First touring trip to Germany in Motorhome, want to cycle too. Advice/suggestions?

Johnny W

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Our Lass and me are planning on having a 'different' holiday this year without the kids. The plan is to take the road bikes on the back of the van and head down the Rhine valley, with no particular destination in mind other than perhaps Baden Baden for a posh coffee.

So, has anyone got any suggestions for places to head for with some holiday/nice squares/sightseeing, and even better if there are some good cycle routes nearby. I have been trawling the 'net, and have found all sorts, but dunno where to start. I don't mind cycle-ways, but will be on road tyres like....

Have been to places like Colgne, Koblenz, Karlsruhe beore, but on the motorbike, so this is a new angle....

Inspiration?

Also, I would like to use the stelplatz sites, so any recommendations on those too? (I have already seen there is a good one at Baden Baden, from which you can cycle, so perfect).

Cheers
 
The German tourist information website is excellent and suggests themed driving routes - we did the fairytale route a couple of years ago, visiting the places where the brothers Grimm based their stories. There are loads of these routes, so that might be a good starting point. We used Stellplatzen, they are a wee bit harder to find than the French aires so it's helpful to know where they are in advance rather than relying on coming across them. There's a book you can get from Vicarious - https://www.vicarious-shop.com/Bord-Atlas-2015-Stellplatze-Germany-Reise-Mobil.html

Have fun!
 
We really enjoyed our visit at Baumberg near Dusseldorf two years ago. We stayed at Campingplatz Rheinblick (51.126447, 6.872838) Campingplatz-Rheinblick and found it a good place to be based. There was plenty of cycling both on the rural roads and forest tracks (we have the sit up and beg type bikes, nothing fancy). We cycled to a small ferry which took us across the river to the interesting historical/ tourist town of Zons (Zons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) busy on a Sunday usually. There is a tram that runs from Benrath into Dusseldorf and Benrath is about a 5 or 6 K cycle from the campsite. The waterfront in Dusseldorf was very pleasant and the Rhine tower is certainly worth a visit.
I am sure you will enjoy where ever you go.


Harry
 
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copied from older thread

going through the Black Forest is the B500 Bundesstraße 500 (sorry only in german)

basically a nice mountain road straight through the black forest with plenty of nice stops like the Monastry in Alpirsbach (famous beer brewing monks!)
Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu -*Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu*- Das Bier aus dem Schwarzwald

or as already mentioned the Triberg Waterfalls Triberger Wasserfälle
plenty of lakes Titisee or Schluchsee

Black Forest is famous for Red Ham and Cake. We had some sitting at Triberg Waterfalls. Nice!

If you fancy a detour have a look at this http://www.technik-museum.de/en they also have a second place in Speyer (which is at the Rhein)

If you fancy going down the Rhein, you should visit the "Deutsche Weinstrasse" German Wine Route - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is a good stop here with space for 5 motorhomes. Free is you buy wine but otherwise 5Euro
Startseite
Some good walks and lovely views over the vineyards near by
 
We are heading to Rudeshiem for the : Rhine in Flames. Booked onto a campsite to be sure of somewhere to park and also booked a river cruise. Probably head across to Wurtzburg and along the Romantic road to Lake Constance, then find cake and beer in the Black forest after that.
 
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Another vote for the bord-atlas.

We were going to book the odd campsite here and there but are just going to wing it and use the stellplatz for the whole thing, that way were not tied to any particular locations if plans change.
 
if you are close to the Wine place I listed above, pop down the road and have something to eat here Willkommen im Waldgasthof Pfalzblick in Ruppertsberg But beware, its closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Some pretty views and if the sky is clear you can almost see the down to the Rhein.
Park here 49.400672, 8.169199 and walk up the hill. It's fine for cars to drive up but I am not sure if it's suitable for motorhomes.

Move on to here 49.465033, 8.169470 to have a drink in the worlds largest wine barrel

next to this are the "Salinen" where you walk around to do something for your lungs 49.466650, 8.173166
plenty of parking here. Gradierwerk Bad Durkheim (Saline) (Germany) on TripAdvisor: Address, Reviews

There is plenty to see in the whole region. Castles (Ruins and fully restored) or depending on time of year you can join a "Weinfest" in one of the little villages. Basically they close part of the village and sell wine and food everywhere. What you want is a "Schorle". That's a 500ml glass with wine and mineralwater in a mix of 50/50.

Look here but only german I am afraid Natur & Kultur - Tourist Information Bad Dürkheim

about half an hours drive from the above is a nice town called SPEYER.
Nice big cathedral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyer_Cathedral

also in Speyer the Technik Museum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technik_Museum_Speyer (the smaller brother of http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/)

just found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZKuBrFBy5w
it's a large "Stellplatz" next to the Technik Museum inm Speyer.
A bit steep with 22 Euro a night but all facilities included, WC, shower block, water, grey water etc. And it is very close to the cathedral and only a 10mins gentle walk into the town center. Well worth a visit in my opinion.
Speyer is also a place to go for Christmas Market!
 
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We can confirm that wildcamping is easy in most rural areas. We wildcamped around lakes, rivers and canals. We used Spellplatz half the time and wildcamped the other half and travelled 3000 miles in total. As someone already mentioned, some are free but most charge anywhere from 5 to 12 Euros. Didn't buy a badge and never really saw the need to have one.

We crossed to Dunkirk and made our first destination Esch-Sur-Sure in Luxembourg which is a medieval town nestled in the mountains in Luxembourg. A beautiful place and a hot spot for motor bikers as they enjoy the winding and twisting roads in this area. We then went to Trier and made our way up the Mosel Valley towards the Rhine at Koblenz. The Mosel valley has vineyards both sides of the river and has some beautiful villages and towns along the way. Dozens of Spellplatz on this route and you can park on grass right down at the river. Most of these were 6 Euros a night. There was plenty of bridges on this journey so didn't matter which side of the river you were on as you could easily cross from one side to another. Didn't like the Rhine as much as the Mosel. The Rhine has railway tracks on both sides of the river and heavy goods trains were passing up and down all day and night. Add to this the barges heading up and down the river and the noise at night was unbelievable. Didn't get any sleep at all on the Rhine, so headed to Wurzburg to head down the Romantic Strausse towards Fusson. Great places to visit along this route. We loved Fusson and Schwangau and stayed here for three days before heading along the Bavarian Alps tourist route towards Salzburg, Austria. There are approx. 26 lakes along this 450km route and we ventured in and out of Austria along this route. Highly recommended route also. Konigsee National Park was well worth a visit and then we went to Salzburg for the day. We parked at Frailassing Spelplatz for 2 nights, which was in Germany and only 4 miles from Salzburg, so an easy cycle ride into the city. This is a free Spellplatz and it's also worth exploring Frailassing as its a pretty village. We joined up with 'The Sound of Music tour' bus at Mondsee, Austria. This is the Cathedral where they married in the film. It's a nice lakeside resort with free camping behind the coach park on a sports field. The lake is only 150 yards away. Went into Czech Republic for 3 nights. People were really friendly. From here made our way up to Bayreuth birthplace of the poet 'Wagner'. Fabulous town with much to do and see. There are 3 thermal baths close by and the one we visited had a Spellplatz 8 euros per night and 11 euros for the spa baths. This spa had 4 swimming pools of different temperatures and 17 saunas and steam rooms with differing moods. Amazing, nothing like this in the UK.

The German people were incredibly friendly and would go out of their way to help you out. I would recommend this route for anyone thinking of doing Germany.
 
Forgot to say. Be aware when buying fuel. The petrol stations put the price up every weekend and reduce it again on Monday. So unless you're desperate, try to buy your diesel Monday to Thursday and avoid weekends if you can. When we were there in August 2013 diesel was 1.26 midweek and 1.46 at weekends. That can make quite a saving for a full tank of fuel with a little planning. This increase appeared to be widespread across Germany. I spoke to some locals and they said they do it to catch the weekend touring traffic moving through Germany from surrounding countries.
 
Talbot said:
Forgot to say. Be aware when buying fuel. The petrol stations put the price up every weekend and reduce it again on Monday. So unless you're desperate, try to buy your diesel Monday to Thursday and avoid weekends if you can. When we were there in August 2013 diesel was 1.26 midweek and 1.46 at weekends. That can make quite a saving for a full tank of fuel with a little planning. This increase appeared to be widespread across Germany. I spoke to some locals and they said they do it to catch the weekend touring traffic moving through Germany from surrounding countries.
Click to expand...

Good tip talbot, absolutely right. And during monday to friday the lowest fuel price is always after 1700 l
 
Thanks folks, some great ideas. Keep them coming. We will be sitting with maps and a cuppa as the weeks go by, a poring over your places. :)
 
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