Germany in a motorhome

We traveled to Germany with a camper van at the end of April and we took 6 days for it. We have chosen us a small part of Germany – Bavaria, Black Forest and Bodensee / Constance lake, what was perfect for a quick road trip, full of action – especially for our 5-year-old son.

Germany is the perfect destination for families. It offers so many great things for kids – from theme parks to museums. We have been able to experience a lot of new attractions on this trip around Germany with a motorhome.

6 days’ program for Germany in a motorhome

Day 1: Chiemsee

We started our first day at the beautiful Chiemsee lake, which we have visited twice before. We were hoping for good weather, to finally visit the Herreninsel and the famous King Ludwik Bavaria castle, but the weather was not really on our side that day.

Nevertheless, we have visited a nice indoor swimming pool Prienavera (47.863639 / 12.366033), where we spent one whole afternoon. Our little one was more than happy for changing the plans.

The Prienavera indoor swimming pool is located in the town Prien, not far away from the pier, where you can embark on the small boats, taking you to the islands. We have been admiring them from the outdoor pool, which is connected to the indoor one too.

We have parked our motorhome at the parking place in front of the Prienavera (47.863639 / 12.366033), which has also an area for motorhomes. Overnight parking (from 24:00 to 8:00) costs 13 EUR. A daily ticket or parking for more than 4 hours’ costs 7 EUR. As we have visited the swimming pool, we got the daily parking for free.

Even though we could probably overnight at the parking place, we decided to check-in in the nice Panorama Harrison camping spot (47.840670 / 12.372953). The Panorama Harrison camping has a great location, right next to the Chiemsee and only 3 kilometers from the Prien town. If you have bicycles with you, you can cycle directly to the pier, take the boat (together with your bike) and explore the islands by bicycle.

There are so many things to do at Chiemsee, you can easily spend few days there. Check out our blog post for tips on the best things to do at Chiemsee.

Day 2: Chiemsee – Triberg, Black Forest – Simonswald (450 km)

It was a long day today. We »only« had 450 kilometers ahead of us, but thanks to navigation we extended the trip for about two hundred more.

We reached Triberg in the Black Forest in time for lunch and we were starving. We parked our motorhome at the motorhome parking place in the middle of the town (48.131179 / 08.231410). It cost us 1,50 EUR/hours.

The Black Forest is mostly known for a dense forest and hilly countryside. But for some who enjoy books, this is also the area, where the fairy tales of brothers Grimm are set. The Black Forest is also home to the cuckoo clocks, thermal spas, lakes, wild nature and lots of picturesque towns and villages. We cannot even forget about the famous Black Forest cake.

We have stopped for lunch at the Zur Lilie restaurant, serving traditional dishes, including the original Black Forest cake. The restaurant is steps away from another famous attraction in Black Forest – the Triberg Waterfalls, which we have visited too.

Did you know that the Triberg Waterfalls are described as the tallest in Germany? Well, in total they really are 163 meters high, but they are split in seven smaller cascades. Well, even though we did not got what expected, the hiking path is a really nice one to take. It is paved and suitable also for wheelchairs and strollers.

All three of us enjoyed the beautiful nature around us and the view over the waterfalls.

Before heading back to our motorhome, we had to visit some of the souvenir shops too. After all, we wanted to see the famous cuckoo clocks and some of them were really impressive and quite expensive too. Some were selling for more than 3000 Euros. Well, instead of the real ones, we rather took home its magnet.

Just 2 kilometres from the Triberg town centre lies the first world’s largest cuckoo clock (48.136720 / 08.214570). We were unfortunately able to see it only from outside, as it was already closed for visitors (only up to 5pm).

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Germany-in-a-motorhome

We ended our day in a small village Simonswald, 40 minutes’ drive away from Triberg, where we stayed the night in the Schwarzwaldhorn camping place (48.100979 / 08.051597).

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Day 3: Simonswald – Waldkirch – Simonswald (25 km)

After a long day drive yesterday, we decided to take it easy today. Well, we did many things, but there was just hardly any driving done. We have spent one whole day in Waldkirch – a small town in the middle of the Black Forest.

The town was extremely family friendly, as it has many nice activities for kids. We first visited the local ZOO – Schwarzwaldzoo. Before we even reach the entrance, we already stopped at the really nice and big playground under big wild chestnut trees. The Zoo is small, but a nice wander for kids, looking at the animals living in the Black Forest, including some more exotic ones. Inside of the Zoo are also some playgrounds, so you can easily stay there for few hours.

Just about one kilometre on foot from the Schwarzwaldzoo, is another great attraction for families – Baumkornenweg. It is a wooden path among tree tops, with few more surprises – amazing playground, barefoot path and adventure path with suspension bridges. If that is not enough, make sure to slide down the 180 meters long slide with 50% of incline on some areas. Ren, our five-year-old, and I did it together and I must admit my legs were a bit shaking at the end, when Ren wanted to go again…and again…and again.

It was time for lunch and we decided to walk to the old town centre, which was only about 10 minutes’ walk from the ZOO. Instead of a dessert, we rather took a game in mini golf. So much fun! If the weather would be warmer, we might be renting out a small boat on the nearby lake.

If you will be travelling around Germany with a motorhome and stopping at Waldkirch, make sure to spend a night or two (that is maximum allowed) at their camperstop (48.090157 / 07.957886). The camperstop has the best possible location – only steps away from the playgrounds, the ZOO, the lake, mini golf and the tree tops path. You can also reach the old town center on foot in 10 minutes from there and it only costs 10 EUR/night.

As we already booked two nights in the Simonswald camping place, we returned there and had dinner at the local restaurant – Gasthaus Krone-Post. I loved their home-made Spaetzle with cheese.

Day 4: Simonswald – Europa Park (51 km)

The main reasons why we headed all the way to Black Forest from Chiemsee was the largest theme park in Germany – Europa Park. The complete park, including with hotels, camping place and water park Rulantica, opened in 2019, spread over 95 hectars, what is indeed a huge place.

We can find 13 roller-coasters in the park – the oldest one dated back in 1984. The beginning of the park is set in 1975.

Our son really enjoys theme parks in Germany, so one of the reasons why we travel to Germany each year, is also to visit a new theme park.

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Ren was so thrilled over the Europa Park, we spent one full day in it – and yes, you guessed it, it was still too little time. Many attractions in Europa Park were already suitable for our 5-year-old, which was 107 cm tall during our visit.

Luckily we booked their camping spot already in advanced, to really enjoy Europa Park (48.271823 / 07.717555).

I personally really liked how Europa park is made. Walking around different attractions is actually travelling around different European countries. In fact, you really feel like being in a different place due to its architecture, culinary… We have eaten lunch in Spain, had coffee in Holland and treated our self with dessert in Italy.

We visited Europa Park on Saturday for which we were a bit afraid it will be extremely crowded. Europa Park gets almost 6 million visitors per year. But to be honest, it was very bearable. Not sure if the reason was a bad weather forecast or still impact from the Covid-19 (no rules applied during our visit).

After the Europa Park closed its doors, we went back to the camping place. It is a very big camping place, but very nicely done. Everything is made in Wild West style, clean and you can get there everything you need, when travelling with a motorhome – from black and grey water release, showers, toilets, bakery, cafe, restaurant, playground, washing machines.

We reached camping place already in the morning, way before the check-in hour, but it was no problem to leave our motorhome at their special »waiting« area. We did the check-in in the evening, when coming back from the Europa Park. The reception is open up to 11 pm.

If you plan to stay in their camping place, make sure to book the spot together with entrance tickets, as it is much cheaper that way.

Day 5: Europa Park – Kirchberg, Bodensee / Lake Constance (185 km)

We woke up in another sunny and warm morning. Apart from the first day, we had nice weather during our complete road trip.

It was time to hit the Lake Constance (Bodensee) today. Before we end up in another camping spot, we had two more stops in mind.

Not far away from the Bodensee / Lake Constance a small village Salem is located, which has a very cute attraction to visit (47.762877 / 09.244667). The Affenberg Salem or so called monkey hill will impress young and old. The park is designed to walk freely among monkeys, watching them to play, to eat, to groom…So cute!

Before the entrance to the monkey hill, is a big Biergarten, with a very nice and large playground for kids – for toddlers and for older kids too. So even you don’t plan to visit the monkeys, this is still a very nice place to stop. You will also be fascinated by one more animal there – the storks. They are nesting right on the rooftops of the Biergarten house.

We continued our drive among beautifully maintained orchards, most of them apple trees. From afar we were able to spot the Lake Constance, but the best view was from a stop, just above the Hagnau town. (47.674291 / 09.325171). Stunning!

Germany in a motorhome

Germany in a motorhome

We, in our family, really enjoy a nice view, so Ren and I went up in the tree tops again. But this time we decided for the Adventure park in Immenstadt (47.679018 / 09.377263). If the weather would be bad, we had another alternative – the Zeppelin museum, but we left that for our next time at the Lake Constance.

Late in the afternoon, we reached final destination for today – our camping place Schloss Kirchberg right next to the Lake Constance and just one kilometer from the charming Hagnau town (47.670273 / 09.331230). We walked to the town before the sunset, well Ren actually cycled there, as the camping place and the town is connected with a cycling path. Actually the whole Lake Constance area is perfect for cycling as it really has so many wonderful cycling paths.

Day 5: Lake Constance – Rosenheim

It was slowly time to head back home, but not just yet.

To break the long drive in two pieces, we decided to make a stop in Rosenheim – a town between Chiemsee and Munich. We wanted to see their exhibition at the Lokschuppen, where they have different exhibitions each year. This year exhibition was about Ice Age and we were very impressed over it.

Germany-in-a-motorhome

Germany-in-a-motorhome

The only problematic point in Rosenheim was parking our motorhome, as all the parking places near the exhibition centre and old town were too low for campers. After circling around for almost an hour, we finally find a spot on the street.

We also decided to walk to the old town and had lunch – our last traditional Bavarian lunch, before we return back home, which we reach late in the evening.

This trip around Germany with a motorhome was perfect and adjusted to our youngest traveller. We planned different stops and attractions each day, which were suitable for kids too. That sure made our road trip much easier.

Germany showed us again, how family friendly destination it really is. This was actually our first time we travelled around it in a motorhome, but surely not the last time. We cannot wait to explore Germany in a motorhome again.

Our travel around Germany in a motorhome was sponsored by the Germany Tourism Organization, which allowed us to plan our complete roadtrip by ourselfs. That is how we really enjoyed every minuted of the tri pand made some unforgettable family memories too.