Czech Republic camping in November

A very quiet night in the Motel like place by 6.30am everyone seemed to have disappeared. The boss lady appeared and we somehow got through the registration & payment with a bit of German, our Eastern European phrase book, some sign language & a bit of humour. Telc sounded like it was worth a visit and was nearby and we were parked up & in the centre before most places opened at 10 am (thoughthe tourist office said it opened at 7.30!) It was a very nice small town, surrounded by lakes/ponds with a very old unspoilt town centre with painted buildings.

It seems to be famous for its folklore and outdoor music events but obviously not in November, and its fountains which were being boarded up presumably to protect them from the frosts. We found a very good cafe with an enticing selection of pastries, and for less than £4.00 had two of the most expensive cakes and good coffees. Needless to say we had to leave with a selection of other cakes to keep our stock levels up.

We then trundled along some of the quieter roads instead of the Motorways seeing much more agricultural fields & villages not unlike many of the areas of France we usually pass through on the way to Spain & Morocco. The altitude got a bit higher around 450m and houses were a bit more alpine chalet like and there were snow poles along the side of the fields. For us though the weather had improved, dry and partially sunny which highlighted the last of the autumn colours.

We thought we had found a good camping place to stay at ATC Olsovec, an enormous site by a lake within walking distance to the town and open all year. We got to the closed reception, a closed barrier & walking around all the facilities locked and no other campers there. There was a phone number on a sign but it just did not appeal as it was so deserted so we decided to try the other option we had whilst also looking out for possible wild camping spots. There are many blocks of forest with small tracks leading off but we were wary of the ground conditions as everywhere is a bit soggy underfoot. Approaching Camping Baldovec we were beginning to think it did not exist, we drove along small roads, passed through a few houses and up a side road, then through the middle of small quarry, then a sealed forest track to come out an a large outdoor activity park which appeared to be open just for us.

Everything was very tidy, lovely & warm, a helpful reception free site wide wifi & even an open restaurant & bar even though there didn't seem to be any other guests. They have lots of wooden chalet type accommodation and camp spaces. Obviously they don't get campers this time of year so all water taps, toilet 7 shower blocks were shut but they offered us facilities in the main buildings and we found a firm flat space to park.

The helpful English speaking man in reception also mentioned a good pub about 5km walk along the riverside track which tempted us to stay another night. The next day was sunny so we set of for the village of Holstein and the promised pub was open & busy even though it was only 12.30. Luckily they had English translations on the menu so we could avoid the meat dishes. It was all extremely cheap and very good, everything at least a third of the price we would pay at home. Broccoli creamed soup, 5 potato pancakes & veg, fish with cheese sauce & chips & 2 excellent foamy beers for about £8.

It was now Friday evening and the camping suddenly came to life, lots of families started arriving and filling up the chalets. Its a beautiful spot with some lovely walks and rides through the forests.

Czech Republic into the countryside

There was no obvious route for leaving Prague to our destination of Kutna Hora except to head East and avoid tram lines on the way out of the city. We managed ok apart from heading the wrong way once we got to a major road. Our route was across country on smaller roads which seemed to have frequent road works and diversions. Driving standards seemed ok and we are getting used to having to switch on our headlights all the time.

The Ossuary at Kutna Hora was a most peculiar place, a crypt below a chapel which was full of thousands of human skulls & bones made into sculptures. There was a whole chandelier made of bones and even a coat of arms, it didn't seem creepy though.

We then drove through rolling hills and forested areas in a much more agricultural part of the country than we had seen before. There were many places that looked like summer cabins and weekend retreats though most were shut up. We had aimed for a horse riding ranch but when we found it the whole place looked like it had been closed for a while, but then many places look like that in November.

Headed back to busier roads to one of the camp places listed in the tourist guide that is open all year. They seemed very surprised to have tourists, it seemed to be attached to a serious drinking bar and no one spoke English. One of the customers seemed to have some idea who to contact by phone and with a bit of sign language and odd German words we were parked in the car park of what is a bit like a Motel. We have got our own shower & toilet room close to the van and in the morning someone who (may) speak English will come to reception.

Prague

Prague 5th & 6th November

Conveniently the camping is close to a tram line going into the city centre in about 15 minutes. A single ticket valid for 30 minutes cost only 24Kc which we managed to buy from the helpful camp site office. We immediately spotted a Patisserie with a great selection of cakes and coffee. There was a constant stream of customers which was a good sign. We decided just to amble around the main shopping area and get a feel of the city. There were many cobbled streets and tall buildings almost all beautifully restored. We came across small street stalls selling local snack delicacies and colourful painted souvenirs.

Even though it's November there were many tourists, it must be really packed in the summer. It's now a very trendy city with the usual range of top international brands. Gill even ended up buying some nice clothes in Marks & Spencer which seemed to have a much more interesting range than at home. The highlight of the day was finding the rather misnamed Municipal House. This is an enormous Art Nouveau building containing many function rooms full of superbly restored furniture &decorations. We were taken on a one hour guided tour through a selection of rooms and ended up with a drink in the Amerikany Bar. Everything was tiled, marbled, plastered. and lit with crystal glass lamps Many of the rooms are used for concerts and hired out for functions.

The next day we got on the tourist trail firstly over the Charles Bridge admiring the dark statues and then up the hill to the enormous Prague Castle site. It was a clear day to start with but a bitterly cold wind kept us on the move. The Baroque St. Nicholas church was actually very nice, not as over the top as many other Baroque buildings can be.

The castle seemed too modern to us and we didn't fancy the tour which possibly may have been more interesting. Cities generally don't appeal to us, we would rather be out in the countryside and seeing a bit of Prague over a couple of days was enough for now.

Arriving in Prague

Sunday 4th November

We reached the Czech border by lunchtime. Suddenly things looked different, older and more basic, not quite like the smart Motorway services we are used to in Europe. The biggest change though was that we are now out of Euro land and have to calculate prices. It's east to compare say the fuel price from Belgium to Germany (more expensive in Germany) as the currency is the same. Now we have to get used to approximately 30 Czech to a pound sterling.

We had to buy a vignette to allow us to drive on the Motorways, this will cover us for 10 days and we had to pay 16 euros as we had no Czech currency yet. It probably would have been better to pay on Credit card charged to the local currency. We soon diverted off the Motorway and got to a small local town which had a much poorer feel to it. The buildings looked run down and the shops & restaurants had cheap looking signs. Also it was hard to read much as Czech language is written quite differently to Western European languages, though brand names are still the same. Prices are cheaper than at home and the range of products was good even though half the shop seemed to be full of flavoured bottled water. We bought what we thought was a natural sparkling water but even this was flavoured.

Luckily we arrived in Prague on a Sunday, there was little traffic which was fortunate as the main road we drove down was full of roadworks and it was a bit disconcerting being sent along tram lines in some sections. We had to skirt the centre of the city and get across a major bridge, fortunately we knew where we were heading was close to the zoo which was well signposted. The area we are staying in called Trojska is quite suburban, it's along a street where many of the large houses have converted their gardens into camping areas. Being November only 3 were still open but we found a reasonable basic place Camp Sokol Troja for 310 Kc (£10) per night without electric hookup.

Belgium Holland and Germany

Friday 2^nd November 

Belgium

We hardly have any plans (and don't really like to make them) but we have already had to make a change as we had a text saying our Dover Calais DFDS ferry was cancelled and would now be two hours later. We got to Dover at the original time & asked if we could go instead to Dunkirk as there was an earlier sailing. With the hour time difference we didn't get to France until 7pm and of course it had started raining so we decided to only drive on for 30 miles to the nice small town of Veurne in Belgium where we have stayed a few times next to the small Marina. As usual there were another half dozen campervans there, and now we were out of France it had even stopped raining. We could still pick up BBC Radio 5 Live on medium wave so managed to keep up with the Brighton v Leeds match which finally ended in a 2-2 draw. We have brought an inflateable seagull with us which we found at the end of the Blackpool v Brighton match last Saturday, it's now our substitute pet, and will no doubt appear in some photo's soon (if Gill doesn't stab it!).

Saturday 3^rd November 

Belgium Holland and Germany in one day.

Planned a long day today driving, and driving it has certainly been, mostly heavy rain, all day for virtually all of the 389 miles today. Most fields in Belgium were semi flooded with lots of bedraggled cattle and horses standing around. We very briefly passed through Holland and then the rains really started to come down. German Motorways are scary even in the driest weather due to the speeds that many cars go at, they just appear in your rear view mirror from nowhere. Even the terrible conditions don't seem to deter them, I am surprised there aren't more pile-ups.

We abandoned driving soon after dark as there was no way we would reach our planned destination which was another 250kms. We have found a very busy free Stellplatz at Bettingen close to the motorway where we will spend the night in the company of at least 30 other motorhomes. It's very quiet though apart from the rain on the roof, so far we haven't set foot outside the van.

Heading for Eastern Europe

We were out for a walk near home last week and decided we should get away for a month in the van now the weather is starting to curtail the horse & bicycle riding activities. We know it would be warmer towards the West but we keep going through Spain & Portugal so we decided to see some of Eastern Europe even though it's the wrong time of year. We have been to Bavaria (in the Summer) but it's the Czech Republic and on towards Turkey that appeals to us at the moment. It looks like the majority of Campsites are shut but we will always find somewhere. The main problems will be water and toilet emptying facilities, luckily we managed to get an additional waste tank for the Porta Potti today! We now have snow chains & a shovel although we do not intend to seek out any snow and hope we will never have to use them. The vans diesel heater has been well tested last weekend in a very cold night in Blackpool so hopefully we will stay warm inside.

30 years ago we, Mark & Gill gave up our jobs to set off travelling for a year's trip around the World which somehow turned into a lifestyle. It was never planned but somehow we managed to combine careers with travel and now, having sold our business 5 years ago, we are still travelling and finally getting to explore more of Europe.

Nowadays it's usually in our compact camper which in 6 years has already clocked up over 60000 miles mainly on 5 long winter trips to Morocco. Having gleaned so much useful information from many other motor-homers blogs we felt we should share some of our experiences with others and keep you all updated with our adventures.