Post It from Camper’s Stop, Fussen, Bavaria, Germany. Friday 1st May, 2015.

We left our previous night’s stop-over in glorious sun despite a slight bit of overnight rain and having driven a further hour south the day before it paid dividends that day. We have never stopped on a Camping Aire in France and as it was our first time in Germany we had not even seen a Stellplatze which is stop over only for motorhomes. As there were no campsites within easy reach of the centre of Fussen we decided to try the Camper’s Stop first and if we did not like what was saw we could move a little further outside the town but I recalled a fellow camper, David Klyne writing about it on the forum once and saying it was good.

The journey was only around 60 miles and we arrived by 1100. The camping place is not really a site but like a large gravelled car park which accommodates about 70 pitches each separated by concrete rail sleepers. You are pretty tightly placed together and at the entrance there is a café/restaurant, shower block with 2 showers, 3 sinks and 2 toilets in each of the ladies and gents. A single sink in the pot washing room which also incorporates a washing machine and drier where you could also get free water in canister size containers. A reception office for when the management team are there in a morning to collect the takings from the various machines and again on an evening. There is obviously a very good motorhome service point.

We found a parking place of our choice as there were hardly any motorhomes on site at the time we arrived and a great help was seeing a British registered motorhome at the service point before they departed. I took the opportunity to ask Keith how it all worked whilst Sharon spoke to his wife. I learned that you pay in cash at the automatic machine and get 2 tickets, one your retain and place in the vehicle window, it also gives you the free internet access password. The second ticket you write your details on and then post it in the letter box for the managers to check that evening. The charge of 13€ a night entitles you to stay right up to 1600 the following day. You can obtain change for notes in another machine to feed the electric meter on the hook up bollard, ensuring you select the right numbered point you are using before entering your coins. It then registers 1.4kwh for every 1€ you feed it. To fill the main tanks with up to 150 litres of water costs 50 cents. I was very grateful for Keith’s assistance in explaining, and showing me, what I had to do.

The toilet blocks were immaculately clean with soap and electric hand driers in the toilets. There was even a free to use washing liquid dispenser in the pot room. The showers are charged at 1€ coin for 5 minutes and Sharon told me the digital display told you how long you had left, I could not read it without my glasses! I did see one camper using the electric socket in the shower room to boil his kettle the next morning for free; he was not British I am pleased to say although I can see that this system is open to abuse with people not paying for the pitch and arriving late and departing early. We now know why we have met German campers in Spain complaining about charges for the washing machines and sometimes trying to use two, a second one for free, if possible or doing it all by hand. Instead of a common 4€ or 5€ in Spain for one wash this one here was only 2€ according to Sharon.

It was probably the quietest site we have stayed on in a while, no motorway noise, and because of its location in a commercial area there are plenty of shops adjacent including 4 supermarkets, Lidl, Aldi and 2 more. I thought I would just write a bit more about the site than normal for those, who like me, may be a bit hesitant at using them. Keith did say that this was one of the better ones and was part of a group called Top Platze and they do not all have full facilities.

Taking advantage of an early arrival, after lunch we strode down the footpath into Fussen about 25 minutes away. A cycle path went all the way there too. Fussen was a small town really but had a good selection of restaurants, bars, shops and some tourist shops. The big attraction is the Castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria which is reputedly Germany’s most historic building. I think Disney used it as the template for their fairy-tale castle in Cinderella or another similar film. His parents’ palace is also close by as well and the town is also famous for the making of Lutes and Violins. There were good views of the lower Alps from the road as well and it looked just as I had pictured an alpine meadow in places. Snow was still evident on the tops of the mountains.

We wandered the streets and took in the ambiance of a very pleasant and picturesque place with many tourists around. The sun was shining intermittently but the main thing was it was dry! We window shopped planning to return the next day to purchase and enjoyed a coffee, but resisted the cakes, at a pavement restaurant on the main pedestrian shopping street. I was somewhat surprised at smoking being allowed in the restaurants and many people smoked outside at the tables where others were sitting next to them.

We saw the castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein, as we walked into town. It is perched on the side of the lower Alps overlooking the town and surrounded by trees. Unfortunately it is about 3 miles away and my camera for taking photos for this forum could not do it justice but I have posted one I took from the river side walk which was a little closer. We also saw the old monastery and basilica of St Mang which now houses the museum of Fussen and has a very attractive entrance arch into the courtyard, the highly decorated façade of the Holy Ghost Hospital Church and the turquoise coloured waters of the river Lech, a major river which was used to carry cargo by raft many years ago. I was told by a local that the colour of the water was normal but if it rained heavily in Austria the sand washed down the river made it turn darker blue. I had never seen such a light blue coloured river before.

When we returned to the Camper Stop it had filled up considerably and I guess overnight there were around 40 motorhomes parked up but we were the only Brit, our immediate neighbours were Italian, German and Slovenian. Sharon’s bursitis was also giving her pain, as we thought it may, after the walking for a few hours and this meant a trip to tour the castle was not really achievable. There are around 500 steps in the tour and it is a 40 minute walk alone from the ticket station to the castle. We would have to settle for the views from a distance.

At 2000 that night the weather changed and the rain begun and continued all through the night and next day. We finally decided to go into Fussen when the rain eased after lunch but as it was 1st May it was a public holiday and all the normal shops were closed. I understand Sundays are pretty much the same and taken as a day of rest with all shops closed. Only a few of the tourist shops were open but at least we managed to get our metal wind driven garden ornament and some very attractive porcelain candle tea light holders that you would likely see at a German Christmas Market but we had never seen them before.

I wanted to go and see the large lake called the Forggensee which the river Lech runs into and starts pretty close to the camp site. We walked along the riverside path from the town and had some more views of the castle but when we got to the lake there was no water! Well there was some but a long distance away and you could see where the lake shore is when it is full of water but now even the pleasure boats were in dry dock. I asked at the camp site café why this was and was told it was because of the lack of snow at the moment, it had disappeared some weeks before.

The rain was forecast to continue right into the next few days so we decided we would move on Saturday morning after availing ourselves of the supermarkets being close by to stock up on fresh produce. Tomorrow we enter Austria and I have to get a Go Box for the tolls.

Regards, Roy

PS I will have spent around 25 euros on electric so the 2 nights will have cost us around 55 euros or £39 at my conversion rates. Still good value for the location.