Black Forest late May/early June?

[lohr500]

After a successful trip to the Rhine and Mosel we are contemplating a 2 week trip to the Black Forest next year.
We are lovers of the outdoors and walkers, preferring scenery and history rather than lounging about all day around a pool or at the seaside.

Has anyone been in late May/early June and if so did you find it a good time of the year to visit?
Did you find enough points of interest to spend 2 weeks in the area?
Was the weather OK?

A bit of Googling suggests it gets busier in July and August and we would like to miss the main holiday season.

Also has anyone made the journey via the P&O Hull to Rotterdam ferry crossing? Is it practical to drive to the New Forest from Rotterdam in a day, or is it better to break the journey at the half way point? We would be travelling in convoy with a friend and his car/caravan, so motorway speeds are limited.

Any input would be much appreciated.
Thanks

 

[CaliforniaCylus]

Have a look here. I would think the timing is perfect.

2024 France and Germany – Caravan Ramblings

We had already been to Heidelberg and we didn't start out as South as Konstanz but if you haven't that's a definite add-on (heidelberg I mean, Lake Konstanz don't know). If you search caravan ramblings there's reference to the Schnitzelhaus in Hedielberg which is still one of the best places to eat in the town (friends visited there last year and confirmed it's still up to scratch!).

Eurotrip 6, 2017 – Onwards and upwards (North)… – Caravan Ramblings

Lake Konstanz up to Heidelberg taking in the Black Forest High Road. Take in Triberg and the Stellplatz there which is in a former engineering factory.

Eurotrip 12, Baden Baden to Triberg – Caravan Ramblings

Heidelberg looks a very doable drive in a day. The German autobahns can be busy with lots of roadworks. You could try and travel on a Sunday when HGVs are banned (I think).

If you want a fab spot to stay the night before catching the ferry back, have a look at Camping Prumtal, Oberweiss near Bitberg.

Pete (formative years as a fellow Skiptonian but now far away in Devon!)

 

[Daveb999]

I’ve been over a few times visiting friends at that time of year. It’s brilliant but weather can be very changeable. When I was there this year it was roasting, two years ago it rained lots.

Loads to see / do as long as you are fine with driving to places. @Black Forest could probably tell you more

 

[Black Forest]

@lohr500 we live in the Black Forest so might be able to help a bit...

When you say Black Forest, its a fairly big chunk of Germany from where we live in the south, near Basel to Pforzheim, think 160km x 80km following the Rhine. Our bit is a fair bit different to further north which is more deep valleys and perhaps what you might think of the stereotype. A lot of folk here will probably have travelled there and found out more than we know!

Weather: Google some data but probably "mixed". It is quieter.

Hull Rotterdam P&O. Yes, done that and it makes a good use of an overnight. Expense...it's too expensive for me as a single traveller as that's how the cabins are priced. If you share or can all get in a bigger one then do that.

Calais or Rotterdam to my house are both close to 800kms. Both can go through Luxembourg (fuel) and can be toll free. Are you close to Dover? Tunnel and Tesco vouchers save a fair bit. Because of the cost of H>R>H I travel via the tunnel and do a 1300k day, Basel > North lincs to see my mum and she lives 40mins from Hull.

In convoy with a caravan I would say you could get to the northern end in a reasonable time. Sunday as mentioned is truck free but with this hot weather and the level of the Rhine being low, trucks can travel Sundays as barges are struggling. Just googled and for UK caravans its 80kmh on the Autobahn. With TüV inspection that can go up to 100kmh but not for a UK van.

Interesting things, what are you after? Loads of well signposted walks and scrambles, castles of course and alm huts everywhere. Rhineland Palatinate has stacks of French / German influences, it's fascinating too and sort of on the way.

Schluchsee / Titisee Feldberg and Bodensee are all great spots. Loads of Stellplatz around via Park4Night and activities are plentiful.

Is it a fam-a-lam and kids trip or grown-ups... ?

There is this: https://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/de/startseite

If I can help more than please just ask but the links @CaliforniaCylus are a great start...

 

[lohr500]

Thanks everyone for your really helpful replies. We live much closer to Hull than Dover so a Hull Rotterdam crossing works well for us.

We are currently away for a few days, treating my 90 year old mum to short holiday. As soon as we get back I will study all your replies in more detail and give them the attention they deserve

 

[lohr500]

I've now had chance to look at all your replies in more detail and we are definitely up for a trip to the Black Forest next year.

We are planning on last week May and first week of June and will be travelling in convoy with our friend and his caravan. Last year we got a good discount on the P&O ferry crossing around Black Friday time, so I'm going to wait until then to make the bookings.

Provisionally at this stage I think we will break the journey for one night in both directions , rather than doing Rotterdam/Forest run in one day. It will make for a less stressful journey, given one of us will be towing a caravan and will give us more time to get back to the ferry for the return crossing. Last year we stayed at St. Goar for a few nights on our Rhine trip and may well use this as the stopping off point. Our friend has a deep connection with St Goar as he caravanned there with his late wife many times when he was stationed in Germany on military service.

Over the next few weeks/months I will do some more research into the area and figure out a plan that gives us chance to see key areas whilst at the same time avoiding a change of campsite every day. Ideally we would like to stay on each campsite for three nights then move on. As with the Rhine trip, we will happily use the train network to reach out to areas that aren't so close to the camp sites. Especially if the free tourist train roving tickets are still available. It's also handy that our friend has his car as we can leave the Cali and his caravan pitched up and use the car to get around.