Camping in winter is only for the really tough. For everyone else there is an alternative: indoor campsites. You won’t get cold there, but the sleeping accommodations are even more unusual.
You won’t get sunburned, and no animals will crawl into your tent. But the biggest advantage of indoor campsites is that you have a solid roof over your head. This is especially helpful when it gets uncomfortable outside.
In short: the indoor camper is comfortably warm and can still pursue his favorite hobby. We looked around at a few facilities.
Berlin: Hut fun in “Kreuzkölln”
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The idea of indoor camping is not entirely new. The first German indoor campsite, the “Hüttenpalast” in Berlin-“Kreuzkölln”, opened 15 years ago. The facility is still unusual: eight caravans and four wooden huts are available for overnight stays on a total of 600 square meters in two former vacuum cleaner factory halls in the trendy district between Kreuzberg and Neukölln.
“Friedel” is the name of an original GDR caravan from the sixties, “Schneewittchen” is a caravan for the Trabant, “Schwalbennest” is the name of the only “Wessi” among the Hüttenpalast caravans – including checkered curtains and a small art installation on the illuminated shelf.
Each of the cars has a themed front garden with seating. Six “normal” hotel rooms for two to four people are also on offer. The ensemble, including the café, has been arranged with attention to detail by the two operators, with folding chairs, birch trunks and garden gnomes. Groups of up to 14 people can rent entire halls.
Info: A caravan or hut costs between 70 and 100 euros including 7.5 percent city tax. 25 euros are charged for the third and fourth beds (huettenpalast.de).
Bremen: campsite atmosphere in the overseas port
A shepherd’s wagon, a colorfully painted retro camper and a lumberjack log cabin: These are just three of the eleven unusual accommodations that can be found in a former warehouse opposite the Bremen Harbor Museum. “Hafentraum – Indoor Hostel Camp” is the name of this slightly different hotel. It forms an ensemble with the neighboring attractions Hafenrummel, Schwarzlichthof and Hafenrevue Theater.
The port dream follows a geographical concept: the sleeping accommodations are spread over 250 square meters, where you can travel from Peru and Mexico via Sweden and Italy to Greece. The theater-proven operators have lovingly equipped each of the unconventional sleeping units in Bremen’s Überseestadt with pretty accessories.
The facilities are almost too comfortable for real campers: the beds are made up upon arrival and there is one towel per person. And if you want to spend the night in a more classic style, you can also find two normal rooms. Sanitary is like a youth hostel: guests share a total of three bathrooms with shower and toilet.
Info: A night in a caravan costs from 35 euros for one person, for two you pay from 55 euros (hafentraum.de).
Bonn: cable car gondola in the old perfume warehouse
In Bonn, Hollywood is right next to Dallas. This is certainly the case in the “Base Camp” caravan hotel. That’s the name of two of the four US caravans that can be rented there. With their shiny silver exterior, they are the top attractions in the former warehouse of a perfume manufacturer.
Around them are a dozen and a half other caravans and camper vans from the 1950s to 1980s, as well as a Trabi with a roof tent and a real mountain railway gondola from Switzerland – all lovingly prepared sleeping places.
The former high-bay warehouse is tower-high and an impressive 1,600 square meters in size. Even a railway sleeping car fits in easily. Stoves, refrigerators and toilets in the caravans are locked, as is usual with indoor camping. Instead, in the morning you go to the communal shower like at the campsite and for breakfast in the designated area on a gallery.
Info: Prices start at 37 euros for one night in the Trabant’s roof tent. The Hollywood US caravan is available from 77 euros per night (basecamp-bonn.de).
Black Forest: “At home” at the waterfall
A few steps away from the famous Triberg waterfalls, which are among the highest in Germany, there has been new life in an old factory hall since 2020. Car radiators used to be soldered together in Triberg in the Black Forest, but today there are 16 historic caravans there – from caravans with a Black Forest hut look to the Route 66 US cruiser to the rolling hippie flower power bed.
Seven themed huts and five safari tents are also among the accommodation options at “Daheim”. And if you come with your own motorhome, you will find additional parking spaces outside. There is also an in-house pub and the option to book the camping hostel for events.
Info: An overnight stay in the “Daheim” camping hostel in Triberg can be booked for around 55 euros per night for two people (daheim-triberg.de).
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