As soon as we were back from the trip to Spain and France it was time to start looking for somewhere to go in the early summer next year.
We have toured France and Spain a few times on the motorcycle, car and motorhome. I prefer Spain and Claire likes France. She is pretty decent at speaking French whereas I last learned at school. That was 51 years ago!
So my thoughts have turned to further east, and Germany. It's another country we have been to a good number of times, but apart from wine festivals it's been mostly driving through.
The first crossing of Germany was to go to the FIM Rally. That year it was being held in Budapest at the Nepstadion. It was 1986.
As we had never been into the "east" before and were going to visit a long-term penpal in Brno, we decided to enter via the Austrian border north of Vienna. The trip across Germany wasn't that memorable! We did the A3 route and into Austria north of Salzburg.
In the late 80's before the Wall came down I did a few trips to the Suzuki Owners Club Czech Centre "Invader Rally" on the bike and that meant either the A3 route to Nuremburg or the A4 route via Dresden, with both going via Prague.
In 1991 I went on my DR800SL, nonstop from Zeebrugge to Brno after a night on the P&O boat from Felixstowe. Stopping only for fuel and a snack. This time the A4 route and through Dresden.
In the car the route has also been one of the two! In 1992 we went in the Fiat Panda to Brno in February. I had just finished a course at International House in London to qualify to teach English as a Foreign Language but was struggling to get a job.
Language schools were only wanting recent graduates who they assumed would work for peanuts rather than a 36yo! Who actually did work for peanuts eventually. We "did" the Eiffel Mountains and then the A3 route.
In 2011 we went in the car again after a few trips to the SOC Rally and also to the MotoGP over the years. This time in Claire's Peugeot 207CC, to visit my former colleagues from the Gymnazium in Zastavka u Brna.
On this occasion we went on the A4 route, with a stop over at the youth hostel in Colditz Castle for a couple of nights to visit the museum. On the way back through Austria and into Bavaria we did part of the Romantic Route.
The last time was in 2022 when we once again went on the bikes to the SOC's "Invader Rally". We did the Romantic Route on the way back from Fussen, and the castles, to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber.
So where to this time? Germany is on the cards. But the Castles Road or "die Burgenstraße". It's nigh on 500 miles from Mannheim to Bayreuth. I have downloaded the GPX files from the official site but need to find something to import them with, as MyRouteApp claims there are no waypoints!
I imported the Plans dot TomTom online and it picked up lots of waypoints but doesn't allow editing.
I sent off to Germany and now have the map (in English) and the "old timer guide (in German) to work my way through.
The route does pass through Rothenburg and so that might be a good point to split off and have another look at the Romantic Route. Claire hasn't been to the Neuschwanstein castles and that might be a fitting end to the outward journey.
By then the "Molly" will have morphed into "Malibu Molly"! That change alone should make parking easier. Once I have worked out a rough idea of stops I can start to get each day into MyRouteApp and then from there into the TomTom Camper Max.
There's plenty of time....
We have toured France and Spain a few times on the motorcycle, car and motorhome. I prefer Spain and Claire likes France. She is pretty decent at speaking French whereas I last learned at school. That was 51 years ago!
So my thoughts have turned to further east, and Germany. It's another country we have been to a good number of times, but apart from wine festivals it's been mostly driving through.
The first crossing of Germany was to go to the FIM Rally. That year it was being held in Budapest at the Nepstadion. It was 1986.
As we had never been into the "east" before and were going to visit a long-term penpal in Brno, we decided to enter via the Austrian border north of Vienna. The trip across Germany wasn't that memorable! We did the A3 route and into Austria north of Salzburg.
In the late 80's before the Wall came down I did a few trips to the Suzuki Owners Club Czech Centre "Invader Rally" on the bike and that meant either the A3 route to Nuremburg or the A4 route via Dresden, with both going via Prague.
In 1991 I went on my DR800SL, nonstop from Zeebrugge to Brno after a night on the P&O boat from Felixstowe. Stopping only for fuel and a snack. This time the A4 route and through Dresden.
In the car the route has also been one of the two! In 1992 we went in the Fiat Panda to Brno in February. I had just finished a course at International House in London to qualify to teach English as a Foreign Language but was struggling to get a job.
Language schools were only wanting recent graduates who they assumed would work for peanuts rather than a 36yo! Who actually did work for peanuts eventually. We "did" the Eiffel Mountains and then the A3 route.
In 2011 we went in the car again after a few trips to the SOC Rally and also to the MotoGP over the years. This time in Claire's Peugeot 207CC, to visit my former colleagues from the Gymnazium in Zastavka u Brna.
On this occasion we went on the A4 route, with a stop over at the youth hostel in Colditz Castle for a couple of nights to visit the museum. On the way back through Austria and into Bavaria we did part of the Romantic Route.
The last time was in 2022 when we once again went on the bikes to the SOC's "Invader Rally". We did the Romantic Route on the way back from Fussen, and the castles, to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber.
So where to this time? Germany is on the cards. But the Castles Road or "die Burgenstraße". It's nigh on 500 miles from Mannheim to Bayreuth. I have downloaded the GPX files from the official site but need to find something to import them with, as MyRouteApp claims there are no waypoints!
I imported the Plans dot TomTom online and it picked up lots of waypoints but doesn't allow editing.
I sent off to Germany and now have the map (in English) and the "old timer guide (in German) to work my way through.
The route does pass through Rothenburg and so that might be a good point to split off and have another look at the Romantic Route. Claire hasn't been to the Neuschwanstein castles and that might be a fitting end to the outward journey.
By then the "Molly" will have morphed into "Malibu Molly"! That change alone should make parking easier. Once I have worked out a rough idea of stops I can start to get each day into MyRouteApp and then from there into the TomTom Camper Max.
There's plenty of time....
