Tuesday 30 September

Despite the church clock bell ringing every quarter hour, we slept well and after the usual van servicing (we do it on every available occasion; there’s nothing worse than a full toilet cassette…) we set off south again. For a change the signs for the R/S were much better, which was just as well as we now seemed to be wandering all over the place, criss-crossing the main road south all the time through more little towns and villages. But at least the roads were quiet and the Bavarian Alps were coming into view in the haze of an overcast but bright morning.

As we've said before, nowhere is really far from anywhere else so by lunchtime we were approaching Schwangau, the nearest place we could stop for the two castles we wanted to see. As the main castle came into view we found somewhere to stop for lunch and make our plans.

Neuschwanstein Castle

We had passed a commercial stellplatz just 2km before, so after a quick investigation of the village for parking etc. we returned and parked up for the rest of the day, our intention to make an early start so we can “do” both castles together tomorrow.

Gives us a chance as well to catch up on the blog etc.

Monday 29 September

An earlier start and after breakfast ventured out to the town on a sunny but initially cold day. Nordlingen is another typical Bavarian town and we have to say very much like everywhere else we've seen on this trip. We ventured onto the town walls, which can be walked all the way round (2.7km) before returning to Bertie for a quick service and a short hop down the road to the ubiquitous Lidl to top up the larder.

Nordlingen

Nordlingen over the rooftops

Aldi and Lidl obviously abound here, but it seems the founders sisters may have got into the act because we've also seen several Norma and Penny that look identical!

Back onto the road and it’s just as well there is a published map of the route (free at all the Tourist Info offices) because, as mentioned yesterday, it’s easy to take a wrong turn. In Harburg, however, they excelled themselves; at a road junction every direction was signposted Romantische Strasse and we ended up going round in circles!

Next place was Donauworth and the guide looked like it was again much like the rest so as the parking was a little way out we again gave it a miss and had lunch. As yesterday, it had gone a bit grey again but approaching Augsburg the sun came out. We really didn’t fancy another city so Bren navigated us around and we picked up the R/S again, through more pretty little villages and pleasant countryside to Landsberg am Lech. A stellplatz was located only a couple of minutes from the centre so we parked up for the night, had a cuppa and walked into town.

Approaching Landsberg am Lech

The tower we climbed the hill for - 

Landsberg Rathaus

Which was, of course, again much of a muchness, except this one was built on the side of a steep hill. Which the Rough Guide said we should climb to see one of the best buildings and the view over the town and river Lech. Yeah, right!

River Lech at sunset

Back to the van and end the day in our usual fashion. We’re now about ¾ the way along the R/S and the rest of the places mentioned don’t really suggest anything different, so tomorrow we’ll push on to the end to what promises to be the highlight, the fairy tale castles of Mad King Ludwig.

Sunday 28 September

A “Sunday morning” departure after a chat with a Brit couple going “the other way” along the Romantische Strasse. We noticed how very quiet everywhere was, despite it being a glorious warm morning, until we got to Feuchtwergen where they were celebrating a (beer) festival. Of course it’s the season of Oktoberfest and the place was heaving. Cars were being parked up to 2km out of town and there was NO chance of getting onto the stellplatz!  We didn't particularly want to stop anyway, but it did hold us up for a while.

Come to the party!

You can get a taxi!

Dinkelsbuhl - most places have a tower gateway

Next place on the agenda was the attractively named Dinkelsbuhl and indeed what we saw of it through the heavy mist that had suddenly dropped down looked nice. However the only m/h parking places were too short for us and we would have blocked everyone else in so decided to give it a miss.

So once again playing hunt-the-road-sign (the signposting for the R/S is very hit and miss, quite often confirming you are on the route but not actually giving any directions) we continued a very pleasant drive to Nordlingen, another walled town. Plenty of (free) parking here so we stopped for lunch, intending to explore afterwards. But for no apparent reason we realised we were both very tired so decided to stay put and have a snooze in the sun………..

After tea we finished off the last of the NCIS boxed DVD’s and our day ended there.

Roundabout Art (you thought we'd forgotten didn't you?)

Saturday 27 September

Today we continue down the Romantischestrasse, for the moment following the River Tauber. The Romantic Road is a series of towns and villages with some particular feature, be it a church or special bit of architecture, all set in the rolling north Bavarian countryside and all within 30 mins drive of each other. It would have been impossible in the time we've got to stop at them all but generally the road passes through many of them so you don’t miss much.

Church at Tauberbischofen

Stop monkeying around!

The Romantic Road runs through the middle of the haus!

However we did stop at a couple, the first being (takes a big breath!) Tauberbischofsheim!  After parking at the stellplatz, we wandered into this pretty little town, puzzled as to why it was apparently so quiet on a Saturday morning, until we came across a small festival around the church with much drinking of, well, everything and eating of cake and pastries! Deciding to abstain we viewed the schloss, or castle which in this case was really only a fortified manor house but still attractive (but closed).

Tauber..... yes that place again.

Wandering back to the market square we spied the Glockenspiel on the façade of the Rathaus (town hall) and as it was approaching mid-day we sat in the square with coffee and hot chocolate to see if the bells would ring. But they didn't although the timetable said they should, (the lady in the T.I. said there was a function in the room behind it so they might not. Yep, that’s our luck!)

We stopped at the stellplatz at Bad Mergentheim to service Bertie and have lunch before continuing south through more pretty villages. Our target for tonight was Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, a hilltop walled town with a decent stellplatz. After parking up and battling with the Parkshein Automat to get it to accept €7, we strolled the short distance into the Aldstat, or old town.

What a gorgeous place! Although 40% destroyed in 1945 it seems to have been perfectly preserved with so many beautiful old buildings within the, complete, town walls. It is also a tourist trap and obviously in the height of the season would be crowded but although there were still packs of Japanese tourists being herded about (the area is so popular with the Japanese that many of the signs are bi-lingual) we were able to fully enjoy the ambiance. Definitely a place to be recommended – but perhaps in the quieter months such as now. A few photos.

Markt at Rothenburg

Rothenburg

We've many more, but of course they don't do the place full justice.

Friday 26 September

It had been our plan to stop at Wurzburg and spend the day exploring but in fact we were only 10 miles away so set the satnav for the published motorhome parking-platz, which also turned out to be the coach park. Not particularly quiet but it was on the riverside, across from the city and there was plenty of room. We thought €3 for 24 hrs was very reasonable.

The town was only a short walk and we quickly found the Tourist Office for maps so after a quick snack we set off on the town plan route, although going the wrong way round! Wurzburg is quite a modern looking city which was totally, and faithfully, rebuilt after the war. When you see some of the pictures it almost seems incredible that the carnage could have been returned to the beautiful place it now is.

We explored a couple of places, including the fully restored and functioning Juliusspittal, the old hospital which now forms part of the modern hospital complex. Then round to the Residence, the former Prince Bishops Palace which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although very impressive, and some of the stucco work is stunning, we've seen better NT and English Heritage but overall it was worth it. There are also quite extensive open public gardens which we explored before starting back to Bertie when the first signs of fatigue appeared – we've learned not to ignore them!

Cityscape

Marienberg Fortress

The Residence

A fine city and worth a few hours exploring. The remainder of the day was relaxing and watching the tour boats go by. We obtained an excellent map of the Romantic Road so we’ll set off tomorrow – we’ll also need some fuel and somewhere to service the van.

Thursday 25 September

Our route today took us past Koblenz and Frankfurt, using the autobahns. We encountered some quite heavy rain showers along the way and coupled with the very busy roads and frequent roadworks it was a tiring drive. Not until we had cleared the intriguing architecture of Frankfurt Airport did the weather dry out. But at least it is not cold.

After lunch, whilst not actually too far from our intended destination of Wurzburg, we ran into a monumental traffic jam and moved very little in half an hour. Fortunately we were quite close to an Ausfahrt (exit to you and me) so we joined a lot of other vehicles and left the autobahn. We have a good map of Germany and a little bit of cross country on minor roads brought us onto a decent “B” road which followed the River Main.

This was much better and after passing through several pretty Bavarian villages we spotted another free stelleplatz at Zellingen, which turned out to be a strengthened verge at the end of a road behind the (closed) campsite. Again no services  although there were toilets nearby so we could empty the WC, and with 2 other vans also parked up we passed a peaceful night – that is, apart from the main-line railway which runs along the river, although that thankfully quietened down late on.

Wednesday 24 September

Woke up to rain showers and a very dull start to the day. Nevertheless, time to be moving on and getting on the road to the Rhine. Although we normally steer well clear of motorways, this is a trip through Germany so rather than wandering around the minor roads we joined the A16 heading for Belgium then followed the international route E40 – which is how motorways are numbered in Belgium anyway. We maintained a steady pace, just a little faster than the trucks because we've found that is our most economical speed.

Unfortunately the weather refused to play ball and we spent most of the day dodging showers as well as lots of traffic – it seemed very busy, especially the Brussels ring road. The upgrading of the A4 from Aachen to Koln in Germany appears to be almost complete and also seems to be a completely new road for a large part as the satnav and Autoroute showed us driving through fields and forests! This does mean, however, that it is now somewhat faster, and there being no speed limit on this three-lane highway a lot of “locals” were seeing how quickly their fast cars could go……………..!

Late afternoon we pulled onto a restplatz to work out our stop for the night. We had targeted the Koblenz area but it had been a long driving day with just short comfort and lunch breaks so when we discovered we had stopped only 3 km from a free stellplatz the decision was made. Rheinbach turned out to be the car-park of a sports centre with four dedicated motor-home overnighting places. There doesn't appear to be any of the usual “facilities” but as we’re fully self-contained we're not bothered.

Although the rain had stopped when we crossed into Germany (from Holland – there’s a short-cut) once we had parked up it started raining again, but only lasted an hour and as I write the sky is clearing. Hopefully we’ll have a better day tomorrow when we join our first objective, the Romantischestrasse.

Tuesday 23 September

As our crossing is not until early afternoon it was quite a lazy start and although cold at first, the sun soon warmed everything up and it promised to be another fine day. The aire has all the facilities we need so after the usual servicing (empty the loo and waste tank and refill with water) paid the almost paltry fee of £3 and departed. If we had wanted, we could have used the shuttle bus into Canterbury at no extra charge; incredible.

Using the newly acquired TomTom satnav we were directed along a “green” (i.e. picturesque) route through the Kent countryside, past traditional oast houses and onto the M20 for the short hop into the Channel Tunnel terminal. In respect of the forgotten booking documents, Terry had in fact recorded the reference on the computerised calendar and a quick internet connection got us the info we needed. As it happened, the Eurotunnel booking-in machines “recognised” us so it was not really needed – but at least the boarding ticket printed out all the details for the return trip!

Being over 2 hours early, we were offered several options, one of which was cross now but pay £17.50 extra! Not being in any rush we opted to wait for an hour, of which most was spent browsing the Terminal shops, buying books and DVDs – as if we hadn't brought enough already - then through the usual efficient and quick procedures and a smooth crossing, emerging into more sunshine. A visit to Auchan to top up with cheap fuel, some bread and then lunch in the car park. We do get to visit some exotic places!

Although an hour earlier than expected we still stuck to our plan of stopping nearby for tonight before getting some serious kilometres under the wheels tomorrow, so set off for Gravelines. This is a small port half an hour along the coast towards Belgium where there is a lovely little aire overlooking the small estuary and marina, and which was almost deserted. 

Monday 22 September

Well, we’re off – pity I forgot to put the Eurotunnel booking information sheet in with the documents! Ah well we’ll sort that out later!

We decided not to stop over at Mums in Navenby this time (we were there for a few days two weeks ago) and instead travel directly to the south coast, especially as our booked crossing would have involved early starts and rushing about. So we endured the boring but steady motorway cruise, stopping off at Grantham for lunch, and arrived at the Canterbury Park & Ride just on 6.00 p.m. 

Settled in, quick cuppa then round to the local pub – The Old Gate – to treat ourselves to a nice meal. Funny how they didn't have anything that Terry asked for, not even beer! But it was all very nice in the end, even if a bit pricey.

Weather has been fine and dry all day but as the sun went down it became decidedly cool, however with the screens up and the heating on we were soon warmed up. There’s quite a lot of motorhomes parked up, of differing nationalities. It’s a great pity that this is the only place of its kind in all of the UK!

Sunday 21 September

This time we're off to Germany for our autumn trip. Haven't been (except for the Xmas Markets) since we first got the van and this time we've decided on the Romantische Strasse and Alpenstrasse in Bavaria and then the Black Forest, which should be beautiful this time of year. We've allowed 3 weeks.

We should have left last week but as we were about to make the Chunnel booking, we received an email telling us about one of Brens long-lost relatives in Canada celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary last night (20th). It was made perfectly clear that we weren't going to miss that so everything got put back a few days. Never mind, the weather forecast looks better!

So Bertie is more or less loaded up, just the usual last-minute items to put in, and we'll be away hopefully earlyish tomorrow morning. Rather than stay at Mum's, we visited her for a few days last week so we've decided to head for the aire at Canterbury Park & Ride, it being too much of a rush to do it all in one go. Then it's just a 20min hop to the Chunnel - we'll probably try for an earlier train than the 14.20 we're booked onto. After that we thought we might stop off at Gravelines before taking to the motorways.

But as always, nothing is cast in stone so follow us why not?