Swissian
Finally I get chance to share some of our experiences from our trip last month.
We went without a fixed plan, hoping to follow where the weather was best because the forecast was not great. It didn't always work out that way, and was a bit wet at times but the Cali was warm and dry!
Most of the camp sites we used were ACSI members and being a member meant we had reduced rates. In some places they tag on extra taxes and things though, so you do need to be careful and check.
We started with a little culture by going to the Herreninsel on the Chiemsee. This is one of the palaces that Ludwig II of Bavaria started to build (before bankrupting the state and being declared insane) and was modelled on Versailles.
That night we camped at lovely little camp site on the north east shore of the lake: camping-seehaeusl.de
The owner was really nice and friendly, gave us a place next to lake even though we were only staying one night. The amenities were simple but great, and with ACSI card, it was only €17.
We then moved on, visiting a few random things in the area and Konigssee
before deciding to stay here: camping-winkl.de
The owner was much less friendly, but it was clean, and again, the amenities were good. Woke to this view
We then had the amazing drive down through Austria (sometimes with rain) as we wanted to get to Ljubljana on Friday to meet friends. On the way we visited the small but interesting Porsche museum in Gmünd.
Stayed at another great lakeside camp site happycamping.at were the owner was very happy indeed, until that is we asked for a space near the lake in his almost empty camp site. Begrudgingly he allowed us to move, but was not happy about it! Facilities were first class though. In the picture below, the lake is to my left.
Next stop Ljubljana, were we stayed in the ljubljanaresort.si Great camp site, very convenient for visiting the city. Buy the Ljubljana card and you can use all the public transport for free, as well as free entrance to many attractions. The bus stop is right outside the entrance to the camp site and the buses are every 5-10 minutes. In around 15mins, it delivers you right in the middle of the city centre.
We then went a bit further south to visit the Škocjan and the Postojna Caves, and Predjamski Castle staying at a rather strange but interesting place camping-postojna.com A huge but deserted camp site in the forest, with it's own cave (that was unfortunately closed).
Not knowing which direction was best weather wise, we went back to the north of Slovenia, and visited the lakes of Bled and Bohinj. Staying at sobec.si on Sapto’s recommendation, another huge camp site, with really great facilities, and again, almost deserted.
A slow and very wet drive took us into Italy to a place near Tolmezzo, and another lake side camping www.lago3comuni.com
Nice friendly owner, very clean and organized. Great beers in the cafe from various small breweries and a pinball machine, so I didn't care that it was raining.
Another slow and wet drive to Westerdorf in Austria http://www.panoramacamping.at/
Great location for mountain sports, summer and winter. Indoor heated facilities.
Even though it is big, and looked full, I think there were only 3 couples staying that night.
Innsbruck and really small but cool camp site just outside the city http://www.camping-stigger.at/de Great pizza and free Wifi. The other camp site near the city, Camping Innsbruck - Kranebitten, looked OK but was more than double the price!
Germany again and stayed at http://camping-tennsee.de Don't think I've even seen such luxurious bathrooms on a campsite, they even had a cubicles with baths! Great place for walking of all levels.
Visited the nearby Linderhof, the only Palace/Castle that Ludwig II actually finished
Then onto http://www.camping-bannwaldsee.de/de/ the most expensive site we stayed at, but it was our last night, and still OK at €28
This is very close to the famous fairy tale castle (but utterly bonkers building project) that Ludwig II also started, Neuschwanstein (below). If you want to visit it, I strongly recommend booking the tickets on the Internet in advance, because the ticket office queues are nuts! I went a few years and this time I visited only the neighbouring Hohenschwangau, the palace where Ludwig II grew up.
That was the end of our culture tour!
I did about 1500 miles and averaged 40 mpg. Cali performed perfectly, exceeding all expectations.
We were surprising organised, seeing as though this was our first long trip in a van this size. Used the heater quite often, especially on the mornings and sometimes on an evening to dry shoes, etc. Slept mainly “downstairs” as my partner said the bed “upstairs” was not soft enough for her, and on the colder nights, we lowered the bed but kept the roof up. This provided enough air circulation. Once in really heavy rain, we didn’t even put the roof up, but then I put the window vents in the front windows. They are a bit fiddly to put in because of the electric windows and the crush sensor, but it worked on the 2nd or 3rd attempt, and gave plenty of ventilation while stopping the rain from coming in.
END!
We went without a fixed plan, hoping to follow where the weather was best because the forecast was not great. It didn't always work out that way, and was a bit wet at times but the Cali was warm and dry!
Most of the camp sites we used were ACSI members and being a member meant we had reduced rates. In some places they tag on extra taxes and things though, so you do need to be careful and check.
We started with a little culture by going to the Herreninsel on the Chiemsee. This is one of the palaces that Ludwig II of Bavaria started to build (before bankrupting the state and being declared insane) and was modelled on Versailles.
That night we camped at lovely little camp site on the north east shore of the lake: camping-seehaeusl.de
The owner was really nice and friendly, gave us a place next to lake even though we were only staying one night. The amenities were simple but great, and with ACSI card, it was only €17.
We then moved on, visiting a few random things in the area and Konigssee
before deciding to stay here: camping-winkl.de
The owner was much less friendly, but it was clean, and again, the amenities were good. Woke to this view
We then had the amazing drive down through Austria (sometimes with rain) as we wanted to get to Ljubljana on Friday to meet friends. On the way we visited the small but interesting Porsche museum in Gmünd.
Stayed at another great lakeside camp site happycamping.at were the owner was very happy indeed, until that is we asked for a space near the lake in his almost empty camp site. Begrudgingly he allowed us to move, but was not happy about it! Facilities were first class though. In the picture below, the lake is to my left.
Next stop Ljubljana, were we stayed in the ljubljanaresort.si Great camp site, very convenient for visiting the city. Buy the Ljubljana card and you can use all the public transport for free, as well as free entrance to many attractions. The bus stop is right outside the entrance to the camp site and the buses are every 5-10 minutes. In around 15mins, it delivers you right in the middle of the city centre.
We then went a bit further south to visit the Škocjan and the Postojna Caves, and Predjamski Castle staying at a rather strange but interesting place camping-postojna.com A huge but deserted camp site in the forest, with it's own cave (that was unfortunately closed).
Not knowing which direction was best weather wise, we went back to the north of Slovenia, and visited the lakes of Bled and Bohinj. Staying at sobec.si on Sapto’s recommendation, another huge camp site, with really great facilities, and again, almost deserted.
A slow and very wet drive took us into Italy to a place near Tolmezzo, and another lake side camping www.lago3comuni.com
Nice friendly owner, very clean and organized. Great beers in the cafe from various small breweries and a pinball machine, so I didn't care that it was raining.
Another slow and wet drive to Westerdorf in Austria http://www.panoramacamping.at/
Great location for mountain sports, summer and winter. Indoor heated facilities.
Even though it is big, and looked full, I think there were only 3 couples staying that night.
Innsbruck and really small but cool camp site just outside the city http://www.camping-stigger.at/de Great pizza and free Wifi. The other camp site near the city, Camping Innsbruck - Kranebitten, looked OK but was more than double the price!
Germany again and stayed at http://camping-tennsee.de Don't think I've even seen such luxurious bathrooms on a campsite, they even had a cubicles with baths! Great place for walking of all levels.
Visited the nearby Linderhof, the only Palace/Castle that Ludwig II actually finished
Then onto http://www.camping-bannwaldsee.de/de/ the most expensive site we stayed at, but it was our last night, and still OK at €28
This is very close to the famous fairy tale castle (but utterly bonkers building project) that Ludwig II also started, Neuschwanstein (below). If you want to visit it, I strongly recommend booking the tickets on the Internet in advance, because the ticket office queues are nuts! I went a few years and this time I visited only the neighbouring Hohenschwangau, the palace where Ludwig II grew up.
That was the end of our culture tour!
I did about 1500 miles and averaged 40 mpg. Cali performed perfectly, exceeding all expectations.
We were surprising organised, seeing as though this was our first long trip in a van this size. Used the heater quite often, especially on the mornings and sometimes on an evening to dry shoes, etc. Slept mainly “downstairs” as my partner said the bed “upstairs” was not soft enough for her, and on the colder nights, we lowered the bed but kept the roof up. This provided enough air circulation. Once in really heavy rain, we didn’t even put the roof up, but then I put the window vents in the front windows. They are a bit fiddly to put in because of the electric windows and the crush sensor, but it worked on the 2nd or 3rd attempt, and gave plenty of ventilation while stopping the rain from coming in.
END!
