Germany in a camper

[Girlintheframe]

DH and I are planning on spending 2 weeks in Germany the 1st two weeks
of July.
We are planning on spending 3 days in Berlin then hiring a camper to spend the rest of the time travelling around the South.
Has anyone done this? Where would you recommend? Any top tips?

You'll have a fabulous time - Germany has so much to offer in terms of variety from glorious countryside to high-tech cities. We have done several touring camping trips over the years and theres always so much to see from the historical states to the scenes of twentieth century history. Obviously its a big country and the travelling distances can be large.

Where you go depends on what you want to see. Heading down from Berlin youve got places like Dresden, Magdeburg etc. We had a great time in the Black Forest area - lots of fabulous countryside, picturesque small towns etc. I would recommend Munich and Freiburg. Also its worth looking at the wine growing areas - there are various routes you an take

In terms of practicalities it can be an interesting experience on the motorways, Several of the ones we travelled on were only two lanes with lorries using the inside lane; our Citroen found it hard at times to keep up with the fancy BMWs and Porshches!

Its worth looking at the school holidays across the country - each state seems to have different dates ranging from June to August so roads can get very busy in certain areas and campsites can get full.

The German tourist board website has lots of useful information - https://www.germany.travel/en/home.html

We had an amazing trip to Munich a few years ago - a beautiful city to explore. And then we had a day trip to Neuschwanstein castle which was amazing! A proper fairytale castle!

We loved Trier and along the Mosel , ( you can pop over to Luxembourg from Trier also - cheapest fuel in the EU so well worth filling up) .
Black forest, Bodensee and Freiburg are all fab ..

Starting in Berlin, I’d stay in the north, along the Baltic. Just beautiful with great facilities. Enjoy.

I’m not really sure where we want to go exactly except to say that we both fancy Berlin, Munich and the Black Forest. We like cities but only for a couple of days and after that would rather be hiking or just in nature generally. Does anyone k ow what it’s like interns of using a camper? Do you have to go designated camping/camper parks or can you ‘wild camp’?

No wildcamping but many towns and villages will have Stellplaz you can overnight in , some free, some paid with facilities such as water and electricity and waste disposal ( but not always toilets so make sure you hire a van with one! ) They are generally very good in Germany , safe and well used. You can find them on apps like Camperconnect and Park4night

Brilliant, exactly the kind of info I was looking for @Laska2Meryls

We did a Rhine cruise a couple of years ago and frequently saw riverside campsites with vans. They looked idyllic - it is a beautiful area (especially if you like castles!).

Check Frankonia, that's northern Bavaria, north of Nürnberg.

Search for Sites has an inexpensive app and free website. We used it a lot in France when we took our camper van.

Germany is brilliant for free camping or low cost park ups. Use wohnmobilstellplatz in google maps

We found a free park up next to a natural pool and cycle track in the Black Forest. We ended up staying 3 nights. At the bottom of the black forest there was another brilliant one for around 5 euro close to some brilliant walks and cycle paths. We then headed into Switzerland, however the Germans we spoke to said it’s like that all over Germany

Thanks so much everyone!