Backpacking in Germany

horseman85

Hi all,

My wife and I will be travelling to Germany in September primarily for the Symphonic Legends concert. However, we plan on backpacking for a maximum of six days but it's hard to find information on trails or camping laws in English. So hopefully people who have backpacked in Germany can answer a few questions.


Do you have to camp in designated campsites or can we free camp as long as we don't make a mess? Is there a web site where I can find information on campsites or laws in English? Any suggestions for trails? We're looking at a max of 150km.

How about backpacking the Romantic Road? Is this even doable? Would doing this mean walking next to a road or would we actually be hiking in forest and hills?

MrOletta

I can't quite answer your question about the Romantic Road, but from what I saw, I would recommend at least visiting/seeing the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). It's quite breathtaking and very lovely.

There are areas that you can hike that take you through the same route the original cuckoo clock makers would hike to take their products into France.

horseman85

Black Forest is deifinitely on the list for visiting. It's also on the list of potential trails as well as there's supposedly two trails that intertwine throughout the region. But again, no reliable info in English of what we can encounter in terms of terrain or maps. It's getting kind of frustrating . . . Might have to resort to Google Translate.

evilthecat

well in regards to the blackforest just drop their main office an email, people over here are pretty decent at english...

mail@schwarzwald-tourismus.info

MrOletta

Depending on what kind of scenery you're looking for, you could always do the trail around Lake Constance. It's on the northern foot of the Alps and travelling around the lake takes you through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria IIRC. You can do it by bicycle (they'll take your stuff from hotel to hotel), or I imagine you can walk a good part of it.

President Rex

I suppose I'll preface this by saying I haven't gone backpacking in Germany (the closest I've come is day-long hikes). However, I'll try to tackle these one at a time (with fancy italics for German words that may be useful):

1. Camping outside a designated area is called Wildcampen or Wildzelten and is generally illegal. That doesn't stop some people from doing it; according to some places (like this, although the google translation fails pretty hard) you can circumvent this law by lodging or bedding somewhere without a tent (bypassing the part of the law referring to zelten (camping in a tent). Since that could still easily be construed as illegal I wouldn't recommend it - particularly with the dangers inherent with camping in the wilderness, anyway. Regardless, you don't want to set up camp along main thoroughfares, since that's more unambiguously illegal.


2. Regarding the Romantic Road (or romantische Strasse) this site seems like it has a good listing of campsites. You'll want to use it in conjunction with a map like the one on that site (here again; you can mouse over any of the pins to see the distance to the adjacent locations (Richtung Norden is the next northern landmark; Richtung Suden is the next southern landmark)) or this stylized map, which has all the cities labelled.


3. If you're looking for other hiking areas, this place has a decent map and individual route locations, but it's in German (red circles: long distance hiking paths; blue circles: 'quality paths' checked by a German "Hiking Club"; green circles: open hiking areas (intertwined paths and such)). Click on any of the blue or red circles and it'll give you Länge (length); Etappen (legs/parts); and the Höhenmeter (largest height variation). Green circles will give you a basic description of the area. You can then click on Weglauf zeigen and it'll show you the path and list the information on the right (...unfortunately that'll all be in German, but someone on this board may be able to help you with individual regions you find interesting).

As an alternative, you could consider traveling to certain locations and using a central city as a hub while you hike as day trips. There are a few locations where this works quite well. Namely the Harz Mountains, the Schwarzwald/Black Forest, and in select places in Bavaria. Out of those regions I've only visited the Harz, but there's a lot of idyllic scenery (and random castles nestled in forests (...which isn't very historically accurate but looks fantastic)) and good variation in the ground (it'll also bring you close to Weimar, Quedlinburg and Eisenach, which all have good history and scenic surroundings).

Dirtmuncher

Hike to munich!

Oktoberfest date 2010:

september 18- oktober 3

horseman85

Thanks for the website. It's been pretty helpful especially since it shows pretty much every trail in Germany. Does anyone have any recommendations close to Frankfurt? I've been looking at the Kellerwaldsteig, which comes in at just over 156km.

EDIT: Also, has anyone been able to find trail maps in English? I've found some German maps on amazon.de for some trails. However, if I can find any trail with English maps, that trial would pretty much take precedence. If it comes to it, I may just purchase the German map and get a good German-English dictionary . . .

President Rex

I don't know of any English-language trail maps or guides off-hand, but that same website also provides resources for maps guides.

If you bring up the information panel for any individual path (by clicking on it on the map and selecting Weglauf zeigen or by clicking on the trail name in the list on the left) you can select Wanderkarten (i.e. hiking maps), which will provide ISBNs and price information for maps for that area (however, of the few I checked I didn't see any that had a map that seemed overtly English or non-German).


However, I'm not entirely sure what you have in mind by "trail map" besides a map (where language shouldn't really matter unless you plan on hanging out near Cologne and it's listed on your map as Köln or something). Lists of noteworthy sights and camping spots or something?

...but I don't really go hiking or camping, so I'm not familiar with anything besides road atlases and historical atlases in any language I know.

horseman85

When my wife and I did the West Highland Way in Scotland, we bought a trail guide. It had hand drawn maps of every part of the trail and every town we went to with landmarks that were useful to know like designated campsites, grocery stores or random notes like outdoor stores that sold gas.

It was really helpful for planning and it became more useful than the official map of the trail packaged with the guide.

horseman85

Alright so my wife and I have decided to walk the Harzer Hexen Stieg, which is around 92.5km. So it's a good 3-4 day hike. Now we're trying to decide what to do with our luggage. The schedule so far is to fly into Frankfurt. Dispose of our luggage somewhere for the duration of the hike. Head into Osterode two days later for the start of the trail. Hike to Thale. Then grab our luggage and head to Berlin.

I've been told by bahn.de that there are luggage lockers at the Gottingen train station. I was thinking of leaving them there but the people at bahn.de don't know if they have limits on the amount of time a person can leave their luggage in one of their lockers. Does anyone here know if there's a time limit?

President Rex

This page has information of baggage checks (Gepäckaufbewahrung) and lockers (Schließfächer). While this site says that Göttingen has some form of luggage storage, but Frankfurt is much larger and would likely have an actual service kiosk for their lockers and luggage storage that's more reliable. I'd be hesitant to rely solely on lockers; if all of them are taken you won't have any other option.

I've only used the luggage storage service in one of Berlin's train stations (I think Friedrichstrasse, which isn't listed on there - but it may have been Berlin-Zoo). I had it there for less than a day (drop off at around 10am, picked it up around 4:30). They wouldn't let me store a laptop at that time. Otherwise my bag came out of it perfectly fine.


Since I'm not seeing an English option I'll hit the important parts:

Schließfächer für 24 Stunden

Tarife:

Kleines Fach ab 1,50 €/24 Stunden
Mittleres Fach ab 2 €/24 Stunden
Großes Fach ab 3 €/24 Stunden
Jumbo-Fach ab 4 €/24 Stunden

Die maximale Mietdauer beträgt 72 Stunden. Ist die Mietdauer überschritten, wird das Fach von der Deutschen Bahn AG gegen 7,50 Euro Gebühr entleert.

Lockers for 24 hours

Costs:

Small locker from €1.50/24 hours
Medium locker from €2.00/24 hours
Large locker from €3.00/24 hours
Jumbo locker from €4.00/24 hours

The maximum rental period is 72 hours. If you exceed the rental period the locker will be emptied by the Deutschen Bahn AG for a €7.50 fee.

Gepäckschließfächer für längere Zeiträume

Soweit Bedarf besteht, werden Gepäckschließfächer auch für längere Zeit vermietet: Mietdauer mindestens ein Monat.

Tarife:

Normalfach ab 30 €/Monat
Mittelfach ab 45 €/Monat
Großfach ab 60 €/Monat

Das Entgelt für jeden zusätzlichen Kundenschlüssel beträgt 7,50 Euro. Bei Verlust des Schlüssels oder der Karte werden 17,50 Euro Gebühr erhoben.

Luggage lockers for longer durations

Insofar as the need exists, luggage lockers are also rented for longer periods. The rental period has a one month minimum.

Costs:

Normal locker from €30/month
Medium locker from €45/month
Large locker from €60/month

The fee for every extra key is 7.50 euros. A fee of €17.50 will be charged for the loss of a key or ticket (I'm guessing a locker claim ticket; Karte could also be a card, but I have no idea why you'd need a card and a key).


...The site doesn't actually note how you'd be able to rent a locker for longer than 72 hours. They may be marked on-site.

Sie haben vergessen, Ihr Schließfach zu leeren

Schließfächer können für kurze Zeit, das heißt bis zu 72 Stunden, zur Aufbewahrung von Gepäckstücken gemietet werden. Nach Ablauf dieser Höchstmietdauer wird der Inhalt dem Schließfach entnommen und bei dem örtlichen Schließfachservice vier Wochen lang aufbewahrt. Anschließend werden nicht abgeholte Aufbewahrungsgegenstände als Fundsachen behandelt und an das Fundbüro der Deutschen Bahn weitergeleitet.

If you forget to empty your locker...

Storage lockers can only be rented out for a short time - up to 72 hours. If this period is exceeded the contents of the locker will be removed and stored at the on-site locker service for four weeks. Subsequent unclaimed luggage will be treated as lost property and will be sent to the Deutschen Bahn lost-property office (that's the Fundbüro).

Gepäckaufbewahrung

Zusätzlich zu den Schließfächern steht Ihnen an den Hauptbahnhöfen Frankfurt/Main, Köln, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig und Hannover sowie an den Stationen Berlin-Zoologischer Garten und Hannover-Messe Laatzen (zeitweise) auch eine Gepäckaufbewahrung zur Verfügung.

Für 2 bis 3 Euro pro Tag und Stück wird Ihr Gepäck sicher aufbewahrt. Die maximale Hinterlegungsdauer beträgt vier Wochen.

This portion refers to a baggage check service (separate from storage lockers) that's available in Frankfurt am Main, Cologne, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Leipzig, Hannover, Berlin-Zoologischer Garten station and Hannover-Messe Laatzen station. Luggage is securely stored for the price of 2 to 3 euros per day per piece of luggage, with a maximum storage period of four weeks.

The rest of the site is about their porter / luggage carrier service.

horseman85

I was actually looking over their luggage carrier service but the English translation makes things a bit unclear. Is it possible for me to leave my luggage at the Frankfurt train station and pick it up at the Berlin train station 4 days later?

President Rex

Apparently my site-visiting timing is flawless; the site with the pricing information has since been updated (for the first time in 3 or 4 years). That page now tells you to check individual train stations for their services...with a feature that doesn't seem to be implemented yet).


Anyway, the Gepäckträger-Service (porter/luggage carrier service) is like a hotel porter. They would carry your luggage from your arrival train to your next train (or a cab/bus/etc.). Listed elsewhere in the site (that famous German organization at work...), there's a Kuriergepäckservice (luggage courier service), which is closer to what you're looking for.

The courier service transports luggage between two locations. Having luggage transported from one train station to another seems like it would be difficult or impossible to accomplish (if you have your final lodging address that may work). There's also mention of a Hermes PaketShop service, which lets you drop off luggage at a Hermes PaketShop (...think FedEx shop) and have it delivered to an address.

In either case the pick-up and drop-off destinations need to be within Germany. You also wouldn't be able to send laptops/computers or other large electronics. Skis, bikes and other oversize items also can't go.

Unfortunately, the courier service website is only available in German (from the bahn.de main page go to Services; it'll be under Gepäck- und Kurierservice (top right box, 2nd option from the top) - the English Services menu leaves much to be desired). The costs for the "House-to-House" Kurierservice through DB are here (I don't think this one will work for you). The Hermes PaketShop prices seem to be €13.80 per package (must be under 25kg) - DB site for it is here. It seems like you could drop off your luggage at a DB Reisezentrum (DB travel center) with a Hermes PaketShop this way. There tends to be a DB Reisezentrum in most (relatively large) train stations.


I don't have any experience with courier services like this. It seems like you'd have the option to pick what you want to do when you arrive (although they may be closed for the day if you get there late (...late usually being after 4pm)). Baggage checks and courier service drop-off areas should both be in larger stations in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin (I would at least expect Berlin-Zoo and Berlin-Alexanderplatz).

I would recommend you just throw it in a locker or baggage check place for the few days and take the train to pick it up (especially since they don't seem to have anything in English). Your 4 day timeframe may be a bit short for the luggage to arrive punctually. You'll have to juggle whether you want to burn a few hours (or a day) with potentially redundant train rides or have a higher risk of lost luggage.