Rent a sleeping barrel
A sleeping barrel is a wooden barrel lying on its side, made to spend the night in. The door sits in the flat end face. Around it run the staves, held together by steel bands, exactly as on the barrel the shape comes from. Some sleeping barrels are converted wine casks, most are built for the purpose. What separates it from a camping cabin is the full round: a cabin sits flat on the grass, a barrel rests in a cradle. Full standing height is therefore only along the middle.
What to check before booking
- Where is the bathroom?
- Many sleeping barrels have neither shower nor toilet on board and belong to the sanitary building of the site. Others have a bathroom of their own or a second, smaller barrel beside them. Anyone who dislikes crossing the site at night settles this first.
- How much standing height is left?
- In a round cross section you stand upright only along the middle. Towards the sides the wall leans in over the bed. That is not a fault, it is the shape.
- Is it heated?
- Wood alone does not keep you warm. Many barrels have infrared heating, others have none, and some sites rent out only in the summer half of the year. For spring and autumn it is worth checking both.
- Is there water and power in the barrel?
- Often there is one socket and nothing more. Where no kitchen is built in, you cook outside or in the communal kitchen of the site. Both are named in the description.
- What is provided?
- With bedding every site goes its own way. Some put out pillows and blankets, elsewhere sheets and a sleeping bag belong in your luggage. So read up before you pack.
Who it suits
Made for
Couples and small families who want one or two nights that are different. Children take to the round shape on their own. Because there is little room there is also little to do, and on a short stay that is half the point.
Less so for
Luggage mostly disappears under the bed platform, but there is little floor space beside it as soon as two people stand up at once. Anyone staying longer or disliking tight spaces is better off in a cabin with straight walls. A barrel is not step free, because it sits raised and the door is narrow.
Where it comes from
The shape is older than any holiday accommodation. The wooden barrel built up from staves is regarded as a Celtic invention; Roman authors describe it from around 50 BC, and Pliny the Elder records a vessel made of staves, closed top and bottom by a head and held together by hoops. Little about that assembly has changed since. As a place to sleep the barrel stands today above all on campsites, from the Ostsee to the Alpenvorland, where prefabricated wooden barrels are set up; here and there a wine cask taken out of service is converted into a sleeping barrel.
Good to know
The walk to the sanitary building
Where the barrel has no bathroom of its own, the trip across the site at night comes with it. A small lamp by the bed is worth more than you would think.
Wood all around
A barrel is wood from the outside in. The barbecue and the fire bowl stay where the site puts them, and candles are better left in the bag.
Dogs not in every barrel
Some hosts take dogs in the sleeping barrel, others have stopped. Asking first saves the discussion at reception.
