Travelling around Northern Germany , advice please (1 Viewer)

[Tony50]

We are hoping travel around Northern Germany ,any persons who have done it could you give us any advice, and is it interesting in regards to country side , towns to visit , and is the Calais Port now ok to start and return from , thanks.
Tony A

 

[jdk62]

Stop at the Polish border....

 

[BreweryDave]

Don't mention ze var........

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[rb62]

We have friends who live near Cloppenburg so I can recommend the open air museum,(you can overnight on the carpark) there is also a fully serviced stellplatz in town.We've been all the way up to the Kiel canal and the Baltic coast,scenery can be a bit flat in places!
We were over there in September,two days back to Calais from Cloppenburg,stayed at Cite Europe on the way out and back.

 

[Rapido925M]

In autumn 2015 we crossed from Harwich, arriving just in time to drive round the Rotterdam ring road in pouring rain.

We stayed at:
Gouda (14Oct, €8 inc EHU) - lovely town with cheese museum & large proportion of Netherlands stained glass windows,
Abbenes (15Oct, €10+2.50 EHU) farm site, v quiet, homemade soup etc. Lovely little village nearby with ATM.
Camping Gaaspar, Amsterdam (€73.50 for 3 nights inc EHU): short walk to Metro to watch SiL run Amsterdam marathon.
Almere Haven (€12.50 + 3.00 EHU): peaceful views over moorings, excellent showers, nice town.

We then headed into Germany to see family:
Lingen (€5) [lovely aire, riverside walk into town],
Dummer See (free+ €2.50 metered EHU) [quiet aire, buy tokens at local restaurants next to large shallow lake],
Buckeburg (€6+1EHU) [dedicated parking near schloss and town with market],
Nienburg (€5+ 2.50 metered EHU) [peaceful riverside aire with walk over bridge to lovely pedestrianized town centre]
before returning to Netherlands:

Delfzijl (2ct) (free+€1 EHU but no water - bought bottles at nearby Lidl/Aldi?) Cold and foggy. Ems Hotel (just by the aire) looked very interesting
Lauwersoog (€15 inc EHU) - wonderful waterside camping.
Harlingen (€7.50+ 1 metered EHU) just beside locks with interesting beautiful city only a very short walk.
Almere Haven again - we found it a particularly relaxing spot!
Gorinchem (2Nov, €10 inc EHU), marina on the banks of the Rhine. Very peaceful and interesting.

Apart from Delfzijl, we enjoyed reasonable weather (shirt sleeves for approx 40% of time), excellent roads, interesting places, cheap fuel, cheap alcohol!

The sailing from Harwich was more expensive than Dover, but it saved approx 400 miles of driving plus Dartford Crossing charges.

Gordon

 

[PhilG]

My advice is use Dunkirk... its nearer , and if you pick your times, always cheaper.

Not done the north, usually south and central, but there will be nice places for sure.

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[7735]

When are you going.? Northern Germany can be very cold it has no Gulf Stream to it warm it. I would go south to Bavaria.

Spongy

 

[tacr2man]

Hamelin , lovely old town there is a stellplatze just outside the old town walls, so easy walk in .
Leipzig , lots to see and about 5 big shopping malls with a wide variety of good quality shops .
Berlin is a must , you can find plenty of places quite a way out of Berlin to camp , and then use the S bahn to go into the middle

 

[Tony50]

In autumn 2015 we crossed from Harwich, arriving just in time to drive round the Rotterdam ring road in pouring rain.

We stayed at:
Gouda (14Oct, €8 inc EHU) - lovely town with cheese museum & large proportion of Netherlands stained glass windows,
Abbenes (15Oct, €10+2.50 EHU) farm site, v quiet, homemade soup etc. Lovely little village nearby with ATM.
Camping Gaaspar, Amsterdam (€73.50 for 3 nights inc EHU): short walk to Metro to watch SiL run Amsterdam marathon.
Almere Haven (€12.50 + 3.00 EHU): peaceful views over moorings, excellent showers, nice town.

We then headed into Germany to see family:
Lingen (€5) [lovely aire, riverside walk into town],
Dummer See (free+ €2.50 metered EHU) [quiet aire, buy tokens at local restaurants next to large shallow lake],
Buckeburg (€6+1EHU) [dedicated parking near schloss and town with market],
Nienburg (€5+ 2.50 metered EHU) [peaceful riverside aire with walk over bridge to lovely pedestrianized town centre]
before returning to Netherlands:

And thanks Tony A

Delfzijl (2

ct) (free+€1 EHU but no water - bought bottles at nearby Lidl/Aldi?) Cold and foggy. Ems Hotel (just by the aire) looked very interesting
Lauwersoog (€15 inc EHU) - wonderful waterside camping.
Harlingen (€7.50+ 1 metered EHU) just beside locks with interesting beautiful city only a very short walk.
Almere Haven again - we found it a particularly relaxing spot!
Gorinchem (2Nov, €10 inc EHU), marina on the banks of the Rhine. Very peaceful and interesting.

Apart from Delfzijl, we enjoyed reasonable weather (shirt sleeves for approx 40% of time), excellent roads, interesting places, cheap fuel, cheap alcohol!

The sailing from Harwich was more expensive than Dover, but it saved approx 400 miles of driving plus Dartford Crossing charges.

Gordon

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[Tony50]

Hamelin , lovely old town there is a stellplatze just outside the old town walls, so easy walk in .
Leipzig , lots to see and about 5 big shopping malls with a wide variety of good quality shops .
Berlin is a must , you can find plenty of places quite a way out of Berlin to camp , and then use the S bahn to go into the middle

and thanks Tony A

 

[Tony50]

Hamelin , lovely old town there is a stellplatze just outside the old town walls, so easy walk in .
Leipzig , lots to see and about 5 big shopping malls with a wide variety of good quality shops .
Berlin is a must , you can find plenty of places quite a way out of Berlin to camp , and then use the S bahn to go into the middle

And thanks Tony A

 

[Tony50]

We have friends who live near Cloppenburg so I can recommend the open air museum,(you can overnight on the carpark) there is also a fully serviced stellplatz in town.We've been all the way up to the Kiel canal and the Baltic coast,scenery can be a bit flat in places!
We were over there in September,two days back to Calais from Cloppenburg,stayed at Cite Europe on the way out and back.

And thanks Tony A

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[Lenny HB]

The islands of Rugen & Usedom are well worth a visit, if the weather is nice plenty of opportunities for skinny dipping, if you are in cloths on the beach you will be the odd one out.
At Peenemünde on Usedom you have the V2 museum where they built V1's and first V2's.

 

[tacr2man]

Just remembered another nice little town with cheap stellplatze
Soest , dont confuse with dutch town
https://www.promobil.de/stellplatz/stellplatz-am-city-motel-588f1dd5721d54a52815e28c.html

 

[paddymcc]

We have used the free stellplatz at Sittensen (SW of Hamburg) on the way to Norway. Nice walk by a millpond and good ice cream parlour on the main street!
Lubeck is meant to be worth a visit.

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[Rugeley Tim]

We were posted to Northern Germany in Hohne and came back a couple of years ago, we had the MH with us when we were there. There are loads of nice places to visit including Bremen, Hannover, Celle and of course Hohne which is where you will find Belsen which is well worth a visit.Did the drive several times and it is really easy from either Calais or Dunkirk. All of the towns/ cities have Stella platz as it is law if there is a population over a certain amount to promote tourism. They are generally very well maintained and in the centre of town but the numerous proper sites are also worth a visit.

 

[Riverbankannie]

We started from Calais and then went south staying at the marina aire at Stenay. Through Luxembourg to Trier on the Moselle. This town was the Roman capital of Northern Europe.
We headed up the Moselle towards Koblenz over 3 days staying roadside by the river and visiting the towns and Eltz castle. A definite must.
At Koblenz the Stellplatz by the river was overflowing with queuing campervans so we were lucky to be given a corner on the friendly ACSI site Camping Wolfsmühle, who were otherwise full themselves.
From Koblenz we travelled east to Eisenach where we found an interesting (to us) automobile museum in the old Opel factory. Eisenach itself worth a wander around, we passed houses where Martin Luther and where Bach had lived. Wartberg Schloss ,up on the Hill, a must.

Next stop Erfurt which has timber framed houses 3 stories high on either side of the bridge over the river. Good park and ride here.
Jena is a university town and fairly ordinary however we loved the ACSI campsite there with an old tram as an office and hot food cooked freshly every day in a big pot as there were lots of motorbiker with tents and little else. A lovely laid back atmosphere. Buchenwald concentration camp is nearby and a harrowing but sort of necessary visit.
The autobahn to Dessau is long and straight and has extra wide bridges and was once a race testing track and called the Reichsautobahn.
At Dessau we stayed on the airfield Stellplatz that was once part of the Junkers aircraft factory. Really reminded us of home as we have witnessed the contraction of the once huge expanse of British Aerospace and Rolls Royce in Bristol. As ex workers we were interested in the Junkers Museum nearby. Lots of design ideas that got taken up by the Americans after the war once they had their hands on the plans.
For Berlin, we stayed on the large campsite at Potsdam getting a discount by booking through C&MC as it is expensive but nice, on the lakeside and free shuttle to bus stop. We took an organised tour of Potsdam and the old palaces and walked to Gleiniker Bridge (the bridge of spies). There are water taxis along the lake and you can go into Berlin this way too.

Travelling north, next stop marina Stellplatz at Neubrandenburg, the walked town of four medieval gates and part of the European Route of Brick Gothic. I went off on my bike and failed to realise all gates looked the same and came out of a different one to the one I entered and had a bit of a moment when I realised I was lost!

We reached the Baltic at Usedom and I would recommend a visit to the museum at Peenemünde where the V1 and V2 rockets developed. Once again we could see the plans the Germans were developing for rocket technology that were later used by the Americans. My family from East End of London and were much affected by the Blitz and later by V1 and V2 rockets so quite an experience for me. The museum very well done and balanced and has been given a cross of nails from the burned Coventry Cathedral in recognition of their good displays.

On to Rügen Islands, great cycling and we enjoyed just relaxing in the countryside. We did walk to the National Park White Cliffs but it would be easier to use the Park and Ride. Not quite as impressive as ours but a landmark in otherwise flat land and a fabulous walk through ancient beech woods. Kap Arkona a touristy but attractive spot. We missed the famous landmark of Hitler’s holiday resort at Prora, only realising it was there after we left.

Wismar and Greifswald both stops worth a look around, part of the Hanseatic league of cities but my favourite has to be Lübeck. A handy Stellplatz here free on Sundays. Stayed 2 nights and loved the town, much eating of Marzipan treats and also a nice circular boat ride all around the town rather like Bruges. Do visit St Mary’s Church where the bells lay as they fell in 1942 when the cathedral was razed like Coventry but rebuilt. Don’t miss the Holstentor town gate.

We stayed on a campsite outside Kiel at Leboe for the annual Kiel Festival, tall ships, ships of all sizes and lots of street entertainment. The fjord water jump on jump off boat is good value for a 9 euro day ticket which includes buses too. Be there on the Saturday for the famous Windjammer Parade. Book campsite well ahead if you want to stay at this time and worth paying extra for pitch overlooking fjord as there are sailing races and the tall ships go out twice a day. Great to just get the chairs out, a drink and watch them go by.

Hope I have given you some ideas and I thoroughly recommend a trip to Northern Germany.

 

[nicholsong]

Stop at the Polish border....

Why?

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[jdk62]

Because the last time a large bunch of people crossed the border it caused chaos...

 

[Tony50]

We started from Calais and then went south staying at the marina aire at Stenay. Through Luxembourg to Trier on the Moselle. This town was the Roman capital of Northern Europe.
We headed up the Moselle towards Koblenz over 3 days staying roadside by the river and visiting the towns and Eltz castle. A definite must.
At Koblenz the Stellplatz by the river was overflowing with queuing campervans so we were lucky to be given a corner on the friendly ACSI site Camping Wolfsmühle, who were otherwise full themselves.
From Koblenz we travelled east to Eisenach where we found an interesting (to us) automobile museum in the old Opel factory. Eisenach itself worth a wander around, we passed houses where Martin Luther and where Bach had lived. Wartberg Schloss ,up on the Hill, a must.

Next stop Erfurt which has timber framed houses 3 stories high on either side of the bridge over the river. Good park and ride here.
Jena is a university town and fairly ordinary however we loved the ACSI campsite there with an old tram as an office and hot food cooked freshly every day in a big pot as there were lots of motorbiker with tents and little else. A lovely laid back atmosphere. Buchenwald concentration camp is nearby and a harrowing but sort of necessary visit.
The autobahn to Dessau is long and straight and has extra wide bridges and was once a race testing track and called the Reichsautobahn.
At Dessau we stayed on the airfield Stellplatz that was once part of the Junkers aircraft factory. Really reminded us
of home as we have witnessed the contraction of the once huge expanse of British Aerospace and Rolls Royce in Bristol. As ex workers we were interested in the Junkers Museum nearby. Lots of design ideas that got taken up by the Americans after the war once they had their hands on the plans.
For Berlin, we stayed on the large campsite at Potsdam getting a discount by booking through C&MC as it is expensive but nice, on the lakeside and free shuttle to bus stop. We took an organised tour of Potsdam and the old palaces and walked to Gleiniker Bridge (the bridge of spies). There are water taxis along the lake and you can go into Berlin this way too.

Travelling north, next stop marina Stellplatz at Neubrandenburg, the walked town of four medieval gates and part of the European Route of Brick Gothic. I went off on my bike and failed to realise all gates looked the same and came out of a different one to the one I entered and had a bit of a moment when I realised I was lost!

We reached the Baltic at Usedom and I would recommend a visit to the museum at Peenemünde where the V1 and V2 rockets developed. Once again we could see the plans the Germans were developing for rocket technology that were later used by the Americans. My family from East End of London and were much affected by the Blitz and later by V1 and V2 rockets so quite an experience for me. The museum very well done and balanced and has been given a cross of nails from the burned Coventry Cathedral in recognition of their good displays.

On to Rügen Islands, great cycling and we enjoyed just relaxing in the countryside. We did walk to the National Park White Cliffs but it would be easier to use the Park and Ride. Not quite as impressive as ours but a landmark in otherwise flat land and a fabulous walk through ancient beech woods. Kap Arkona a touristy but attractive spot. We missed the famous landmark of Hitler’s holiday resort at Prora, only realising it was there after we left.

Wismar and Greifswald both stops worth a look around, part of the Hanseatic league of cities but my favourite has to be Lübeck. A handy Stellplatz here free on Sundays. Stayed 2 nights and loved the town, much eating of Marzipan treats and also a nice circular boat ride all around the town rather like Bruges. Do visit St Mary’s Church where the bells lay as they fell in 1942 when the cathedral was razed like Coventry but rebuilt. Don’t miss the Holstentor town gate.

We stayed on a campsite outside Kiel at Leboe for the annual Kiel Festival, tall ships, ships of all sizes and lots of street entertainment. The fjord water jump on jump off boat is good value for a 9 euro day ticket which includes buses too. Be there on the Saturday for the famous Windjammer Parade. Book campsite well ahead if you want to stay at this time and worth paying extra for pitch overlooking fjord as there are sailing races and the tall ships go out twice a day. Great to just get the chairs out, a drink and watch them go by.

Hope I have given you some ideas and I thoroughly recommend a trip to Northern Germany.

Thanks very much, we are at this moment collating all the really helpful information and really appreciate it, I realise going South is warmer, but, we have wanted to do this area for some time.

Tony A.

 

[Tony50]

We were thinking about late May for about 6 weeks , does anybody see any problems with this idea ie. does staying over there to the start of July , Thanks.

Tony A

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[Riverbankannie]

We were thinking about late May for about 6 weeks , does anybody see any problems with this idea ie. does staying over there to the start of July , Thanks.

Tony A

That’s exactly the time we went heading for Kiel last week in June and then home. At the same time there were catastrophic floods in Southern Germany, we had fantastic weather, very hot from Koblenz on until the cooler breezes on the Baltic coast.