Tuesday 16th April we got the night ferry Harwich-Hook of Holland. Pleasant crossing and the pet friendly cabin was fine. Stena ferries seem to be in better nick than P&O from Hull, I think I saw somewhere that Stena's ferries have had a recent overhaul/update?
Wednesday morning we drove through alternating rain, sleet and bright sunshine to our first nightstop in Schüttorf, just over the border in Germany. It was a municipal Stellplatz in the town centre, which was free and had the usual water, grey disposal and cassette emptying but no EHU. The larger adjacent parking area, normally used by busses/HGVs was occupied by a Circus, but it started at 16:00 and was done by 17:45.
Thursday 18th was a leisurely drive to Bremen, and a stellplatz colocated behind a hotel in Hastedt, at a cost of €22. A 15 minute tram ride took us into the centre, where we met up with friends for the evening.
Lübeck was the next destination the following day, and there is free overnight parking right on the waterfront between 18:00-10:00. I arrived at 17:30, and dutifully put 40c in the parking machine to cover the odd 30 minutes before the free parking started, and I received a ticket with an expiry of 10:03 the following day! What a bargain. I was also lucky to get the last spot right on the waterfront.
Saturday saw us heading to Rügen Island, and Prora, which is where the Nazis built massive multi storey accommodation blocks to house 10,000 people for R&R. Despite being redeveloped into private flats in recent years, it is still an impressive sight. We stayed at the nearest campsite, about 2Km away, which was quite expensive at €37 for one night, although the facilities were very good, including EHU and water at your pitch. There was also a good restaurant on site. Rügen is very scenic and well worth a visit.
Sunday was an easy drive to Peenemünde, and the V-weapons museum, which I personally found disappointing, mainly due to very bad lighting inside, and poorly marked/non-existent directions. Even so, I am glad to have crossed it off my list of places to see.
Monday we continued East, and crossed into Poland for our next nightstop in Kolobrzeg. The roads in Poland (thus far,) came as a bit of a shock after Germany - at one point my Waze took me across country on roads that tested both the vans suspension and my fillings, but they seemed to get better as the day evolved.
Total miles since leaving UK: 750
Wednesday morning we drove through alternating rain, sleet and bright sunshine to our first nightstop in Schüttorf, just over the border in Germany. It was a municipal Stellplatz in the town centre, which was free and had the usual water, grey disposal and cassette emptying but no EHU. The larger adjacent parking area, normally used by busses/HGVs was occupied by a Circus, but it started at 16:00 and was done by 17:45.
Thursday 18th was a leisurely drive to Bremen, and a stellplatz colocated behind a hotel in Hastedt, at a cost of €22. A 15 minute tram ride took us into the centre, where we met up with friends for the evening.
Lübeck was the next destination the following day, and there is free overnight parking right on the waterfront between 18:00-10:00. I arrived at 17:30, and dutifully put 40c in the parking machine to cover the odd 30 minutes before the free parking started, and I received a ticket with an expiry of 10:03 the following day! What a bargain. I was also lucky to get the last spot right on the waterfront.
Saturday saw us heading to Rügen Island, and Prora, which is where the Nazis built massive multi storey accommodation blocks to house 10,000 people for R&R. Despite being redeveloped into private flats in recent years, it is still an impressive sight. We stayed at the nearest campsite, about 2Km away, which was quite expensive at €37 for one night, although the facilities were very good, including EHU and water at your pitch. There was also a good restaurant on site. Rügen is very scenic and well worth a visit.
Sunday was an easy drive to Peenemünde, and the V-weapons museum, which I personally found disappointing, mainly due to very bad lighting inside, and poorly marked/non-existent directions. Even so, I am glad to have crossed it off my list of places to see.
Monday we continued East, and crossed into Poland for our next nightstop in Kolobrzeg. The roads in Poland (thus far,) came as a bit of a shock after Germany - at one point my Waze took me across country on roads that tested both the vans suspension and my fillings, but they seemed to get better as the day evolved.
Total miles since leaving UK: 750
- Next page: 2nd week summary
