European Road Trip Days 3-5: Efteling – Cologne – Bamberg – Prague

After spending the first two days of our 25 day European road trip in July 2024 at Efteling in the Netherlands, we set off for Prague where we had two nights booked in an Airbnb apartment.

Efteling to Prague is approximately 950km across Germany so we had given ourselves two days to travel and booked accommodation on a farm north of Dusseldorf for the first night and in a village apartment north-east of Nuremberg on the second.

1. Efteling – Hunxe
2. Hunxe, Stable Conversion
3. Burgebrach & Bamberg
4. Tips for driving in Germany
5. Travelling through Germany with kids
6. About Us

Efteling – Hunxe

Before setting off, after an extremely wet second day ‘enjoying’ the rides at Efteling, we had to have a complete change of clothes, in the hotel restaurant toilets, as we were all soaked through to the skin. We left the theme park mid-afternoon and headed for the German border.

We enjoyed driving through the Netherlands and looking at the attractive houses and well maintained front gardens in the villages we passed through. We found a small Dutch supermarket to purchase boxes of chocolate sprinkles to take back home, and some other supplies, before reaching the German border.

Once into Germany the landscape was noticeably more industrial and hilly. It was interesting (possibly only for myself) travelling over the River Rhine and through the industrial Rhine – Ruhr Valley, taking me back to GCSE and A-Level 1920s & 30s German history lessons back at school!

Hunxe, Stable Conversion

When planning the road trip, I had found the accommodation for our first stop and imagined that a night on a farm, in a converted stables, would be a fun stop for the kids. The photos on Airbnb did look a little old-fashioned but, as it was just for one night, I thought that it would be fine and a bit of an adventure.

Had it not been raining for 24 hours before arriving, it probably would have been a more appealing site when we arrived. Our first impression was of the overwhelming agricultural smell that hit us when we got out of the car and lingered until leaving the next morning. The stable itself was basic with a ‘kitchen’ consisting of a sink unit only and a very rustic bathroom.

The donkeys, chickens and ducks roaming freely outside the front door provided some welcome entertainment for the children while we unpacked what we needed from the car, although they were contributing to the smell! Had it been dry then it would have been a much better experience and the kids could have played outside properly after two hours in the car.

As there were no cooking facilities in the ‘kitchen’ I headed out to the local village of Hunxe which was a short drive away, in search of dinner. Jackson and I quickly found a pizza takeaway in the village square and were about to order when we noticed that it was cash payments only. There was a bank on the square so this should not have been a problem. However, I had left my wallet and bank card back at the house and we had to drive back to get it.

We eventually managed to order some pizzas, in broken German, in no small part thanks to Jackson (13 at the time) who has a better grasp of language than I do. When we got back to the house one of the pizzas was covered in tuna and another in mushrooms which none of us really like which was a bit of a disaster.

After a few card games (no tv and little Wi-Fi) we all went to bed very tired (and still hungry) following a long day of theme park rides, travelling and wet weather. We hung out our wet clothes as best we could but as it was pretty cold and damp, these didn’t get much drier overnight.

The price of the accommodation was reasonable and, although I wouldn’t recommend it for anything other than a place to rest for one night, we all got a good night’s sleep.

On our first full day in Germany (day 4 of our road trip) we had planned a long drive to another Airbnb close to the UNESCO World Heritage medieval town of Bamberg to the north of the Nuremburg. This was an approximately 480km drive and one of the longest driving days on our entire trip. Having spent two exciting days at the theme park, we had planned to make up some distance to our next main destination of Prague.

We were all glad to leave the barn and the farmyard smells behind and got up early to leave after a small breakfast. We planned to have a stop in Cologne which was on the way, 100km into the drive. Researching the area, Jackson asked if we could pay a visit to the Bayer Leverkusan football stadium, the Bay Arena, which we would be passing on the motorway just north of Cologne.

Leverkusan had just won a surprise Bundesliga Title in May, after a remarkable unbeaten league campaign, denying Harry Kane a first trophy at Bayern Munich in the process.

We arrived at the stadium hoping that the club shop might be open but it was closed. Luckily there was a McDonalds right opposite the ground where we parked and ordered a meal before walking round the outside of the stadium and taking a few photos.

At the back of the arena, one of the gates was open and we caught a glimpse of the pitch. As I kept watch, Jackson walked down the tunnel and into the empty stadium. I got a little nervous when he disappeared for a few minutes before emerging with a big smile on his face and a tale to tell his football-mad friends when he got back home.

Leaving Leverkusan, we drove into Cologne and headed over the River Rhine and into the city centre. As we had a long day’s drive ahead we stretched our legs with a short walk to the Cathedral and then headed back onto the autobahns. It looked like a beautiful city and it was a shame that we didn’t have more time to explore.

Burgebrach & Bamberg

After a long drive through Germany, our next stop was the village of Burgebrach where we had a night booked in a large apartment on the top floor of a village house. This Airbnb lived up to all expectations being clean, modern and very spacious. The host spoke little English but was very welcoming.

By the time that we arrived in Burgebrach late in the afternoon, the weather had finally turned and it was hot and sunny which was a welcome relief.

We walked around the village and stopped for to eat at a small restaurant overlooking the village square. There was a open-air concert with live orchestra performing just across the square which was a nice accompaniment to our first proper German meal.

After a great night’s sleep in the lovely apartment, we set out for the nearby town of Bamberg which was just fifteen minutes away en-route to Prague. We had decided to visit Bamberg after watching some travel vlogs on YouTube while we were researching interesting places to visit.

Bamberg is often described as one of Germany’s most beautiful towns and contains many medieval timber framed buildings, narrow streets, cathedral and bishop’s palace. The town was largely untouched by widescale destruction during WWII and unlike many other towns and cities, the old buildings are largely original.

The centre of Bamburg is relatively small and we enjoyed walking along the river, through the old town and up the hill to the cathedral. The rose garden of the Bishop’s Palace was free to enter and offered a great view over the roof tops of the town below.

After a few hours and a stop for lunch we headed back to the car for the final push into Czechia and Prague.

The 300km drive was a lot more scenic than the previous two days. From Bamberg to the Czech border we travelled through forests and mountains through sparsely populated countryside. Just after crossing the border into Czechia we spotted a wild boar at the side of the road.

We made it to Prague late afternoon and went straight to our suburban apartment to the south of the city centre. We were pleased to find that it was spacious, modern and clean. We were even able to wash and dry our clothes which had still not dried out from Efteling threes days before.

That evening England were playing Spain in the final of Euro 2024 and we spent the night in a local sports bar / restaurant watching the game on a massive screen. Unfortunately, we appeared to be the only people supporting England in the packed bar and there were lots of cheers for Spain at the final whistle.

For a review of our two night stay in Prague, look out for the next post where I’ll write about the amazing sites, food and weather as well as the experience of travelling through a former Eastern Bloc country for the first time.

Tips for driving in Germany

On the whole, we found driving in Germany relatively straightforward. Apart from some heavy traffic on the motorway around Frankfurt Airport, the roads were fine. There were also no tolls on our route which was welcome.

We did need to purchase an emission sticker for the car which we got online prior to travelling. They currently start at €11.50 and can be purchased directly from Berline.de

There is a lot of information available online about driving in Europe, particularly on national breakdown company websites including The AA, RAC and GreenFlag. These have general advice and specific rules and regulations for individual countries. I would definitely recommend researching each country you are planning to drive through prior to a road trip.

General Tips for driving in most EU countries include the following:

• Carry documentation with you – driving licence, car insurance, V5C certificate of vehicle ownership.
• Ensure that you have European policies for both insurance and break down cover.
• Beam deflectors are required in most EU countries.
• A warning triangle and high-vis jackets are required for the driver and all passengers.
• Check the speed limits on local roads, main roads and motorways as these can vary by country.

Travelling through Germany with kids

This part of our road trip was all about the travelling from Efteling to our next main destination of Prague so we didn’t spend much time site-seeing or immersing ourselves in German culture. Our main thoughts on our experience include the following:

• English is not as widely spoken as in Holland and other tourist destinations. We made an effort to learn a few German phrases (please, thankyou, etc) and this was appreciated when talking to people that we met.
• The German people that we did meet and interacted with were very friendly and welcoming.
• It is a very big country! This might sound obvious but the distances really hit you when you have to drive from west to east across the whole country.
• The roads are well maintained and relatively easy to navigate.
• The countryside is very varied – we found that the further east we went the more rural and scenic the landscape.
• Pizza menus are difficult to translate! Beware the tuna and mushroom toppings!

On our journey back from Croatia we stayed a further two nights in Heidelberg travelling up through the German Alps from Austria. There was some spectacular vistas near the border but that is for another blog post.

Thanks for reading and making it this far. If you are planning a family road trip then good luck and enjoy. Click on the button below for some further posts about the planning for this trip and other European road trips that we have been on as a family.

About Us

After the shock of finding out that we were expecting twins in 2015, one of the first things that we realised was that …we’re gonna need a bigger car!

We’re a family of six with two girls and two boys now aged 17, 14 and 9 year old twins.

Follow our blog and social media posts for inspiration, ideas, tips and hacks for non-package family holidays and as we prepare for our next adventure.

Inspiration for the Blog

Thank you for visiting our site. Follow us on social media for updates and notifications of new blog posts (Links below).

Content and information on We’re gonna need a bigger car is provided free of charge. If you would like to show your appreciation or support then please share on social media and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages. You can also show your support by buying me a coffee below.