Aschaffenburg, Germany

We drove down from the northeast corner of the Netherlands to Aschaffenburg, which is located a little east of Frankfurt. Our primary reason for stopping here was to visit young friends. We sponsored Lisa years ago when she was an exchange student in the US. She and Ruben were wonderful hosts and tour guides.

They researched camping places where we could possibly stay and landed on this one right on the River Main. It was a Park4Night located in a large park called the Volksfestplatz. The only service available here is a chemical toilet dump. 

From our campsite, we could easily walk to Aschaffenburg's old town.

For the full story of our trip in a campervan and our first, much longer adventure in a motorhome, see my book 

Ramblings & Roundabouts on Amazon

The bridge afforded a terrific view of Johannisburg Palace, built from 1605 to 1614.

We did not go inside the palace but enjoyed strolling around its grounds. 

This Bavarian palace, built in the architectural style of the German Late Renaissance Era, was a residence of bishop-electors.

Below from a palace terrace, we enjoyed a view of the River Main as it flows to the northwest. It eventually empties into the Rhine River.

Next stop: Park Schöntal on the east side of Aschaffenburg's old town. It is a delightful place to stroll and relax. The landscape gardener Friedrich von Sckell, who designed the park, retained the ruin of a 16th century Holy Sepulcher church.

The pond even has turtles. The park has two restaurants and a beer garden as well.

After the park, Brian and I returned to our campervan and took a short break, sitting on the riverbank and enjoying the view of the Johannesburg Palace.

A swan stopped by to visit us. Seemed quite like a fairy tale to me.

In the late afternoon, we walked back across the bridge to join Lisa and Ruben in the old town for a pre-dinner stroll.

We stepped into the Saint Peter and Saint Andrew Catholic church which had a striking medieval bas relief sculpture of a Pieta--the crucified body of Jesus lying across his mother Mary's lap.  

 We ate dinner at an authentic German restaurant. Below is a mushroom soup with dumplings.

Next is grilled potatoes and mushrooms topped with a fried egg.

Brian had wild boar cheeks with cranberry sauce and dumplings. The local beer went well with all of these dished. Delicious!

Time to say goodnight to Aschaffenburg. A beautiful sunset view of Johannesburg Palace on our way back across the bridge to our cozy campervan.