Campervan Holiday for Beginners

What's a better way at the moment to go on holiday than in your own campervan? It's basically social distancing but you still get to travel and be somewhere else!

So we borrowed Jan's parents' campervan for a week and hit the road to explore the High and Southern Black Forest and Lake Constance. 

Let me tell you: They are gorgeous holiday destinations, but the whole campervaning part was definitely making me uncomfortable more than one time! I'm a nervous newbie who always worries about being in the wrong place with the van all the time. But more about that later. 

This was our travel route for the week. The last part from Meersburg to Herrenberg was our way back (only 1,5 hrs, it's so close to our home!) so it doesn't really count. And on the way there we came from the North of the Schwarzwald cutting right through it but mostly in one run, too, as we had been in the Northern Black Forest before. 

Jan did all of the driving while I did the planning of what to do next. We had a book about campervan-holidaying right in this area which suggested several routes including where to sleep and what to see and do. We got some great ideas from this book. Also, we sometimes just followed general tourist signs and hiking maps. For example when we knew we were close to the Wutach Gorge and I had heard of it before, we'd just go there and see where the signs would lead us and which hiking routes would be suggested on the parking lot signs for the hikers. 

Wutach gorge (longest gorge in Germany)

The only thing that I truly didn't like was the sleeping and parking part. I was always afraid we'd annoy someone with the presence of our campervan blocking some space (it's not so big actually, it can easily fit into a normal parking space, but still) and I really just don't like sleeping anywhere where you're not legally parked for the night. I mean, it's not exactly illegal to park at hiker's parking lots and stay the night there but what if everyone did it? I just didn't like it. I felt much more comfortable in the paid campervan spots where I knew we wouldn't get in trouble and nobody would be bothered by us. If I can buy my peace of mind for 12€ a night I'm more than happy to pay this money. 

Another thing I don't like is that I kept bumping my head inside. It's a small space and wherever you go and move you have to remember where all the furniture parts are. Which I didn't do and so I ended up bumping my head at least once a day and cursing the whole thing as a result. 

Triberg - biggest waterfalls in Germany

So, now we have the downs out of the way - what are the ups? 

Well, I remember our Italian roadtrip last year around Easter. We changed location every three days and we weren't happy about it - packing up, moving, adhering to the checking-in time that you agreed on with your Airbnb-host, unpacking,... it was more stressful than anything else. 

If you have your house on you, you don't have this problem. You have the problem of what to do with the house when you do other things, ok, but still - it's much more comfortable than any other kind of roadtrip. You can just pack up food from your kitchen and you don't have to worry about eating out all the time, too. 

For us, it was super cheap, too, as we didn't have to pay for the van (thanks, Jan's parents!). And, as I mentioned, it's very Corona-conform. When we went, all the places were emptier than I imagined the Bodensee (Lake Constance) to be at this time of year, which is probably due to Corona, so that was good. I hate pushing through tourist crowds and doing touristy things when there's too many people there. 

Some things in the South Black Forest we had completely to ourselves and it was very relaxing. For example we got Black Forest cake (allegedly baked with the original recipe) and ate it on a park bench in the town of the highest waterfalls in Germany. I imagine it's usually full of people. 

Other examples are the flower island Mainau (emptier than usual, I guess) and the open air museums and Black Forest clock shops that were clearly designed for large crowds of bus tourists and were now pretty empty apart from a few families. 

Biggest cuckoo clock worldwide! Yay!

I loved doing these cheesy touristy things when nobody was there. So relaxing and fun!

And, there's so much to do down there, it´s incredible! All the superlatives and all the sights and great nature!

Here's some pictures: 

Crashed a greyhound meeting on our last night! Loved it!

Views from around Meersburg

You can see the Alps!! AAhh!

All the holiday feelings

Went swimming too! Was cold but the water is so clear!

Biggest open air museum in Europe. Was exactly as crowded as you might think.

Chilling on Reinau island

Reinau is the veggie island because they grow veggies everywehre. So cool!

Some Roman ruins from 200 AD? Check.

Breakfast with a new friend.

Cake time! So much cherry liquor inside wheee.

So many cuckoo clocks. Jan refuses to put one up. I think they´re hilarious.

First sleeping spot in the middle of the Black Forest.

Now it's four more weeks of school and then summer holidays. We have no real plans yet of what we're going to do other than do things with families and friends, maybe go somewhere and rent an airbnb for a week or so? Let's see. 

Until then, stay safe!