Black Forest, Germany (& Switz) Review
durhamwasp
Posts: 1,247
Just came back from a trip in the campervan to Interlaken, Switzerland and Munstertal & Kirchzarten in the German Black Forest.
We camped at the top of the Grimselpass with the idea of one of us cycling up in the evening, and one the next morning, however the weather was +3 at the top with sleet and snow showers. Visibility was no more than 5 metres so it was decided best not to risk it, and especially chancing getting the campervan stuck up there! The pass itself was fantastic and possibly better than most ive done in France.
Switzerland in general was far too expensive for our needs (£17 for 4 chicken breasts, €40 a night campsite) and considered it bad value compared to the French Alps that we have visited in the past.
The Black Forest was a huge pleasing point! There are so many cycling routes and nearly all signposted at every corner! The road scene wasn't huge to be fair, with about 60% being mountain bikers, 30% casual town cyclists and maybes 10% road. Theres a lot of very good hills to be had, topping at around 1250-1400m and about 10-15km in length.
We did the Shauinsland and Belchen climbs from Munstertal, Schauinsland is probably the hardest climb ive ever done - the sign for 5km at 18% at the bottom was not lying! Belchen was a nice scenic climb. We then moved across the valley to Kirchzarten and didn't do any more cycling, but there was lots to be had. The prices in Germany are always reasonable, and at around €28 a night campsite, €10 for a nice meal in a nice restaurant and €1 for a litre of 5% beer from the supermarket we couldn't have been happier!
I would hugely recommend the Black Forest, including to those looking for family hols. Great value for money!
We camped at the top of the Grimselpass with the idea of one of us cycling up in the evening, and one the next morning, however the weather was +3 at the top with sleet and snow showers. Visibility was no more than 5 metres so it was decided best not to risk it, and especially chancing getting the campervan stuck up there! The pass itself was fantastic and possibly better than most ive done in France.
Switzerland in general was far too expensive for our needs (£17 for 4 chicken breasts, €40 a night campsite) and considered it bad value compared to the French Alps that we have visited in the past.
The Black Forest was a huge pleasing point! There are so many cycling routes and nearly all signposted at every corner! The road scene wasn't huge to be fair, with about 60% being mountain bikers, 30% casual town cyclists and maybes 10% road. Theres a lot of very good hills to be had, topping at around 1250-1400m and about 10-15km in length.
We did the Shauinsland and Belchen climbs from Munstertal, Schauinsland is probably the hardest climb ive ever done - the sign for 5km at 18% at the bottom was not lying! Belchen was a nice scenic climb. We then moved across the valley to Kirchzarten and didn't do any more cycling, but there was lots to be had. The prices in Germany are always reasonable, and at around €28 a night campsite, €10 for a nice meal in a nice restaurant and €1 for a litre of 5% beer from the supermarket we couldn't have been happier!
I would hugely recommend the Black Forest, including to those looking for family hols. Great value for money!
http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....
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Durhamwasp, thanks for the review. We're off on a family holiday in ten days to the Black Forest and nearly booked the campsite in Kirchzarten but it's full.0
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Yeah when we were paying to leave (around July 9th) a couple came in and asked to stay for 2 weeks, but the campsite said from July 15th they are completely sold out for the summer!Pumpkin Positive wrote:Durhamwasp, thanks for the review. We're off on a family holiday in ten days to the Black Forest and nearly booked the campsite in Kirchzarten but it's full.
Whereabouts are you staying then? The campsite in Munstertal is even better than the Kirchzarten one!http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....0 -
We've plumped for a site over the border in the Vosge. Virtually all of the German ones seemed to have sold out, I'm glad we didn't just decide to wing it!
We're doing another week a bit further north near Idar Oberstein0 -
Rothaus RiderMan 27. - 29. September 2013 in Bad Dürrheim
A brilliant event . Highly recommended
Fly to Basel Muhouse Airport , Pick up Hire Car.
http://www.riderman.de/0
