Chapter 8: Do You Camp or Stay in Motels?

A camping sign in the Tuttlingen park welcomed us in several languages, explaining how to get a key to the bathrooms, which were locked at night. I'm standing at the entrance to the campground looking out over the rest of the park.

The small Tuttlingen campground was separated from the rest of the park by trees and shrubs. 

When I tell people that Rob and I bicycle unsupported they almost always ask, "Do you camp or stay in motels?" And I answer, "Yes."

Camping usually offers the best choice for price, flexibility, and prime real estate and is generally what we look for first when planning our evening stay. Showers are not required, but always appreciated. I draw the line at camping in a random spot where there are no bathrooms or running water.  We also stay in motels or bed and breakfasts, with friends or strangers.

Before this trip we hadn't done any camping in Europe so we really didn't know what to expect. When we were traveling in Western Australia last year we met a young German couple who raved about the campgrounds as being so much nicer than in Germany. Given our experience with Australian campgrounds we figured we shouldn't count on much. Australian campsites are a step lower than those in Canada and the United States. The campsites rarely have picnic tables; people do their cooking and eating in a big kitchen shelter. Which can be nice if it's raining, but not so nice if you want a little piece of your own private real estate for the evening which includes a cooking and dining area.  If Germany was another step below that then we certainly didn't have high expectations for our camping experience going into this trip.

I should also mention that Rob and I have slightly different approaches to money. I pay the bills and keep a careful record of where every penny goes. You can call me frugal. Rob is not exactly a spendthrift, but we do occasionally have a disagreement over what he thinks we can spend and what I think we can't afford. 

With a budget in mind camping is generally the default. But it doesn't take much for Rob to try to steer us away from spending the night in sleeping bags to a cozy bed with sheets and pillows, breakfast included. If we pass by a quaint country inn, he'll suggest we stop for the night, even if it's only 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Sometimes I'll humor him and say, "Why don't you check it out?" I'll wait outside with our bikes while Rob ventures inside to search for a room with a price he knows I won't turn down. When there is no vacancy or a room costs $200 or some other obscene price, I chuckle as we get back on our bicycles and pedal along towards our destination campground.

I love camping, especially when I know the campground will be on a lake. But if we've been riding in relentless rain I'll be the first to suggest we find a motel or B&B, knowing full well there will be no disagreement from my riding partner. Then I'm sorry when the sun comes out and I regret missing out on the campground I was looking forward to. Because once we make a decision to sleep inside in a real bed, there is no turning back for Rob.

For our Germany trip we packed our camping equipment – tent, sleeping bags, pads. If we were going to carry all that, then we damn well were going to camp often enough to make it worthwhile. But we were in Europe, so we relaxed our usual penny-pinching ways. A German fellow had told us that gasthauses were just as cheap as campgrounds, but I wasn’t sure I trusted that. And they weren’t. But if what we paid in Munich was any indication, we wouldn’t break the bank if we stayed in a hotel every few nights.

We camped seven nights, always at private campgrounds which cost between 14 and 19 euros (16 to 22 dollars). Every campground was unique; no state parks here where each was similar and you had a pretty good idea what to expect. We had showers and could either walk or ride our bikes to a restaurant for dinner. We never had our own campsite; we just pitched our tent on a grassy lawn along with the other bicyclists.  

After the excitement of our train ride from Munich to the beginning of the Danube (see Chapter 3 and Chapter 4) we still had enough time to ride 25 miles to Tuttlingen. On the outskirts of this small city we found a large park with soccer fields, mini-golf, a free public campground, and a small beer garden-like snack bar where we ate a  modest dinner of a plate filled with a variety of salads and a bratwurst. Unfortunately, we were awakened in the middle of the night by what I could only assume were loud partying young people having a good time in the park on a Friday night.

Saturday night was also noisy when we stayed in a large crowded campground in Sigmaringen, a large group going strong until about 2 a.m. I always wonder how it is that some people in campgrounds can be so inconsiderate, like they are the only ones who matter. It pisses me off no end. Fortunately, it's usually just a weekend thing and when we hit a weekend night where there are no loud parties going on we count ourselves lucky. 

The rest of our trip we enjoyed quiet nights.

On our 4th night we set up our tent in a campground that was a piece of lawn outside a gasthaus with a biergarten. It appeared to be the only business in the town of Ersingen. We camped next to a barn and pasture with a few cows hanging out. After dinner in the biergarten, we walked through the small town that smelled like a farm, with a single church and barns filled with hay and tractors. 

We shared the Ersingen campground with only three other tents, two single cyclists and a couple. An older single woman was planning to ride along the entire Danube, about 3000 kilometers in three months. I did the math and thought, that will be a leisurely ride.

My favorite campground was outside Neustadt. When we arrived we couldn't find a main office and, after wandering around for a while, someone helped us talk to an older man in coveralls who spoke no English but was happy to take our 20 euros. We were the only ones camping in the tent section that was separated from the multitude of RVs by the amenities building. Our quiet corner was next to a creek, and across the creek was a cornfield. We even had the use of a picnic table.  

We sprinkled our journey with three nights in hotels and one in a pension.

What we didn't expect in the campground outside Neustadt was the modern amenities building, unlike any we have ever seen in any campground we've ever visited, in the United States, Canada, or Australia. (The outside of the building was rather unassuming.)

But step inside the amenities building and, what a surprise! The hallway invites you to linger, like walking into the lobby of a 5-star hotel. Large windows let in rays of sunlight; plants and cushioned benches lined the walls and windows of a spacious hallway, and magazines were available for public consumption.

There were sinks for washing dishes. The showers and toilets were clean and modern. Every surface sparkled. Even a germophobe would be happy in this public restroom.  

In Regensberg we found a Kanu Club that someone from Warmshowers.org had told us about. It was right on the bike path and the camping was self-serve. Even though it was a Friday night, no one from the club was around. We shared the lawn with two other tents, including a young Swiss couple we had already camped with the first two nights of our adventure. It was nothing fancy but the price was perfect and it was quiet.

This beer machine was inside the Regensberg Kanu Clu clubhouse. Note the price: 1.5 euros. Germans love their beer.

Our third night we stayed at the Gasthaus Hirsch in Riedlingen. The modern room, breakfast included, cost 78 euros (about 89 U.S. dollars).

We wandered around the town of Riedlingen on a Sunday evening looking for a place to get dinner. The restaurants and bars were packed. Everyone in every restaurant and in every bar, some spilling out into the streets, was fixated on a television screen, watching Germany's first World Cup soccer game against Mexico. We had the cobbled sidewalks to ourselves and soon found that we had circled back to our hotel, where we ordered dinner and watched the rest of the game. Germany lost.

We paid 65 euros (about $74) for a room, breakfast included, in this unassuming pension in the city of Vilsofen on our second-to-last night on the Danube. The office was in the blue building on the right, but our room was actually in the blue building down the alley.

For the price we didn't expect great luxury so I was surprised to find this little private balcony outside our room. 

You know you are staying somewhere important when you arrive and there is a tour guide giving a talk outside your hotel. On our last night, in Passau, we splurged and stayed at the historic Hotel Wilder Mann (120 euros, or $137, including breakfast). The hall was lined with pictures of all the famous people who have stayed here. They declined our offer to let them take our picture. I guess they had just run out of room on the wall.