JANUARY 2022, UPDATED JAN 2025

This January we went on our second wintercamping adventure in Winterberg. Winterberg is located in Sauerland and it is one of the locations that is close to the Netherlands with a high chance of snow. We were craving a snowy adventure and decided to spontaneously drive to Winterberg when we saw that it had snowed all week. In this blogpost I will combine my recommendations of our wintercamping trips!

Practical information on Winterberg

Sauerland is located in West Germany and is part of North Rhine Westphalia which means it is very close to Dusseldorf and Cologne. It is a hilly region and interesting to visit year-round due to all the sport activities you can undertake. In wintertime you can go skiing or sleighing, while the area is good for mountain biking, cycling, hiking etc during the other seasons. You will find lots of forests and valleys in Sauerland, with little villages with traditional half-timbered houses, making it a good location for nature lovers who like peace and quiet. During winter it can get really crowded in Sauerland, especially near Winterberg and Willingen, as many tourists want to enjoy a few days of snow. In the weekends the tickets for the ski-lifts sell out quickly. It is advised to buy your skipass in advance (online), just to be sure. A sold out skipass of course means it will be very busy on the slopes, so I would recommend to go on a weekday. Parking at the lifts also fills up quickly on snowy days, so do some research where you want to go skiing, because you cannot expect to switch parking your car during the day. If you only go for hiking and sleighing, parking is much easier, as there are several free roadside spots that you can park in. During the weekends Winterberg can be closed to new visitors, so make sure to arrive late on Friday evening or early on Saturday morning.

Winterberg is one of the main hubs in Sauerland and can have a bad rep, but I don’t agree with that perse. Yes, when the snow levels are sufficient, it gets really busy, but so does Val Thorens… The village is quite charming, with enough choice of restaurants and shops and there are plenty of ski slopes to try. I did find the ski area very stretched out, making it less easy to get around than popular towns in for example Austria. But for Dutch people it certainly is a good destination if you want to make the most out of your weekend and go skiing.

Parking recommendation near Winterberg with a campervan

We like to go on spontaneous trips and we don’t book campsites beforehand. Our van has solar panels and doesn’t need to charge, so this gives us flexibility on where to stay. When there is snow in Winterberg it can get really busy but if you do your preparations this should not be an issue. Winterberg has several campsites where you can also stay during the winter. We drove past some of these campsites and they seemed quite busy, so it is wise to book one if that is what you prefer. I really liked our parking spot of 2025, so I am going to share it with you. We parked at Ruhr Quelle, which is a free parking spot without facilities. Ruhr Quelle is the starting point of many nature hikes, you have several lengths to choose from. We did a 3 kilometer hike through super thick snow, which was wonderful! From Ruhr Quelle you can also walk to the Ruhrquellenhütte (20 minutes), where you will find a restaurant, a sleighing piste and a chairlift and ski slopes. We arrived in our parking spot on Friday evening, woke up alone on 8AM and found that the parking had completely filled up by noon.

What is wintercamping like?

We now have the experience of doing wintercamping in the snow twice and I have some practical recommendations. Wintercamping in a small van can be quite a challenge and it helps if you have an adventurous mindset.

These are some of the things that you have to think of when you go wintercamping:

• Bring snow chains & gear to clean your van in case there is any new snow.
• Does your heater work properly?
• When it is really cold your battery will die earlier.
• You cannot have enough towels and mats as your van will get really dirty because of the melting snow.
• We brought bottles of water as we were afraid our water pipes would freeze due to the cold. This provides more of a challenge when you want to do the dishes or wash your hands.
• Where are you going to stay when you are done exploring? Is your van comfortable enough for that?

I found sleeping in the van during wintertime extra cozy, luckily our heater worked perfectly. I loved the snowy views from the driver’s cab, as you sit way higher above the road. Overall, we loved our winter camping adventures, but we wouldn’t advise to do it longer than a weekend (if you have a small van like us and with a kid).

Recommendations for winter camping with a kid

The first time we did wintercamping Hugo still had to turn one (refer to pictures below). The second time we went wintercamping he was almost four. Safe to say it was much easier the second time around! When Hugo was still a baby we decided to bring him on walks in the baby carrier. We did see people struggling with a stroller and were happy we didn’t try that. When Hugo was a toddler we brought him on the sleigh. You really have to think about how you are going to entertain your kid when you are done exploring and when he gets cold. Our first time wintercamping was absolutely fine, Hugo easily joined in the stroller. The second time he also loved the experience, he couldn’t get enough of the snow and sleighing and it was a real joy to see!

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