Motorhome route: The Fairy Tale route in Germany by motorhome

The German Fairy Tale Route is, of course, all about... fairy tales! The route is also called the German Fairy Tale Route, because in German a fairy tale is called a Märche. In 600 kilometres, you will drive with the motorhome from Hanau to Bremen and encounter fairy tales in all sorts of ways: from a recreated fairy tale to a house on which fairy tales are depicted.

The fairy tales are collected by the Brothers Grimm, who collected more than two hundred fairy tales. They did not write them themselves, as is sometimes thought. They collected different stories and sometimes adapted some of them. Below are some highlights of the route that you can tick off during your motorhome trip through Germany.

Hanau is the starting point of your fairy tale route with the motorhome. The Brothers Grimm were born here. You will find a statue of the brothers on the market square. From May to July, the Brothers Grimm Festival also takes place here. The festival was established to celebrate the brothers' 200th birthday. During the festival, several plays from the fairy tales can be seen, among other things. In Hanau, the Castle Philippsruhe is also a must. Apart from being a beautiful castle, you will also find the Historical Museum Hanau here, where you can learn everything about Hanau. In the castle, you will find the interactive museum GrimmsMärchenReich. This is a particularly fun place for children to learn about the Brothers Grimm in a playful way.

Besides the real fairy tales, you will encounter the most fairy-tale landscapes during your motorhome tour along the Fairy Tale Route. And here, too, the fairy tales return. Do you recognise the fairy tale in Rotkäppchenland, for example? In 'Little Red Riding Hood Country', you can enjoy walking and cycling along the rolling hills, the forests and the vast green meadows. In this region, women used to wear a red cap on their head when they were single. The same applies to the Geo-Naturpark Frau Holle-Land. In this nature reserve of Frau Holle, you can also go canoeing and swimming. There is also the pond of Frau Holle.

In Steinau, the Brothers Grimm spent their childhood. In the Brothers Grimm House, you will find an exhibition about the brothers. Next to the castle is a fountain with a number of fairy tales on it. If you would like to see the fairy tales come to life, you can do so at the Marionette Theatre, where the fairy tales are depicted with puppets. Or watch the fairy tales on your walk through the village, where, among other things, Hansel and Gretel are painted on a house! You can also take a walk with a city guide who has stepped straight out of a fairy tale. The guide is dressed up as a fairytale character. The guide takes you along special places that have to do with the brothers.

During their studies, the Brothers Grimm lived in Marburg. In Marburg, you will find a mini fairy-tale route in the form of a walk during your motorhome tour. But beware: Jacob Grimm once wrote that there are more stairs in the town than in the houses. So expect a lot of climbing and descending. The path is called the Grimm-Dich-Pfad. On the way, you will encounter several fairy tales, for example, Cinderella's slipper is at the castle. After this hike, you are sure to be cheerful about all the fairy tales you have seen!

The brothers lived in Kassel for more than 30 years. This is where they started their fairy tale collection. In the city, you can see a mural painting of the brothers' fairy tales. There is also a museum dedicated to them, Grimmwelt. This museum is fun for young and old. You will learn everything about the brothers and their work here. The nice thing about the museum is that you not only learn about their fairy tales, but also about their other work. For example, they partly wrote the German dictionary and they were also engaged in literature and art history. You will also come across differences in how fairy tales were depicted in the past and in the present. Just outside the city is the fairytale castle Löwenburg, where you can take a guided tour through the beautiful rooms.

The Fairy Tale Route is known to be easy to drive with a motorhome. And that means that there are plenty of camperstops along the route! You can find these camperstops via our app or the CamperstopAdvisor. 

In Sababurg, you will find Sleeping Beauty's castle, one of the most famous fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. If you are lucky, there will be a prince and princess at the castle who will tell you the story. In the gardens of the castle, you can take a nice walk and climb one of the towers of the castle.

The film below gives you an impression of the motorhome route.

When you are in Hameln, it can only mean one thing: you will meet the real Pied Piper of Hameln here! This can be done in various ways. For example, from May to September, there is a theatre show in which you can see the story of the missing children. The rest of the year you can meet the rat-catcher and the other characters in Hameln. You can also book him as a guide and he will show you the most beautiful places in town. The Hameln Museum is also located in Hameln. Here you can learn everything about the history of the town, but especially about the rat catcher!

Welcome to the end point (or starting point, if you drive the motorhome tour the other way round) of the Fairy Tale Route! This city is known for its Bremer Town Musicians, also known in the Netherlands as the Bremer Street Musicians. In this fairytale, the musicians are a dog, cat, donkey and rooster. Although they never arrive in Bremen and continue to live in the forest, the statue now adorns Bremen's town hall. In the summer months, there is a performance on the Domshof on Sundays in which you hear the story of the Bremen Town Musicians.