The Mrs Dad's birthday is going down near Munich very soon. So, it's a family thing, not a windsurfari. However, her brother will be kind enough to lend us his motorhome wheels. And she understands TOW is medicine.
So the plan is to backpack the 5.4 wing with pump, buoyancy jacket, wetsuit, harness belt. I'll check that bag in, plus one or two more suitcases with clothes and 75cm aluminum mast with axis foil set.
Singapore airlines ticket says no more than 25kg, or pay. Multiple bags ok. For this reason, and ease of travel to and from airport, i am choosing not to take a wingfoil board and get a used one over there.
Will be there 6 weeks.

Upon arrival we visit Auntie at lake Ammersee which is a nice Bavarian lake where people sail i believe. There is a shop on the way to there called Surftools. I've messaged them to ask about a board, fingers crossed they understand my translated message.
After Ammersee we will spend time at Lignano Sabbiadoro northern Italy, probably visit Garda, possibly Trieste. Elba Island from Piombino seems like a plan perhaps.
Actually there is no plan, it is getting created right now while packing as far as TOW stops. Leaving next week.
I'd love to windsurf, but the gear is more dollars and more to handle so not sure about that yet.
It's going to be interesting to see the euro scene as i only got into sailing in Oz in 2020 so this is all i know, apparently it is more popular over there.

Any tips or advice
Places to camp and sail?
Any must see venues close to route?
What's the cost, availability of fin kit roughly to rent along the way per day?
Will it be very windy at these places?

Here some places that can be ok along the route you have in your map in order of your tour:

1) Althm?hlsee / Grosser Brombachsee (approx 50km South of N?rnberg)
There is a rental place that has both Windsurf gear and Wingfoil at Altm?hlsee (www.surfcenter-altmuehlsee.de/) . Wind is a bit hit and miss at this time of the year. If there is a cold front coming in you can get 15-20 knots and equally if it's an Easterly wind period you can get similar strength otherwise it's mostly light wind. This used to be my homespot.

Grosser Brombachsee gets a bit better wind but don't know if there is a rental place there these days.

2) Ammersee (approx 40km South of Munich)
The best out of the 5 lakes. Wind is a bit better than the previous lakes. Best spot there is Herrsching. Awesome when it's either a westerly or "F?hnsturm" (unusual at this time of the year).There is a rental place there from memory but can't find the link at the moment.

3) Kochelsee / Walchensee
When it's sunny and warm the west side of Walchensee get's a thermal wind in the afternoon (approximately 15 knots). There is a campground with direct lake access in the town of Walchensee but it's busy during school holidays (I think spring holidays are coming up at the beginning of June.
Kochelsee can get super windy early mornings (6am - 9am). It needs a Southerly wind flow to work and get turbo charged when there is a F?hn wind blowing (low pressure South of the Alps / high pressure system north of the Alps) but again that doesn't happen too often in early summer.4) Gardasee (Lake Garda) (approximately 350km South of Munich)
Gets crazy busy during weekends and in school holidays when half of Munich invades the place. The sailing happens mainly in the North of the lake. Both Torbole and Riva have campgrounds. Torbole has the better wind / campground water access combo in my opinion. There are a few campgrounds along the East side of the Lake but don't go South of Malcesine as the wind get's too light.

Main wind directions are:
Northerly (Vento): Blows in the morning. Best when there was a thunderstorm in the hills behind Torbole over night or if there is a low pressure system in Southern Germany and high in the gulf Genoa. Best between Malcesine and Navene (East side) and at Capo Real (West side).
Southerly (Ora): Blows in the afternoons. There is no Vento in the morning and it's sunny. Best wind is between Hotel Pier and Riva along the cliffs. But can be good from Malcesine towards Torbole.
Westerly (Ponale): If there is a thunderstorm in the hills west of Lake Garda you usually get a squally storm pushing out onto the lake. Wind can often reach 50knts.

There are a few rental stations around the lake. There its a Dutotone Pro Center in Torbole at the yacht club and there used to be a rental at Hotel Lido Blu.

On the westside there is Hotel Pier (great for Ora / ok for Vento) and Hotel Capo De Ramol (great for Vento / ok for Ora).

5) Italian Northern Coast
There are some good spots but rental places are far and in-between and I wouldn't go there specially for windsurf / foil holiday.

6) Lake Como
Gets thermal winds but not as good as Lake Garda.

7) Bodensee
Gets some good winds but only ever sailed there a couple of times.

RE motor home
It's worth mentioning that most lakes around Europe either completely restrict motor home parking (eg Lake Garda) or charge a flat rate per day / night (eg Altm?hlsee). Expect to find a lot of height barriers to prevent people from camping in parking lots at the lake. The barriers are often removed in Winter but in summer the expected to get a ticket if you park illegally.

RE taking gear. Only worth it if you go for a dedicated windsurf trip in my opinion. Good idea only taking a big wing / foil and buying a board locally. Don't expect the same level of used market we have here in Australia. Even though more people windsurf / foil the used market has always been seasonal and availability / range a bit hit and miss. Maybe try Marketplace before you arrive. Surftools is ok. There is also Surfstadle at Ammersee. Nuremberg has a couple of board shops and there are a ton at Lake Garda.

In Munich check out the Eisbach. There is a river surf spot with a standing wave in the middle of town. Google it ... not hard to find.

They actually build a standing wave in Nuremberg back in 2022 (Fuchslochwelle) by diverting some of the water from a river and through purpose build funnel with a step. Good wave but the water quality is a bit questionable at times.

No sailing advice in that area but we liked Konstanz, which you look to be passing through. Near there we took a bus/ferry to Meersburg castle.
I also noticed the route almost going to Croatia. There are rentals there in some spots but I haven't been though I've always wanted to go. Mainly went to Zagreb and Split, but I think on Hvar and Brac there are rentals. I think water donkey?

I would suggest going to Germany In October ,I remember landing and taking off .but had a good time .😂

holgs said.. like a Swiss tourist

I hear ya, and agree actually. Although i'm the only sailor, i think the others are keen to see the sailing scene there as it's not something they were used to doing, i would have been happy to eat brezen and beer but i'm the sucker that's gotta get wet to know.
Is there good TOW and bad TOW? I'm definitely used to some very good sailing conditions, will find out.
Hard to know if i'll regret not taking gear - I'll be will be that Swiss tourist with skii's at Uluru. It does kind of snow there actually, the ground freezes enough probably to ski on.

boardsurfr said..
Good wind is rare at the Bodensee.

Nice stories, you've been around Peter!

MobZ said..

Tardy said..
I would suggest going to Germany In October ,I remember landing and taking off .but had a good time .😂

Drugs are bad Tardy. Healthier option would be go to Amsterdam, they have healthy omelette's i think. Go eat those and dream of sailing back home 🍻
When is your Pacific sojourn happening?

No Man Octoberfest is a great time in Germany .lots of beer .and everyone is happy .and a great atmosphere ,I've been to the bulldog cafe in Amsterdam don't you worry but that was when I was young ,6 week count down for Aqua water in Aitutaki .gopro footage coming up .I hope you get lots of windsurfing in Mobz .take a good wetsuit .

MobZ said..

Temp increases of 14 degrees?!

Yeah especially in late winter it can bring a sudden burst of warm air. Wind usually goes as far North as Munich and is usually strongest on the Swiss lakes where Balz Mueller lives as well as the Bavarian lakes close to the mountains.

Chinook winds, Santa Ana, Adiabatic dreaming...I've heard about but never experienced these kinds of winds.

In Croatia the it's called the Bora ... and blows offshore at most spots.
Santa Ana ... pretty good between Santa Barbara / LA and Sand Diego but not many sailable spots.
Chinook Winds ... Given Canadians still walk around in a T-shirt and shorts when it's 5 degrees outside you only really feel it when it jumps from -25 to +14 degrees. Problem around Alberta is usually trying to find a body of water that's not frozen over.

Only ever sailed Oz east coast sea breeze.

It's say the NW storms around Sydney / Newy are a similar phenomenon. Here the wind comes from the table lands North of the Blue Mountains and drops down towards the coast with it being strongest around Gerroa / Gerringong, Botany Bay and around Birubi Beach / Anna Bay.

Do many sail Chiemsee?

There is a high end surf wear brand called "Windsurfing Chiemsee" which was big in the 80s and 90s. Ironically not much Windsurfing at Chiemsee. Mostly because lake access is limited and the wind / chop is generally better at other lakes. Not much wind during summer.

I did up my world bucket lust a while back.. places were selected based on scenery/conditions and hire centers..
in italy i had sardinia porto pollo and lake garda torbole
in germany only spot was further north at keil
From what i’m told the windy season in croatia is epic.

Actually I have tried a few west winds around home now. The Illawarra version of the hairdryer needs its own special name. That is a beast as it spills off the ranges and down across the Illawarra basin.

Dylan that works sweet! So many new things to play with on the KA72.com new beast mode! 🤩
I see no tracks for some spots I’m visiting. I’ll try to put some on the map.
btw that reply function is super cool.