Gothic Minster of St George, one of South Germany's most impressive hall churches, is a must. We spent a very pleasant three hours just wandering round, we always make the point of going down the alley ways and back streets, then while having the usual coffee and cake break in the town sq.  We noticed a Stork's nest high up on Tourist office roof, Mother was busy tidying up round nest edge then three more heads popped up looking for food. Within the tourist office they have a web cam on the nest and we spent a further ten minutes watching the movement in the nest. Back on the road again with sat nav set to non-motorway we decided to visit Harburg castle, made the mistake of following parking signs for car park in the town, which ended with a 2 meter height barrier, after a five point turn round we decided to forget the town and headed to castle, after a quick lunch in the large car park we walk towards castle, MONDAY closed, once again quick walk round the court yard and on the road.

DINKELSBUHL WHAT YOU CAN FIND FOLLOWING BACK LANE

Found the Stellplatze in Augsburg no 86152 pge127 bord atlas no problem, 8 euro for 24 hours 3 for electric. For the first time I was uncomfortable with a site, although there were 20 plus van there. We wandered off trying to find the city centre late afternoon, but as we often do headed completely in wrong direction, but did managed to buy a cap as by now my headed was getting very brown through sun and lack of hair. Behind the vans there is a shallow river with gravel banks, during the evening 4/5 lads appeared between the vans and disappeared down to river bank, after a while another guy appeared but after a quick look down he went away, then couple of hours later they all went, and we had a good night’s sleep.

RATHAUS IN AUGSBURG

22/5/12

Finally we found the correct way into centre of Augsburg, most modern of the places we had visited over the last few days ,but the Rathaus was brilliant, we spent a couple of hours wandering then headed back to the van. Sat nav set non motorway we headed to Fussen, beautiful countryside little traffic, but WOW the smell, every farmer and his wife had decided it was muck spreading time, and muck spreading they were. Certainly wonderful views and as we got nearer Fussen the mountains came into view still with snow on the top.

There are three Stellplatze in the same area in Fussen and we had previously chosen 87629 pge251 bord atlas, at the end of road next Aldi car park if you can get a pitch in the 80s you should have good views of the mountains, Lidl and small bakers also within 200yds.We were here for three nights and we settle down with books for couple of hours rest then a walk over to a massive DIY store in same car park as Aldi.

MOUNTAINS WITH SNOW ,FROM STELLPLATZE IN FUSSEN                             SPRING HAS COME ON WAY TO FUSSEN

23/5/12

Next morning under cloudy but humid sky's we took an easy walk into Fussen, the town was totally different to what we had expected and we spent 4 hours just wandering around. It is described as Bavaria's romantic soul on the edge of the Alps, highest city in Bavaria, Late medieval town with the High castle and St Mang's monastery houses and numerous works of art. We wondered down to the River which from the bridge you could see it hurtling down towards the Hydro dam and then into the lakes nearby, as the water comes of course from the mountains it had a strange grey, milky colour .We later found out that only from 1st June do the day leisure cruise boats operates on the lake, which is gently flooded back to normal levels from the river. Early evening we were out on the bikes near the lake when thunder and lightning came and heavy rain, nearby bus shelter saved us from the worse and we soon head back to the site. Within 20minutes of being in bed the storm started again, and what a storm!!! The lightning and thunder where terrible and it just hung around. Two claps of thunder rocked the van, and then it rained, really hard.

24/5/12

Sun is out again ,today is Castle day, we cycled in to town as we had done a deal with guy in the cycle shop next to station, he was going to fit two Dutch style bike locks to our bikes 15 euro's cheaper than I could buy from internet in UK. So after leaving bikes we got the bus again from station to the castles of King Ludwig, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, only a short bus ride from Fussen, typical tourist area with lots of gift shops. Tickets for both castle's with a discount from the card you get free at Stellplatze worked out to 21 euro's  each for both castle's ,we took the options of a horse and cart ride to the first castle Neuschwanstein and we were glad we did it is a long slog to reach castle.(Warning you are given times for visiting both castles, adequate time to get to them both, but the time on ticket is only time you will get in, no leeway given).Tours are in English and take about 30minutes once in the castle's there are still a lot of stairs to climb, Neuschwanstein is beautiful inside and very interesting history. We chose to walk down rather than wait for Horse carriage, on reaching the bottom we had time admire the view of lake, the castle from the bottom, and a light lunch. After which we got small bus to next castle Hohenschwangau (The White Castle) again beware once the bus drops you off there is still a good walk to castle, downhill, but of course uphill on way back. Parts of castle are covered in scaffolding while the stonework is cleaned, were the cleaning has finished it looks fantastic, again 30minute tour and great inside. You can get to courtyards of both castles without paying, but the magic is the inside areas. It was nearly 5pm when we returned to cycle shop for bikes and with legs that did not want to function we set of back to site, for a well-earned drink, long day but would not have missed it.

CASTLE NEUSCHWANSTEIN,FAMOUS FROM CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

CASTLE HOHENSCHWANGEGAU                                                               ONE OF THE MANY PLACES TO EAT NEAR THE CASTLES

25/5/12

Time to move on, looking at old buildings had been great, but we needed something different, and after quick look at the maps we headed towards Lake Konstanz via E54, stopping at Friedrichshafen for a wander, really pleased we went this way, back to wonderful country side, and rather than the smell of muck spreading the farmers where all hay making and it smelt lovely. On arrival in Friedrichshafen we found a car park very near the lake, no overnights but as long as you fitted in a marked bay no problem. We started to walk along the long promenade, the first thing we came across was coffee and cake for 4 euro’s, they had used an old ferry carcass for the main part of cafe, looked good, but the sunshine had a better appeal. The promenade was very busy loads of places to eat very cosmopolitan, also along the prom is a museum dedicated to the Zeppelin. Then we saw the ferry arriving from we were told Switzerland, of course with couple of Motor homes at front, food for thought for another trip. Round the back of the prom was a large farmers market and supermarket so stocked with provision's we headed back to van, really is a place for longer visit. Stop for the night was to be the Stellplatze at Stockach pge512 Bord atlas. Large site with electric showers and toilets a few  minutes’ walk away,10 euro’s pay at campsite, also close by is a large motor homes dealer with accessory  shop, the site is about 6k,s from top end of the lake, with track from site ,but with the sun shining brightly the chairs came out and a sleep came on.Bikes stayed on the rack.

26/5/12

After a long discussion during the evening before, we decided that we would head for Stellplatze in Kehl pge326 bord atlas, and cycle into Strasbourg 6kms away, another option was Colmar in France, but this is now in plans for September. So we set of again all none motorway roads towards Kehl, the countryside views were wonderful, even more so when we went through cuckoo clock country. Uphill and down dale lovely sunshine, grass cutting everywhere and little traffic great. When we reached Kehl we decided on the pitch nearest the hedge at end of site, mistake it was again the bank holiday and there was a big football tournament on, with tents pitched near the fence. We had lunch and headed of on the bikes into Strasbourg, fairly easy ride with great views over the river, and through a lovely park, Strasbourg was really busy, then it was Saturday pm, we had a wonder round the Cathedral it is enormous, but outside it is nearly black and in dire need of a clean, inside it is beautiful but very busy. We wondered for couple of hours, then decided tomorrow was another day and we would go back to the park for a well-earned ice cream and a sit by the river. At 10pm the noise was still quite bad from the football tournament, fortunately by 11pm it was quiet, next morning 8am they started again and we were heading off. But we will return to Strasbourg.

STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL IN NEED OF A CLEAN                                     WOODEN BUILDING STRASBOURG AGAIN NEEDS TLC

RIVER TRIPS ROUND STRASBOURG WERE VERY POPULA

27/5/12

Bank holiday Sunday we had decided to head towards The Mosel, No Lorries, Bank holiday, what joy, it’s amazing the difference it makes, inside lane to ourselves heaven. We like Piesport on The Mosel great Stellplatze pge440 no 54498 about 50 meters from the river and views of river from most pitches ,the bread vans comes each morning and ice cream man twice a day. We arrived at Piesport at 12.30 and where delighted to find three empty slots and the sun was beating down. Straight away we though that's it we will stay till the Tuesday and settled down in the chairs with a good book each. By 4pm it was time to get the bikes out and we headed off along the path way to who knows where, but we only made about 8ks before the lure of a small campsite with a bar and cold drinks overcame us.

Next day the sun was shining and its was again warm, we headed in to the town and wondered the back streets heading towards a restaurant/bar next to road bridge as you come down the long winding hill towards Piesport. Without relising it we had walked to far and had to return via the river path to the bridge, Pleased to find a table in the garden with a umbrella we ordered two glasses of white wine and a Flammkuchen. The wine came first and was really cool and there was big temptation to drink it in a few mouthfuls, such was the thirst from the walking. Pleasant hour was passed sitting watching the river and we headed back to the van for a sleep in the chairs.

28/05/12

Due back at Dunkirk am 29/05/12 so we headed to Nieuwpoort in Belgium for an overnight stay and easy run into the port.On arrival in Newiport once again the sun was shinning and we headed with the bikes to the towns port area ,plenty of roam for cycles along the promenade and a pleasant hour was spent in the sun watching the boats returning to there berths for the night.Early night ready for 8 am ferry.

Just over 1500 miles in total,great weather,meet some nice people ,the views  and buildings were amazing,total costs came in at just over £800,pleased we decided on this route really enjoyed Fussen,back home to get the allotment in order.