Camping in Winterberg, Germany
For our snowboarding trip to Winterberg, Sauerland, we booked a campsite near enough to the slopes so we didn’t need to move the van everyday.
After some searching, Steve found a great campsite, Campingplatz Winterberg, located at the foot of the slopes, and accessible on skis when the snow allows. It is surrounded by forests, and close to the town of Winterberg. The center of Winterberg with its numerous shops and restaurants can be reached by foot or by bus, which stops in front of the campsite. The famous Winterberg bobsleigh run, known as the "Veltins-Eisarena", and the Bremberg cross-country stadium are also nearby. It is a great location to park up for a week of snowboarding!
We booked an electric pitch for a campervan and it was large enough for the van and our winter awning. These pitches were all on grass and rather muddy due to the thawing of snow, however, the owners provide pallets to keep out most of the mud. Most touring pitches are located on entry to the campsite, and others seem to be more permanent. We were the smallest van onsite but we made the awning cosy enough!
The campsite amenities are geared up for a comfortable camping experience in winter conditions. The sanitary facilities are equipped with key entry. They are both modern and spacious, and we found that the showers (no tokens needed) were impressively powerful and hot, absolutely bliss after a full day on the slopes. The cubicles are large enough to accommodate an adult with kids, allowing us to easily wash and dry the kids without any hassle. Additionally, the site advertised a fantastic drying room equipped with ski boot heating, which was an invaluable service! It is almost impossible to dry clothes in our small van during the winter, nevermind four pairs of snowboard boots. Fortunately, we were able to leave everything in the drying room overnight. Access is limited to guests only with a key, and the installation of security cameras gave us peace of mind. The site also has a bread roll service (although we didn’t use this), a washing station for bikes, a special dog shower for four-legged friends, a sauna (which costs to use), a washing machine and tumble dryer (tokens required), a playground and vending machines stocked with essential items. This was the talking point everytime we walked back into the campsite. Sam was thrilled that he could buy cheese and sausage from a vending machine. Even better was the next machine which was full of ice cream!
As we ate out during the day we cooked in the van most nights. We brought along our air fryer which we ended up using every night alongside an electric camping hob. It is worth noting electric is charged per KWH, and we settled the bill on the morning of departure. We stayed a total of five nights and were charged 48 Euro, which we thought was reasonable considering the heaters and appliances used.
On our last night we ventured up to Panorama Restaurant and Cafe, which is a few minutes walk up the road from the campsite. We had reserved a table the night before to avoid disappointment. We settled into our seats, ordered food and the kids went to explore the little play area. We ordered hearty gastro pub meals including a bacon cheese burger and sauerlander schnitzel. The kids both chose from the kids menu and opted for spaghetti and fish fingers with fries. They were very happy with their ice cream dessert with sprinkles!
Even though we were completely stuffed from the delicious food we had just enjoyed, the server skillfully persuaded us to try a dessert. We ordered a waffle topped with rich chocolate sauce, and it was definitely the best I’ve ever had! It was truly well worth the visit, and it beautifully ended our last night at the campsite.
