Wednesday 1 October

We had a lot of rain last night and this morning it was still dismal with low clouds and a persistent drizzle. A weather forecast showed that this was likely for a couple of days so we changed to plan B: miss out visits to the castles for now and head directly for the eastern end of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse and, if necessary, wait it out there. The route returns past here anyway so we’ll visit then when the weather is hopefully improved.

So a quick service then head off back the way we came for a short distance then turn east, a bit of cross-country then onto the A9 autobahn heading towards Salzburg. The rain continued on and off for the entire morning and we stopped at a restplatz just at the joining point for the A9 for lunch.

Although we don’t normally use motorways we figured that trying to go on ordinary roads would take us on a lot of the Alpenstrasse and anyway the autobahn was much quicker. Traffic was of course much heavier – this is an international route after all – but thankfully the rain petered out although it remained dull. Eventually we turned off before crossing into Austria – we don’t want to have to pay €75 for a go-box, which is the automatic toll system, and then claim most of it back as unused! 

We were now well into mountain country, driving along river valleys and through forests which climbed up into the low clouds. Having managed to miss a turn, we paused to check for an overnight stop at Berchtesgaden, which is the starting point of the Alpenstrasse and found a stellplatze which turned out to be in the middle of nowhere halfway up a mountain! But there were other vans there, it had all we needed and anyway the next nearest was miles away. For an extra €2 we indulged ourselves in electric hook-up then watched and listened as the heavens opened up again, accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder.

Spent the evening reading and updating our various navigation devices. We’ll have to see what tomorrow brings to decide what’s next.

Sorry, no photos today – we hope to get some much better piccies later this week. We've been experimenting with the new dashcam and finally found out how to get recordings out of it. Have tried to upload some footage of the scenery but don’t seem to be able to; maybe the speed of the internet connection. We’ll try again later.

And it's still hissing down!

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.