cleve
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Long post ahead but thought I'd paste into a thread in case it's helpful for others. PART 1 .....
Writing this whilst heading home after 15 days away covering 5 countries and had such an amazing time.
We packed our California Beach fully loaded with 2 adults, 3 children, 5 bikes, a bike trailer, rear storage box and all the other things we saw as essentials.
We got the overnight Ferry at 11pm from Harwich to the Hook of Holland which was fantastic. We started with a meal at the Alma Inns in Harwich based on TripAdvisor reviews. As we approached a rowdy pub on a Friday night we hesitated but were hungry, managed to grab the last table outside and had a delicious meal. A great start to the holiday. Finally on the ferry we had a lovely cabin with sea view and ensuite for all 5 of us and woke up fairly refreshed for a very easy drive through Holland. The roads were so easy and empty, just wish we had more time to stop and explore.
Our first stop was an Aire in Ladenburg. We had a very friendly reception from the couple on site and although there were no toilets or showers there was electricity. We set up and headed by bike to the adjacent public pool which was amazing and made sure we all showered before leaving! That evening we cycled 5 minutes into Ladenburg for a lovely meal at the Italian in the square and probably had the best pizza all holiday which is pretty impressive as we are comparing it to the quantity of Pizza consumed in Italy later in our trip! https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...0x8ace810986942be0!8m2!3d49.465153!4d8.615641
As it was raining when we woke we decided not to cycle to Heidelberg as planned but packed up and drove to Heidelberg. Parking was tricky so we parked on the outskirts and walked in but later found everyone else around us had university parking permits so wonder if we were not supposed to park there! We had a look around and headed by the funicular railway up to the castle which was worth a visit. http://www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en/experience/sights/funicular-railway.html
Next stop was Europa park. When we arrived we nearly made the mistake of missing the Europapark Camping and nearly ended up in a private motorhome parking which is slightly further away from all the fun. Once through the barrier we were delighted to pitch up with a view of the roller coasters and have our dinner listening to the screams of everyone on the rides. The atmosphere was great with people playing guitars, space for caravans and some grass areas for tents but mostly motorhomes. The campsite facilities are available to everyone so there were lovely hot showers and clean toilets all in a saloon, wild west themed setting. http://www.europapark.de/en/hotels/europa-park-camping
The following morning we dashed around loading up the bike trailer with plentiful supplies of water as we had heard it was expensive to buy once in the park. The theme park was fantastic and we are never going to Disneyland Paris again. There were loads of rides for our younger children aged 3 and 5, most of which we didn’t have to queue for so they could go on repeatedly if they wanted. Most of the bigger rides had very reasonable queues about 15-20 minutes with us only waiting longer, about 30 minutes for the single rider rides. The splash park for children was great at the end of a hot day but there were lots of places to cool down with fountains and mist tunnels to walk through to cope in hot weather. We ate at the French restaurant which was huge portions and reasonably priced with plenty of shady seating and good choice for everyone. There is so much to cover in the park that we only did a small amount but 1 day was enough for us with young children.
Heading back to the campsite after a long day we ate at the saloon restaurant which was reasonably priced but very busy so we had a bit of a wait. By the time the food came the children were too tired to eat so I wish we had just cooked something quick and packed them off to bed! It was lovely sitting outside though by the lake but the mosquitoes were fairly bad so we needed lots of repellant and were glad of our makeshift mosquito net that night.
After 2 nights at Europa Park we headed to a campsite near Freiburg called Camping Belchenblick. http://www.camping-belchenblick.de/html/welcom.html
We had a very warm reception and were grateful that everyone spoke good English. Facilities were very clean, very helpful lady in the well stocked shop where you could order delicious bread and pastries the night before. It was one of the most expensive stays, especially as there was no pool on site but we had free use of the adjacent public pool which had a great toddler area, sandpit and plenty of shaded grass to enjoy. We also had a Kronus card giving you free access to public transport but having stayed an extra night at Europa park we sadly didn’t have enough time to make use of this. We cycled into the nearby small but beautiful town of Staufen along a shady path and found a great toy shop and enjoyed an amazing selection of cakes including Black Forest Gateau at Cafe Decker which we would recommend.
We then headed off in the direction of Italy through Switzerland. We were glad we already had purchased our vignette in advance so we didn’t have to queue to purchase one to allow us to travel on the Swiss motorways. We ordered it from England online and it was delivered within 7 days. The drive was stunning and we took the Gotthard Tunnel, travelling on a Thursday. Google maps anticipated a 22 minute delay but it was nearer 30 minutes of queueing but nothing like the length we had prepared ourselves for. We didn’t anticipate the traffic at Lake Maggiore however and had long queues to get round the lake to our next destination.
Writing this whilst heading home after 15 days away covering 5 countries and had such an amazing time.
We packed our California Beach fully loaded with 2 adults, 3 children, 5 bikes, a bike trailer, rear storage box and all the other things we saw as essentials.
We got the overnight Ferry at 11pm from Harwich to the Hook of Holland which was fantastic. We started with a meal at the Alma Inns in Harwich based on TripAdvisor reviews. As we approached a rowdy pub on a Friday night we hesitated but were hungry, managed to grab the last table outside and had a delicious meal. A great start to the holiday. Finally on the ferry we had a lovely cabin with sea view and ensuite for all 5 of us and woke up fairly refreshed for a very easy drive through Holland. The roads were so easy and empty, just wish we had more time to stop and explore.
Our first stop was an Aire in Ladenburg. We had a very friendly reception from the couple on site and although there were no toilets or showers there was electricity. We set up and headed by bike to the adjacent public pool which was amazing and made sure we all showered before leaving! That evening we cycled 5 minutes into Ladenburg for a lovely meal at the Italian in the square and probably had the best pizza all holiday which is pretty impressive as we are comparing it to the quantity of Pizza consumed in Italy later in our trip! https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...0x8ace810986942be0!8m2!3d49.465153!4d8.615641
As it was raining when we woke we decided not to cycle to Heidelberg as planned but packed up and drove to Heidelberg. Parking was tricky so we parked on the outskirts and walked in but later found everyone else around us had university parking permits so wonder if we were not supposed to park there! We had a look around and headed by the funicular railway up to the castle which was worth a visit. http://www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en/experience/sights/funicular-railway.html
Next stop was Europa park. When we arrived we nearly made the mistake of missing the Europapark Camping and nearly ended up in a private motorhome parking which is slightly further away from all the fun. Once through the barrier we were delighted to pitch up with a view of the roller coasters and have our dinner listening to the screams of everyone on the rides. The atmosphere was great with people playing guitars, space for caravans and some grass areas for tents but mostly motorhomes. The campsite facilities are available to everyone so there were lovely hot showers and clean toilets all in a saloon, wild west themed setting. http://www.europapark.de/en/hotels/europa-park-camping
The following morning we dashed around loading up the bike trailer with plentiful supplies of water as we had heard it was expensive to buy once in the park. The theme park was fantastic and we are never going to Disneyland Paris again. There were loads of rides for our younger children aged 3 and 5, most of which we didn’t have to queue for so they could go on repeatedly if they wanted. Most of the bigger rides had very reasonable queues about 15-20 minutes with us only waiting longer, about 30 minutes for the single rider rides. The splash park for children was great at the end of a hot day but there were lots of places to cool down with fountains and mist tunnels to walk through to cope in hot weather. We ate at the French restaurant which was huge portions and reasonably priced with plenty of shady seating and good choice for everyone. There is so much to cover in the park that we only did a small amount but 1 day was enough for us with young children.
Heading back to the campsite after a long day we ate at the saloon restaurant which was reasonably priced but very busy so we had a bit of a wait. By the time the food came the children were too tired to eat so I wish we had just cooked something quick and packed them off to bed! It was lovely sitting outside though by the lake but the mosquitoes were fairly bad so we needed lots of repellant and were glad of our makeshift mosquito net that night.
After 2 nights at Europa Park we headed to a campsite near Freiburg called Camping Belchenblick. http://www.camping-belchenblick.de/html/welcom.html
We had a very warm reception and were grateful that everyone spoke good English. Facilities were very clean, very helpful lady in the well stocked shop where you could order delicious bread and pastries the night before. It was one of the most expensive stays, especially as there was no pool on site but we had free use of the adjacent public pool which had a great toddler area, sandpit and plenty of shaded grass to enjoy. We also had a Kronus card giving you free access to public transport but having stayed an extra night at Europa park we sadly didn’t have enough time to make use of this. We cycled into the nearby small but beautiful town of Staufen along a shady path and found a great toy shop and enjoyed an amazing selection of cakes including Black Forest Gateau at Cafe Decker which we would recommend.
We then headed off in the direction of Italy through Switzerland. We were glad we already had purchased our vignette in advance so we didn’t have to queue to purchase one to allow us to travel on the Swiss motorways. We ordered it from England online and it was delivered within 7 days. The drive was stunning and we took the Gotthard Tunnel, travelling on a Thursday. Google maps anticipated a 22 minute delay but it was nearer 30 minutes of queueing but nothing like the length we had prepared ourselves for. We didn’t anticipate the traffic at Lake Maggiore however and had long queues to get round the lake to our next destination.
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