We're driving from S. England to Wawa - any recommendations for places to stay on the way?

We're a family of four, our kids are 7 & 5 years old & we'll be driving to Wawa this summer. We're planning to stop halfway, somewhere along the A2 in germany. Any recommendations for hotels / B&Bs would be welcome. It'd be good if we could get a decent meal at the hotel when we arrive after a long day on the road. Any a playground nearby would be a bonus!

Thanks in advance for your help :)

There are plenty of hotels (Rasthaus?) on the A2 / E30. Normal for them to have buffets. Never needed to book

Motorway Hotels are absolutely terrible, terrible food, terrible scenery, usually expensive, horrible rooms.


My advice would be this: pick a German city along the route with a population of about 100,000 - 200,000, google hotels or B&B's within that city and aim for that. Failing that do what i always do and just drive, when youre feeling tired pull off the motorway into the next small to medium sized city and just find a hotel, theyre all located near the outskirts with easy access to the main roads anyway. I tend to stay away from the national chains and go for something with a family feel, i always find a room for about 60 - 80 EUR per night, a lovely meal and usually a few shops or park near by. You can also refill your fuel tank in the city as its about 3% cheaper than buying it on the motorway. Maybe hit a German supermarket in the morning also before the long drive and stock up on treats and snacks.

While I agree that hotels on autobahn service areas can be pretty grotty, one chain - B&B Hotels - have added some nce new coty centre units - we particularly liked the ones in Essen and Dresden. They're in town, one shared the car park with Burger King, and both happily provide delivery menus. They're clean and comfortable, if a bit basic.

The best hotels, though, were one-offs - we've stayed in some really nice hotels, found just by wandering 5 miles or so off the autobahn.

It might be off your route, but there are a couple of nice hotels in Hoppegarten, just east of Berlin. At least one of them book able (quite cheaply) through last minute.com.

Thanks - we've actually used the B&B chain when we've driven through France and they suit us because we know we can easily book family rooms - the kids are too small for us to feel ok putting them in a neighbouring room.

The only down side to the B&B chain in France has been that while the brekkies have generally been ok, they don't tend to have restaurants, and because they often are located in industrial estate type areas it is not always easy to find somewhere for a decent meal. In your experience is that different in Germany?

If it was just the two of us adults I would definitely do the stopping when we're tired thing and see what we find, but I like to book in advance with the kids so I will google as you suggested...

argh, sorry, I haven't got the hang of posting replies to specific people. I was writing to Johnb & Wroclawboy!
And Jon357 I will have a look at Hoppegarten too and see how it fits with our route and timings.
Thanks!

Not in my experience

We've stayed at autobahn-side B&B Hotels and they had half-decent food courts, but the new city centre ones have all had delivery menus, and will call out for you to get, for example, pizzas delivered