Elbe Sandstone Mountains 2012

This year the final destination of our Easter tour was the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. As we had two weeks off, we didn't want to stay in just one place and had worked out a little route.

We set off from Hanover on Wednesday at 4.30 p.m. in glorious sunshine. Our first destination was Bad Sooden-Allendorf, which we reached after 166 km without any traffic jams.

Bad Sooden-Allendorf lies right on the border with Thuringia and almost at the geographical centre of Germany. It is on the River Werra, north-west of the Gobert ridge. The Franzrasen pitch lies between the Werra and a small side arm of the river. There is plenty of electricity via coin machines.

An overnight stay costs 5 euros per motorhome, payable at the parking machine. The machine doesn't take notes, and getting change after 6 p.m. is a bit tricky. We had no coins and it was after 6 p.m., so off we went into the village centre to change money. We found a lady closing up her shop for the evening. After a short chat she reopened the shop and changed the money for us – and gave us some great tips about the area at the same time. The surface is level grass or gravel. There are shops (Aldi, Rewe, OBI) in Bad Sooden, about 500 metres from the pitch. There is a bakery in the centre of Bad Sooden-Allendorf, about 250 metres from the pitch.

The next day we visited the Werratal Therme spa, which can be reached by bike or on foot in 5–10 minutes. To get to the Bad Sooden side, you have to cross the main road. There is an underpass for pedestrians and cyclists, so you don't have to use the road bridge. Simply turn right down the road from the pitch and you'll come straight to it. The spa is in the town centre and you can't miss it because of the graduation tower.

The water park itself offers various relaxation and wellness areas. There is everything from an exercise pool for water activities (every hour) with underwater massage to an outdoor pool with whirlpool. The highlight is the large wave pool, which starts every 30 minutes. There is also a sauna area with a sauna garden that invites you to work up a sweat. Prices for 3 hours are 8.80 / 12.20 euros (pool only / pool with sauna). The spa card from the motorhome pitch reduces the price. On Friday, after breakfast, we moved on to Haina near Gotha, 75 km away, to meet friends for the weekend.

Haina lies on the edge of the Thuringian Forest and has lots of lovely places to see. Our little weekend sightseeing tour began with the treetop walk. The Hainich treetop walk is the second-longest and highest treetop walk in Germany, in the Hainich forest of the same name, about ten kilometres west of the spa town of Bad Langensalza. It climbs from a height of 10 m to 42 m and is dedicated to the wildlife of the national park. Admission for an adult is 8.50 euros and well worth it. The view over the treetops or from the tower is indescribable, so I'll simply let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our next stop was the Großer Inselsberg. At 916 m, the Inselsberg is the highest mountain in the north-western half of the central Thuringian Forest.

For over 1,000 years the mountain has marked historical borders – today between the districts of Gotha and Schmalkalden-Meiningen. Today there is a restaurant and ski slopes. Right after the Großer Inselsberg we drove to the Kleiner Inselsberg so the men could play too. The summer toboggan run is 1,400 metres long and great fun.

We rounded off the weekend at Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. More information about the castle here.

After a lovely weekend our paths parted again: the others headed home to the north, and our next stop was Dresden. After only 266 km we reached the beautiful city of Dresden on Sunday afternoon. Dresden isn't our first visit and certainly won't be our last. For our overnight stay we chose the pitch at the Blüherpark, right in the centre. There are 50 pitches, and fresh water and waste disposal are available all year round. The pitch is regularly patrolled by a security service. You register at the City-Herberge hostel, which also has showers. An overnight stay costs 14 euros without electricity; electricity costs an extra 3 euros.

It's a 10-minute walk from the pitch to Dresden's old town – highly recommended. Being in a cul-de-sac, it is very quiet.

More information about the pitch at https://www.wohnmobilstellplatz-dresden.de/

The next morning, under a blue sky but at only 6 degrees, we went for a stroll through the old town. You can't explore all of Dresden's sights in one day – there are magnificent buildings and historic architecture on every corner.

After a few hours in Dresden, we actually wanted to move on to Pirna for some wellness. But as we had spontaneously booked a factory tour at Capron for Wednesday, we simply changed our plans and went for our wellness in Neustadt in Saxony (which is also where the motorhome factory is). The drive from Dresden took us along the B6 past the Elbe castles. After about 40 km we reached Neustadt in Saxony. There are 3 free motorhome pitches right next to the Mariba leisure pool (formerly Monte Mare). Electricity (if needed) costs 5 euros; the key for the power box is available at reception against a deposit, and the pitch can be used all year round.

Information about the leisure pool: http://www.mariba.eu/

GPS N 51°01'29" E 14°12'33"

After a great day at the leisure pool, which we highly recommend, we drove to Capron the next morning (Wednesday). Capron builds the Carado and Sunlight motorhomes, and occasionally Glücksmobil. Capron stands for "Caravan Produktion Neustadt" and is a joint venture between Hymer and Dethleffs (50/50). The free factory tour is offered once a week and lasts about 2.5 hours; you need to register in advance by email. The tour with Mr Kramer was great fun. Everything was explained in great detail and all our questions were answered. Afterwards we drove on to our actual destination, Gohrisch in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

It was only 26 km from Neustadt to Gohrisch, so we arrived at the spa resort after 40 minutes. As there were 4 vehicles of us from Thursday, we had booked the "Caravan Camping Sächsische Schweiz" campsite in advance.

The campsite is on the edge of Gohrisch and is very idyllic and quiet. The distant view of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains invites you to relax and unwind.

More information here

The facilities of the newly built site meet every expectation of a quality holiday:

The generous pitches are up to 100 square metres and can also be used by motorhomes over 8 metres. The sanitary facilities are all very clean (showers operated with a chip card), and there is a family bathroom and a bathroom for disabled guests. New this year are the swimming pool and sauna, but they weren't finished yet when we visited.

In dry weather, we took the bus to Königstein the next day and from there the S-Bahn one stop to Rathen. Our destination was the Bastei. We crossed the Elbe by ferry and then began the climb up to the Bastei. The climb from the ferry takes about 45–60 minutes and goes steeply uphill on steps, but the view from the Bastei over the Elbe and the surrounding area is stunning.

A local coach company offers various day trips, including to Prague. So we quickly agreed to go to Prague on Saturday. A quick call to the coach company, seats reserved and pick-up time arranged.

We set off from Gohrisch at 7.45 a.m. on Saturday, and the next stop was Prague. The coach journey took 2.5 hours and dropped us right at Prague Castle. In glorious sunshine (interrupted by a short shower), we first explored the Golden City together with the tour guide and then on our own for another 3 hours.

Prague is a beautiful city – you can never see enough of it. At 7 p.m. we were dropped off back at the campsite. The trip is highly recommended. After a day of relaxing, we headed home again on Monday. Even the best holiday has to come to an end.