We will be renting an RV type Camper Van in Munich. We%26#39;d like to drive through a bit of the Black Forest perhaps Triburg to Freiburg. I%26#39;ve been told the roads are very small and narrow and perhaps we shouldn%26#39;t try to do that. I am new at driving such a van.
Another option would be to go what looks like around the black forest Auto 8 to 52 to Freiburg. If we do that will we see the black forest and get a feel for it? Are there easy places to duck into the Black forest for a feel without doing lots of driving on very small roads? We are thinking about taking the cable car in Freiburg - is that a good thing to do. I have 2 teenagers.
Thanks, becky
|||
All the highways anywhere in Germany are certainly wide enough (they are used by large trucks), as are almost all smaller backroads. You can find plenty of routes through the Black Forest that will cause no problems. The autobahn route to Freiburg, A8 and A5, will actually go through a few miles of the Black Forest by Pforzheim on the A8, but I wouldn%26#39;t call it being in the Black Forest, and I doubt that you would recognize it as such.
Probably a better route would be to take the A8 to the A81 south by Stuttgart, and then exit at Villigen-Schwenningen and take Hwy33 to Triberg. (You might like to visit fairytale-like Hohenzollern Castle - www.burg-hohenzollern.com - it%26#39;s not far out of your way.) Then continue on Hwy33 to Hwy294 by Haslach, and then head to Freiburg. Just a short distance along Hwy294 is the excellent open air museum with reconstructed large Black Forest farmhouses. (The parking lot is confusing, just enter it, and the ticket office will give you what you need to exit the parking lot.)
Some useful websites for this part of Germany:
www.baden-wuerttemberg.de the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg
www.tourismus-bw.de Baden-Wuerttemberg tourism
www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de the excellent castles, palaces, medieval monasteries and gardens operated by this state
www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info Black Forest tourism
www.stuttgart-tourist.de Stuttgart tourism
www.schwaebischealb.de Swabian Alb (limestone mountains with lots of castles and caves and nice cliffside scenery) tourism
www.bodensee-tourismus.com Lake Constance tourism
|||
Thank you very much for your helpful directions, comments and encouragement! We will follow your suggested route.
With warm regard, Becky
|||
After thinking it over, you should have few, if any, problems driving. It%26#39;s parking that will cause problems. Suitable places to park a larger vehicle may be almost nonexistent in many place such as large cities. For instance, although there are many parking garages in which a larger vehicle can%26#39;t enter at the Frankfurt Airport, there is only one poorly signposted, suitable, fairly remote parking lot. I%26#39;m afraid you may find similar situations elsewhere (parking for cars is easy, the parking garages you can%26#39;t enter are all well signposted). You should probably do an internet search about traveling about Germany in a camper, and see how others have coped with this parking problem.
I%26#39;ll add that Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) has a camping area about two miles from the city center, and other towns may also have the same. Then you can easily get around by public transportation. Stuttgart also has an excellent small free booklet about traveling by motorhome in the region, listing suitable stops in the area, many of which are free, some also have free electricity, and things to visit nearby. But many of these places have only a very few sites.
|||
I have heard that it is legal to camp overnight anywhere (at any place, road, park, next to river, etc.) in Germany, as long as you only stay one night. I don%26#39;t mean a designated camping area, which has more generous regulations, I mean anywhere else. Is this true?
|||
Hi NYNM,
that%26#39;s not quite true. It%26#39;s explicitly permitted only on parking places, service areas etc. (as well as for standard cars)
I would advise against camping at other places, since the laws are very complicated. There are special rules concerning conservation areas, private sites, forest fires, garbage etc.. And those rules differ from state to state, at that.
No comments:
Post a Comment