Tuesday 16th April we got the night ferry Harwich-Hook of Holland. Pleasant crossing and the pet friendly cabin was fine. Stena ferries seem to be in better nick than P&O from Hull, I think I saw somewhere that Stena's ferries have had a recent overhaul/update?
Wednesday morning we drove through alternating rain, sleet and bright sunshine to our first nightstop in Schüttorf, just over the border in Germany. It was a municipal Stellplatz in the town centre, which was free and had the usual water, grey disposal and cassette emptying but no EHU. The larger adjacent parking area, normally used by busses/HGVs was occupied by a Circus, but it started at 16:00 and was done by 17:45.
Thursday 18th was a leisurely drive to Bremen, and a stellplatz colocated behind a hotel in Hastedt, at a cost of €22. A 15 minute tram ride took us into the centre, where we met up with friends for the evening.
Lübeck was the next destination the following day, and there is free overnight parking right on the waterfront between 18:00-10:00. I arrived at 17:30, and dutifully put 40c in the parking machine to cover the odd 30 minutes before the free parking started, and I received a ticket with an expiry of 10:03 the following day! What a bargain. I was also lucky to get the last spot right on the waterfront.
Saturday saw us heading to Rügen Island, and Prora, which is where the Nazis built massive multi storey accommodation blocks to house 10,000 people for R&R. Despite being redeveloped into private flats in recent years, it is still an impressive sight. We stayed at the nearest campsite, about 2Km away, which was quite expensive at €37 for one night, although the facilities were very good, including EHU and water at your pitch. There was also a good restaurant on site. Rügen is very scenic and well worth a visit.
Sunday was an easy drive to Peenemünde, and the V-weapons museum, which I personally found disappointing, mainly due to very bad lighting inside, and poorly marked/non-existent directions. Even so, I am glad to have crossed it off my list of places to see.
Monday we continued East, and crossed into Poland for our next nightstop in Kolobrzeg. The roads in Poland (thus far,) came as a bit of a shock after Germany - at one point my Waze took me across country on roads that tested both the vans suspension and my fillings, but they seemed to get better as the day evolved.
Total miles since leaving UK: 750
Wednesday morning we drove through alternating rain, sleet and bright sunshine to our first nightstop in Schüttorf, just over the border in Germany. It was a municipal Stellplatz in the town centre, which was free and had the usual water, grey disposal and cassette emptying but no EHU. The larger adjacent parking area, normally used by busses/HGVs was occupied by a Circus, but it started at 16:00 and was done by 17:45.
Thursday 18th was a leisurely drive to Bremen, and a stellplatz colocated behind a hotel in Hastedt, at a cost of €22. A 15 minute tram ride took us into the centre, where we met up with friends for the evening.
Lübeck was the next destination the following day, and there is free overnight parking right on the waterfront between 18:00-10:00. I arrived at 17:30, and dutifully put 40c in the parking machine to cover the odd 30 minutes before the free parking started, and I received a ticket with an expiry of 10:03 the following day! What a bargain. I was also lucky to get the last spot right on the waterfront.
Saturday saw us heading to Rügen Island, and Prora, which is where the Nazis built massive multi storey accommodation blocks to house 10,000 people for R&R. Despite being redeveloped into private flats in recent years, it is still an impressive sight. We stayed at the nearest campsite, about 2Km away, which was quite expensive at €37 for one night, although the facilities were very good, including EHU and water at your pitch. There was also a good restaurant on site. Rügen is very scenic and well worth a visit.
Sunday was an easy drive to Peenemünde, and the V-weapons museum, which I personally found disappointing, mainly due to very bad lighting inside, and poorly marked/non-existent directions. Even so, I am glad to have crossed it off my list of places to see.
Monday we continued East, and crossed into Poland for our next nightstop in Kolobrzeg. The roads in Poland (thus far,) came as a bit of a shock after Germany - at one point my Waze took me across country on roads that tested both the vans suspension and my fillings, but they seemed to get better as the day evolved.
Total miles since leaving UK: 750
2nd week summary
Tuesday 23rd we headed from Kolobrzeg to Gdansk, and on the way it became obvious that the Poles are spending large amounts of money on upgrading their road system, as our journey alternated between contra-flow, good stretches of what is clearly fairly recently completed 2 lane dual carriageway/motorway, and relatively good condition A-roads.
In Gdansk we stayed at the harbourside for free (for 2 nights total,) and there were good quality modern showers and toilets available behind the harbour masters office for 5 zloty and 4 zloty respectively. No other facilities were available (EHU, water etc.) Gdansk is a lovely city, and our location was within a 10 minute easy walk to bars, restaurants and shops etc. The "London Eye" type wheel cost 37zloty (about £7) and we actually went around 6 times before we had to get off! There are some great views over the city in all directions.
Thursday we headed further east to Olsztyn, which is a pretty city amongst the lakes in Warmia-Masuria province.We overnighted at a campsite behind the Pirat Hotel, with WC and shower being located in the hotel itself.
Friday was an easy 80 mile journey to the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair,) Hitler's eastern headquarters from 1941/2 to 1945. This was where Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler with a briefcase bomb, but the attempt failed, with Hitler only suffering minor injuries.
It cost 105 zloty for admission, camping with EHU and WC/shower all-included, and it was well worth the journey to experience the place on a self-guided walking tour that took about 1.5 hours or so. The whole complex was blown up by the Germans as the Russian forces advanced West in January 1945, but such was the size of the bunker system that many remnants remain.
The following morning we headed to our furthest point East at Poczopek, a small, free nightstop in a forest with coin payment for EHU and water. At this point we were within 15 miles of the Belarus border, and didn't intend heading any further East!
Sunday we travelled 300 miles exactly to Torun, and although it was quite a distance, it was mostly covered on good, modern dual carriageway/motorway with plenty of service stops available for fuel etc. As we had had quite a long day, we didn't go into Torun, but ate at the restaurant at the campsite (Campsite Tramp!)
Poznan was our next destination on Tuesday, and we stayed right in the centre at a large, open air carpark with a barrier system and 24hr parking for 5 zl per hour. The lovely market square is within 10 minutes walk from here, with restaurants etc. all available .
In Gdansk we stayed at the harbourside for free (for 2 nights total,) and there were good quality modern showers and toilets available behind the harbour masters office for 5 zloty and 4 zloty respectively. No other facilities were available (EHU, water etc.) Gdansk is a lovely city, and our location was within a 10 minute easy walk to bars, restaurants and shops etc. The "London Eye" type wheel cost 37zloty (about £7) and we actually went around 6 times before we had to get off! There are some great views over the city in all directions.
Thursday we headed further east to Olsztyn, which is a pretty city amongst the lakes in Warmia-Masuria province.We overnighted at a campsite behind the Pirat Hotel, with WC and shower being located in the hotel itself.
Friday was an easy 80 mile journey to the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair,) Hitler's eastern headquarters from 1941/2 to 1945. This was where Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler with a briefcase bomb, but the attempt failed, with Hitler only suffering minor injuries.
It cost 105 zloty for admission, camping with EHU and WC/shower all-included, and it was well worth the journey to experience the place on a self-guided walking tour that took about 1.5 hours or so. The whole complex was blown up by the Germans as the Russian forces advanced West in January 1945, but such was the size of the bunker system that many remnants remain.
The following morning we headed to our furthest point East at Poczopek, a small, free nightstop in a forest with coin payment for EHU and water. At this point we were within 15 miles of the Belarus border, and didn't intend heading any further East!
Sunday we travelled 300 miles exactly to Torun, and although it was quite a distance, it was mostly covered on good, modern dual carriageway/motorway with plenty of service stops available for fuel etc. As we had had quite a long day, we didn't go into Torun, but ate at the restaurant at the campsite (Campsite Tramp!)
Poznan was our next destination on Tuesday, and we stayed right in the centre at a large, open air carpark with a barrier system and 24hr parking for 5 zl per hour. The lovely market square is within 10 minutes walk from here, with restaurants etc. all available .
