vanlife

Tuesday 24th March 2026 – Langenbrand to Schonach….

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Another mostly sunny day, as we continued our journey south through the seemingly endless Black Forest….

Pulling off the road for a break and a walk, we discovered the hillside village of Langenbrand – to live here you would need a healthy set of lungs as no property appeared to be on the same level…

On our way further south we pulled in to have a look at the World’s largest Cuckoo Clock and were just in time to hear it cuckoo 3pm, though not early enough to get close enough for a proper photo with the cuckoo out!….

We also had a wonder around the gift shop at the amazing array of clocks – this one standing out in particular – the craftmanship….

From here is was a short haul to our Aire for the night, high up in the hillside village of Schonach – right next to the ski slope!!

Quite fittingly we have been given a severe weather warning for snow fall tomorrow night – now tempting as it is, this location is pretty remote and I’m not sure I fancy being stuck here with no power and potentially water for a few days, so we shall be moving on tomorrow.

Thoughts of the day:

  • I am having a rethink about my plans (again), as much as I have enjoyed the scenery and stopping off at random villages or places of interest, I am missing the sea and the sense of purpose of visiting different beaches. It is also a little early to venture into the mountains of Switzerland and Austria as per my original plans as though I have winter tyres, I am not willing to risk getting cut off or caught out on the higher mountain roads that these countries do so well, whilst the weather is still so unpredictable – so we are heading south to the coast for awhile…
  • I was always a bit uncertain as to how I would take to an inland road trip and now know the answer!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 78
  • Miles walked – 3.5
  • Food – £14.54
  • O/N – £10.38 (no EHU)

Monday 23rd March 2026 – From Viandan in Luxemburg to Bad Herrenalb in Germany…

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As per, a cold night followed by a beautiful sunshiny day. We have a fair few miles to cover today, so we got an earlyish start to our first destination of the day, the nearby village of Viandan. This is our last stop in Luxemburg and well worth a stop to view this amazing hilltop castle, sitting above the historic village of Viandan. We didn’t stop in the village itself as the streets were narrow and cobbled and in fact the best views were from the road down into the village….

On our way up the road on the other side of the village was a sign welcoming us to Germany and we then enjoyed a pleasant drive through the German countryside and countless small neat and tidy villages until we hit the motorway network for a large section of our journey. As you would expect the motorways were a little busy around the major towns but otherwise free of traffic and a little boring though a necessary evil.

By mid afternoon we had reached our destination a small Stellplatz on the outskirts of the pretty village of Bad Herrenalb and more importantly on the edge of the Black Forest…

We immediately set out to enjoy the last of the days sunshine and take a walk around the village nestled in a valley….

The houses were large and what I would call Bavarian style, in the main it was quiet but there were a few folk out enjoying the sun, street cafes and open parkland.

We spotted an Heron wading in the stream – I had to watch it for a while to check it was real!…

Past the ruins of the original church and rather randomly a vending machine selling cured meats?…

A successful mostly driving day, followed by a lovely, lazy walk, what more do we need in our life?

Thoughts of the day:

  • Gone are the cycle lanes and seemingly unlimited pathways of France and Belgium – clearly the roads of Germany are for driving on!
  • Away from the cities, Germany is a lot more rural than I imagined.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 213
  • Miles walked – 3.5
  • Fuel – £65.68
  • O/N – £12.11 inc EHU

Sunday 22nd March 2026 – Into Luxemburg – Clervaux and Diekirch…

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Another beautiful day for us as we leave Belgium behind for a while and head down into Luxemburg. If I am brutally honest it was a bit of a disappointing day today as we struggled to find much to inspire us.

It was a longish drive into Luxemburg, though quite rural, it was rather bland and once arriving in Luxemburg the roads were very bendy which came as rather a shock after Belgiums largely straight roads. Our first stop was Clervaux, a small, largely residential (modern) village with a small old part containing a very attractive castle and abbey….

Otherwise the village was pretty deserted and we wandered back to the van to resume our journey. From here we headed to Wiltz, where we intended to park up for the night and wander the mile or so into the old town to see the castle. However, the park up was just 3 spaces next to a busy children’s play area and skate park and I was just not feeling it and so we moved on and after 2 more attempts to get onto very small Aires in other villages we ended up on the outskirts of Diekirch, where we took the last spot in yet another small Aire (just 6 spaces).

We headed straight out to enjoy the last of the days sunshine, with a walk along the river Sauer and a wander back through the older part of town….

Don’t get me wrong Luxemburg is clean and we drove through some lovely areas of arable land and woodland but the older more characterful parts of the towns and villages were just a bit illusive today. We have one more on our list to try tomorrow, before we cross over the border into Germany.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 100
  • Miles walked – 5
  • O/N – £6.08 no E

Saturday 21st March 2026 – Neufchateau, La Roche en Ardenne, Durbuy and Esneux…

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After another frosty night we are again rewarded with a lovely sunny day and after a short walk along one of the many trails at Herbeumont we wend our way through the Meuse Valley to our first stop for today at Neufchateau.

After wandering up the hill to view the castle, only to be disappointed to find out that it is purely a model of the castle that once stood and a few bits of remaining wall. The town itself being nothing special we took the slow path around the lake to enjoy the sunshine instead….

From here we headed north (there is a reason for heading north again, as I want to drive down through Luxembourg), with a much more successful visit to La Roche en Ardenne a pretty riverside town with the remains of the castle overlooking the town…

Further north again to the ‘smallest city in the world’ (historically) being Durbuy. It was very busy, though there was plenty of parking on the outskirts and certainly did not disappoint….

This was our last planned stop as we headed on to our Aire for the night at Esneux, another pretty riverside town and enjoyed a stroll in the late afternoon sun….

The Aire was a small semi circle of 10 spaces looking onto the river at the far end of the above street but I forgot to take a photo! From here on in it is southwards we go.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 94
  • Miles walked – 7
  • O/N – £10.50

Friday 20th March 2026 – an admin day in Herbeumont….

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Frosty again last night and very cold in the van as the heating on electric is not very powerful, though I will up the setting to 1800w tonight to see if that makes a difference. However the clear skies of the cold night soon gave way to another gloriously sunny day, which confirmed our plans to stay here another night and get a few bits and bobs done around the van ie laundry etc.

We took a couple of walks out from the Aire checking out the nearby Viaduct by following a trail over the top of it looking to the west and the east…

And then by finding the correct pathway to give us views of the Viaduct itself…

The Viaduct is now part of the hiking and cycling network, having been disused by the railway network for many years….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 5
  • O/N – £13.24