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We are 23 days into a 30 day tour of Germany. We've had a very good tour so far. We started at Trier on the Mosel with three nights on the Messepark car park. We arrived after dark and when we saw all the vans we assumed it was the Stellplatz, in the morning we realised it was the Messepark which is free and it's right next door to the Stellplatz which charges €5 per night, there were about fifty campers on the Messepark and about 30 on the Stellplatz. We were amazed at the number of campers about for the time of year. We pottered along the Mosel to Koblenz using the many Stellplatz in the area. Some were free and at two we paid €6 per night.
From Koblenz we moved down the Rhine to Bingen, we had one night at Oberwesel and two at Bacharach, both very pleasant places to watch the Rhine traffic, like the Mosel little had changed since we were last here ten years ago. We then moved on to tour the Odenwald slowly moving down the River Neckar from Heidelberg to Heilbronn. After that it was the turn of the Black Forest, it was nineteen years since we last toured the area. We had two nights at Oberkirch, two nights at Freiburg then across the river into France for a couple of nights at Chalampe. Then it was a quick trip into Switzerland for a look at the Rhine falls at Scaffhausen and then back into the Black Forest for two nights at Unterkirnach and one night at Buhl. The forested sides of the valleys are beautiful, full of autumn colours and so far the weather has been very kind to us..
We are spending tonight at Bad Bergzabern before moving north on the Deutsche Weinstrasse then it's back along the Rhine and Mosel to Trier.
So far it's all gone well and we have both enjoyed visiting old and new haunts.
For those who are not familiar with the German Stellplatz here are a few personal observations on the ones we have used so far on this trip.
We used the ADAC (German AA) Stellplatz Guide, the 2005 edition (ISBN 3-89905-213-7) cost us €12.90 from the ADAC office in Freiburg.
Stellplatz are now found in many cities/towns/villages and come in all shapes and sizes (4 to 200 pitches). They can be found in town/village car parks with Motorhome designated parking bays, swimming pool/sport centre car parks, specially built landscaped areas usually maintained by the local authority, on river bank and quayside car parks, attached to and sometimes even inside campsites. They can also be found at restaurants where it's obligatory to eat in the restaurant. We have also come across them attached to the Wine Caves but have never stayed the night. This is a few examples of where Stellplatz can be found. After talking to the locals I'm led to believe that there are now 2000+ Stellplatz available in Germany with more opening each month. We found three new ones that were not listed in the 2005 guide. We never came across any indications of length of stay restrictions.
Cost vary from place to place, expect to pay more in the popular tourist areas. On this trip so far we have paid €50 for 23 nights. The most we paid was €7 for the night at the Rhine Falls. The average for the areas we visited was €5 per night. Out of the 23 night stops we have had so far 13 were free. Many night fees are collected by machine and the ones we encountered only took coins. So if you are planning to use the Stellplatz make sure you have a ready supply of one and two Euro coins and 50 cent pieces for the electricity box. Some sites require you to visit the tourist office or Rathaus (Town Hall/Council Office)
Facilities also varied considerably, many had a service point (named Sani Station & Holiday Clean) or directions to the nearest one. Charges were usually one or two Euros for fresh water (80 to 120 litres), emptying toilet and waste tanks. On many sites we used a 8+ metre motorhome would have problems trying to dump waste. Unlike France we have yet to come across an unserviceable Sani Station/Holiday Clean.
Electricity is available on some sites, usually metered. The only one we used cost 50 Euro cents for 1 Kilowatt. The Stellplatz at Unterkirnach was €6 per night which included electricity and free use of the Sani Station, a very good bargain, on the 1 & 2 November the Stellplatz was full (14) places.
This is our first experience of the German Stellplatz and they compare favourably with the French Aires.
I hope the info is useful, I'm sure our continental friends can add to it for the benefit of all.
Brilliant Don & Dave. I will look forward to following in his tyre tracks next year. I am sure this is the sort of post Nuke envisaged when he set up this site.
If you can, please pass this, and my thanks on to Don for an excellent resume of his travels so far, its nearly a mirror image of our autumn holiday and we wish we were back there with him (roll on retirement).
We were touring around the area mid October and saw a silver Timberland parked at Bernkastel, I wonder if that was Don?
If he's heading north from Bad Bergzabern then a visit to Neustadt an Der Weinstrasse is a must, theres a stellplatze there for €2.50 a night (Martin Luther strasse) and many other fine stellplatze dotted around this region, many located in vineyards where you can be guaranteed a warm welcome and lots of free tasters of the local hooch, I'm sure, intrepid traveller that Don is, that he'll suss all that out himself though!
It might also interest folk to know that it is now permitted to park overnight in a m/home anywhere on the roadside or in a parking area in Germany as long as there are no signs to the contrary, as long as you use your own facilities and don't put out tables, chair and awnings etc. What i'm trying to say here is that wildcamping is technically legal in Germany.
The estimate of 2,000 stellplatze is probably a conservative one, in my 2004 bordatlas there are over 2,800 listed, so I would expect the 2006 edition will easily exceed 3,000 places where you can stop overnight for free or minimal cost, can you imagine that in the UK (I wish!).
I also noticed that he stayed at the s/platze at unternkirnach, probably the best s/platze we have ever visited, one thing omitted - also included in your €6 fee is unlimited use of the local indoor heated swimming pool and showers, incredible value for money.
I've been saying it for years - Germany is a fantastic country to tour with a motorhome.
Enjoy the rest of your hols Don, look forward to your stories when you get back.
thanks for your compliments over the " Stellplatz " situation in our country...
But ... what about possibilies to overnight in G.-B...outside from camping grounds, with mh ???
Greatings from Bavaria,
duc
Hello Duc
I have yet to try the Stellplatz in Germany our last visit was about 10 years ago when we used campsites. There is an active attempt from Carol & Dave on here& others to get something similar for this country. Take a look here.:-
my forum friends of the french Campingcar-infos forum, have often question about travelling in your country...and so I just publish that info on them forum...
Thank you...
with kind regards,
duc
______________________________________________________________ Please, have indulgence with my poor english...
hi, has anyone been down the romantic road through rothenburg o d turber? or something like that, there are some beautiful towns and castles along the way with stelplatzs?, sorry about the spelling
pete
It might also interest folk to know that it is now permitted to park overnight in a m/home anywhere on the roadside or in a parking area in Germany as long as there are no signs to the contrary, as long as you use your own facilities and don't put out tables, chair and awnings etc. What i'm trying to say here is that wildcamping is technically legal in Germany.
Hi Peejay,
you should be a bit careful here. You are basically right, even though the experts would call it "not illegal" instead of "legal" . However, at least in Germany's northernmost province "Schleswig-Holstein" it is illegal by provincial law. And - and that's an important difference to UK - if you do it there and the local plod calls, then you will not just be asked to move on, but you will be fined on the spot!
Nevertheless, also in Schleswig-Holstein there are a lot of nice Stellplatz type sites, and all over the rest of Germany, maybe with the exception of Munich, you will have no problem as long as you keep a low profile.
Best Regards,
Gerhard
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