Caravan towing in Germany
We will be taking our Clubman SR over to Europe later this year. Most of our touring will be in Germany via Netherlands. I know the speed restriction for towing a caravan in Germany (without a TVA registration) is 80kph. What I cannot find out is whether I have to display an 80kph sticker on the rear of the caravan. Can anyone please advise?
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We have towed extensively in Germany. Whilst the official speed limit is 80kph I would be cautious of relying on you car speedo as inevitably that will over read by as much as 10% depending on the car. The GPS speed is probably a better guide? Because of the restrictions on overtaking of German motorways that can cause annoyance to lorry drivers, Whilst not encouraging anyone to break the law I always towed at around the speed of the waggons, which is probably around 56 mph. Even that will seem slow compared to the Merc passing at 100 mph!!!!
David
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You will come across sections of the autobahn that prohibit overtaking by HGVs and Caravans so you will have to stick to your own lane and the lorries behind you won't be best pleased if you do stick to 80kph. As DK stated you might be best trolling along at the speed of the lorry if front.
I wouldn't advise you overtaking either, if the one in front is having trouble, say, going uphill, as I have seen the police pulling both lorries and caravans in on a couple of occasions that have ventured out of their lane.
They can last a while and usually found on 2 lane sections of the autobahn.
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50 MPH is the figure we use for planning purposes, meal beaks, fuel and overnight stops etc and try to stick to 2 hrs driving with a 30 minute stop in the morning and afternoon with an hour for lunch.
So, end result is same as AD with a 40 MPH average over the day.
This year will be first time we have planned on shorter travel days where possible with a max of 6 hrs driving rather than 8 hrs and its quite surprising the issues this creates in locating suitable sites.
Its bad enough in France but worse in Italy where some areas, Milan to Bergamo for example, have not sites at all let alone ACSI.
I have been looking at the Search for Sites website, as several people have mentioned it, but looking earlier at one possible stop over in France noticed that it had the ACSI card logo, which surprised me as its not showing on the ACSI website, only ot notice that the site info quoted is from 2012!
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Allan, We drove straight across from Aosta to Lake Garda - about 200 boring motorway miles - but you can split it with a stop at Camping Village at Milan and visit Bergamo from there if you wish.
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We travel through Germany a lot as we have family near Frankfurt. No need to display an 80k sticker but you might find an Umwelt useful; this is the sticker which allows you to enter cities with low emission zones. Easily obtainable in Germany through any main car dealer they just need to see your V5 and will give you one on the spot (Note to self - need to get one for new car in May!). Re the speed limit; although: yes, 80ks is the limit unless you have had your outfit tested to be ok for for 100ks, the HGVs will not thank you so we tend to go at their speed; even then you will probably find that you will be the slowest caravan on the road! We also do the 6 hrs a day driving - 2 then coffee, 2 then lunch then 2 before stopping for the night. Using motorways you will probably do about 250 mile a day in 6 hours.
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Hi euror, We will most likely be leaving from Annecy and our destination is Lago Trasimeno or Peschiera.
Options are which tunnel, MB or Frejus, and then do we go to Trasimeno which will require an overnight or Peschiera which is just about doable assuming no hold ups.
Preference is Trasimeno as Peschiera will likely still be inundated with the vast numbers of Germans, due to the Bavarian school holidays, so looking at places that fit our criteria for an overnight and leaning toward La Spezia.
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We too are heading for Lago Trasimeno in mid May, we love the area. As we will be travelling via Germany and Austria we will probably overnight in Italy in Rioveggio doable if your previous night is in N Italy. We will be travelling before the German holiday (6 - 17 June 2022) and returning after so we may have a week or so in the Garda area on way down or back.
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Not been to Trasimeno but saw a TV program featuring Cortona and seen several positive comments, AD being one, so decided it was a good bet for an alternative to our much visited fave site at Peschiera.
I say alternative, it will be an addition as we are also visiting there, most leikely now, on the way to Holland to visit friends before returning home.
We have avoided the Brenner Pass before, due to seeing caravans stuck behind slow trucks, on a trip out to Ortesi from Garda, and being unable to overtake, but as we are not going via Switzerland its a good choice this trip.
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The Brenner can be busy but we have never experienced any problems the times we have used it. The services near the top are not very caravan friendly - a bit crowded and not much space for caravans. There is the free alternative route going via Ulm, Fern Pass, Imst, Landek and then the Reichen Passe into Italy - our favoured route, we can get all the way from UK to Italy toll free using this route. There are plenty of sites on this route although there are few stopping places on the Reichen Passe. Cortona is pretty and many years ago featured in the film 'Under the Tuscan Sun'. and there are also many gorgeous hill top villages in the area
. There are a number of sites by Lake Trasimeno in ACSI most right on the lake. If you get that far you will not be disappointed.0 -
Whilst only been that way once we really enjoyed the route via the Fern and Reichen passes. We were with our MH buddies and a one night stopover at Camping Aktiv in Prutz turned into a 4 night stay and on the way home stopped in the Spar car park, opposite the site turning, for lunch. If we had gone out via Harwich we would have used that again but as we are now going out via Plymouth that's out.
As you say toll free but not having been over the Brenner fancy that for variety.this time.
Re ACSI, I discovered when looking at sites around Trasimeno that Badiaccia, our preferred site, offers their largest pitches to book for same as ACSI rate, €20, and no booking fee and that prompted me to check prices at Bella Italia on Garda to discover that we can now book there as well, something that previously you could only do in July/August.
Prices are a bit more than ACSI but a lot less stressful than arriving to find it full-that has happened to us twice and that was in May both times!
If you have any hot tips for the Trasimeno area let me know-at the moment its sightseeing and a some Montelpuciano wine tasting.
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Allanandjean. The first thing to point out is that away from the hot spots this is a laid back part of Italy, busy in peak season but much less so off season. Tips for the Trasimeno area. We use the Badiaccia site and can usually get a lake side pitch but anyway even if a row or two back the lake is just there. The pitches are small, the larger ones being further away from the lake at the back of the site. There is a car parking area but if the site is quiet most people park near their caravans.
Tips; on the lake, Castiglion is near by with shops and a nice old part overlooking the lake. We had a lovely meal at La Cantina overlooking the lake. From here you can get a ferry to one of the islands. Then Passignano is a nice lakeside town with lots of eateries. Just south of the lake are 2 lovely hilltop villages Panicale, where we have spent many a happy hour doing, well, nothing except have a coffee or drink, then Tavernelle. Perugia is a must. Park at the car park on Piazza Partigiani ( P1 near a football pitch) it is the first one you come to from the west. From the car park follow signs to the centre and you will be taken via escalators through the ancient district, trust me an unusual route! Then there is Assisi. Easily doable but there is a campsite just to the NE of the old town (just keep the walls to your left and you will see signs). A tricky approach and a basic site but it has an excellent restaurant and is within walking distance of the old town where there are also some nice eateries just away from the 'Cathedral'. Moving a little further afield there are of course Siena and Florence. Nothing more to say about these must see cities. We have stayed at the nearest campsite to the centre of San Gimiiniano, a 10 min walk in but up a hill on the return! From San Gim you can visit Volterra and some other quiet villages. A fairly convenient site for Siena and Florence.
Hope that is enough for a starter!
We may stay by Lake Garda on the way down or back and in the past we have use Camping Cissano but there are loads of others by the lake. Or Lago di Caldenazzo just west of Trento., looks nice. This area is packed during the German holiday and you may have difficulty getting a pitch then - I would suspect that you fell foul of the German holiday when you had problems finding a site in May.
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Agree with the comments about lorries and keeping to their speed, otherwise if they try to overtake an outfit at 50mph that will block more traffic.
On that point if you drive on a Sunday when most lorries are banned, you do need to control your speed more closely as there are few lorries to restrict your speed,
Whatever speed you drive, you will always be overtaken by an outfit with NL plates
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We stayed her on Lake Trasimeno http://www.davidklyne.co.uk/camping_la_spiaggia.html A pleasant site and not too large.
David
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Sorry, I missed this thread, but as others have confirmed, 80km/h is the default, so no need for a sticker.
By the way, a 100km/h sticker issued subject to fulfilling certain technical conditions, is only valid with an official seal of approval from a vehicle registration office. You can’t just just go into a shop, buy a 100km/h sticker and apply it to the back of the caravan without the necessary documentation to cover the approval.
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Thanks for confirming that Lutz. Just a gentle reminder for those going over the channel. You now need a UK sticker on your car/caravan so if your plate has the GB with the European stars sticker you have to cover it. These stickers are widely available and cheap. Just done mine this morning looks odd!
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Hi Commeyras, Wow what trouble you have gone to so thanks for all the info and guess where we are staying-yep, Badiaccia!
Have 'looked' at a few sites, including the ones mentioned by Another David and DK, but Badiaccia seemed to best suit us and finding that we can book a pitch for same price as ACSI and no booking fee is an added bonus.
The list we had was Cortona, Montelpuciano and Perugia with a couple of 'tours' around to see places, like the two hilltop villages. Have visited Florence but Sienna may be a possibility but your description of laid back sounds very appealing for balancing the 'lets do something'days with the lazy days.
I am also liking by your food and drink references as that's what we love to do and often what starts as just a 'drive out' somewhere results in a great day with unexpected stops for food and drink!
We have visited San Gimignano when staying on the coast at Cecina and had a day out to Elba, great but it was the one day that the sightseeing trips didn't run and Napoleons Villa was shut!
Our visit to Garda will be a stay at Camping Bella Italia at Peshiera. We have stayed many times but when we look around, and even visit, other sites, none has the position it does. It was a late decision to join my parents there for a few days in 2002 after they fell in love with the site the year before when they used it as a stopover en route to Florence.
We flew out and had just 4 nights but were so smitten we cancelled our booking for a stay in Tuscany and went there instead, mind you the 'discovery' that it was a Camping Cheques site did help!
As its now 5 years since the last visit we are excited to see the site and area again and we will likely do our usual drive around the lake, and Monte Baldo, with trips to Sirmione and Bardolino by bus and boat.
Anyway, if your detailed info was the starter I cant wait for the main course!
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Hi David, Thanks for the recommendation, and it does look very nice-with new toilet facilities as well.
When we first considered the Trasimeno area Spiaggia, and the site next door that AD has used, was considered however, being able to book at Badiaccia for same price as ACSI has trumped it for this visit.
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Allanandjean. May see you there! We will be at Badiaccia from late May for 3 weeks or so. My outfit is as on the left but I will have a Fiamma roll out sun canopy rather than the Kampa awning. Black Tiguan 19 reg/Bailey Ranger GT60 Series 6. We don't book but will be pitching in the main area (straight on from the bar towards the lake) as close to the lake as we can.
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