Germany to the Czech Republic

Leaving our Bielefeld (Germany) campsite in our new campervan, our mission now was to get to the Czech Republic to have the campervan fully registered.

On the road in our new campervan

We originally purchased the campervan from our home in New Zealand. After arriving in Bielefeld to pick it up, it has taken around 10 days to complete the purchase, have it made ready, and get European registration and Insurance – quite a journey but worth every minute! 

Unfortunately, because our German registration plates were temporary, and only valid for 4 days, we had to really rush through Germany, to get to the southern part of the Czech Republic where we had arranged for full registration and insurance.

Leaving Bielefeld, we drove south-east toward the Czech border.

Kassel Town Hall

We were managing the big roads ok, but felt we needed more practice driving this giant van before we ventured into the small town streets we passed.

Our first main German town was Kassel, the home of the brothers Grimm of Grimm’s fairy tales. It’s a lovely place.

Not long after, we arrived in Gotha, which had a medieval centre. We found a place just out of town to pick up some lunch, then kept driving.

About half an hour later, we were in Erfurt, another attractive town with well-preserved medieval buildings.

Erfurt town centre

However, after a slow drive through the main street, we noted the narrow side streets and kept going. We motored on to Jenna, our destination for the night.

We found a campsite near the township, and a funny little man there gave us a sticker for our window and told us to park up. No problem.

It took us a while to get the van organised with electricity etc, but we were ok and had a reasonable night’s sleep in our new van.

Karlovy Vary

The next morning, we got going by about 10 am and headed to the border of Germany and the Czech Republic.

We soon passed signs saying we were entering Ceska Republika, bought a compulsory vignette sticker (for motorways), and drove on.

We felt, now that we were in our destination country, we could relax a little and so ventured some sightseeing.

Our first stop in the Czech Republic was Karlovy Vary, located in the western part of the Czech Republic, in the Bohemia region.

Marg enjoying a Pilsner in Plzeň

It’s an attractive 14th century town with colourful buildings, open spaces, and plenty of eating places. It’s known for its spa resorts because of its mineral springs.

Its also known for glassware and china (i.e. Bohemian crystal) – we bought a small crystal bowl.

Using our new GPS, we were able to find the Autokemp Sansanka in Sadov, about 5 km from Karlovy Vary and stayed there the night.

The next morning, we moved on to Plzeň, also in Bohemia. It has a very lovely old town, and town square with amazing architecture. 

Dinner in České Krumlov

Plzeň is known mainly for Pilsner Beer which of course we had to sample. There are plenty of bars where you can buy, it and some bars offer the 11th beer for free! 

Still in the Bohemia region, our next stop was České Krumlov.

This place is a beautiful medieval city. It is also home to the second largest castle in Europe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Apparently, its appearance has remained unchanged since the 18th century and we delighted in wandering through the traffic-free old town with its cobbled lanes, ramshackle red-tiled roofs and lopsided colourful houses.

We enjoyed our first full Czech meal here, sitting on a terrace beside the river and being overlooked by the castle.

The national dish is roast pork or duck, with cabbage and dumplings, which is what we had along with a good Czech beer – quite delicious!

Parked up overlooking the river in České Krumlov

We decided to stay overnight in České Krumlov, and found a lovely place about 6 km out of town by the river. It was a small place offering a WC and waste water disposal, and fresh water fill up. We had a lovely parking spot right beside the river.

The next morning, we drove on to our town of destination, České Budějovice.

Also known by its German name – Budweis, České Budějovice, is the home of Budvar beer, the original Budweiser.

We were there because our friends Denisa and Anita’s family live there, and they are going to help us sort out registration for our new campervan.

We could not complete registration in Germany where we purchased it because we are from New Zealand, and could not provide a residential address. So, Denisa's family details were used for registration and insurance purposes.

České Budějovice

After we had completed the necessary paperwork, we spent four days in České Budějovice waiting for the registration plates to be produced.

Meanwhile, we enjoyed the hospitality of Denisa’s family. They kindly allowed us to camp at their house as they had a large parking area.

While we waited, we had time to check out the town of České Budějovice.

It has a compact "old town" with buildings dating from the 15th century. We managed to see quite a bit of this lovely town and enjoyed its beautiful architecture and vibrancy.

Now, four days later, here we are quietly celebrating, because today we finally have our van registration plates, and are fully insured.

Klara, Leigh, Marg Dominic & Adam

We would not have been able to achieve this without the tremendous help of our friends Denisa and Anita, and their family.

Denisa’s family, especially her sister Klara and her Dad, have been fantastic in spending so much of their time helping us to get through the intricacies of Czech bureaucracy, in order to register the campervan. 

Also, we were able to experience a very tasty Czech meal thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Klara and her mother Milena. They cooked us a fantastic meal with two kinds of pork, potato dumplings and sauerkraut accompanied of course, by Czech beer. Delicious, and home cooked.

We so enjoyed parking in Klara’s yard as this gave us the chance to really get to know the family. We had a lot of fun trying to speak English and Czech with Klara’s children Adam and Dominic.

We are very lucky to have been part of such a welcoming family here, and experience their way of life.

Now that we're legally registered, its time to move on. Our next stop is Praha (Prague).

This blog describes part of our 7 month campervan trip around central and southern Europe, which began in Germany in April.