Our final destination was Bavaria. But that’s a fair old schlepp from Remagen, so we needed a place for the night, somewhere near Stuttgart. The Hardtsee looked promising – not exactly what you’d call ‘wild camping’, but given that it was on a bathing lake and a stone’s throw from the route it worked fine.
The only problem was, it was high summer, international travel was still restricted owing to the persistence of coronavirus in many countries, so every German and his dog had bought a campervan. Good luck finding a pitch anywhere even remotely popular in the whole country. No, there was nothing available at the Hardtsee.
Campingplatz Albtal in Kochmühle was a little further off the road, but they had a pitch for us. All the Google pics had been taken in winter and it looked like the little campsite that cried. Sure enough though, when we arrived, they were expecting us, and we were told we could park up anywhere we fancied in one of two fields.
There were plenty of electricity points. Perfect. Our first time plugging in the Bulli so we could run the fridge overnight and charge the phones. We ran the cable to the charge point. Weird. We had a cable connected to the Bulli battery with a 2-pin plug on the end. The charge point had a 3-pin socket. Oh well, it kinda went in, with a little force. Guess the socket accepts 2 & 3 pin plugs. Not a clue.
Turned out the Albtal is a truly great little place. It’s ramshackle in that it’s not regimental in its pitching regime. Easy going, informal, and expertly run. And the restaurant is cranking out great food by the plateful, way beyond expectation. We ate and retired. Talked to a couple of schnauzer breeders who ‘d brought 3 of them along for the ride. The power seemed fine. The fridge was ticking over. Sweet dreams.