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Web Guides to Campsites in Europe PDF Printable Version

 

Website Guides to Campsites in Europe

Barry and Margaret Williamson
June 2012

The following websites provide free, detailed lists of campsites throughout Europe, including the UK. In most cases you can search by country, by campsite name or from a map. They are freely provided by clubs and individuals in a range of countries - Holland, Germany, France, Italy, Austria. We emphasise that the listings are free: you don't have to be a club member, log in or register (if you don't want to).

The entries are provided by visiting inspectors, giving accuracy and reliability. In the best cases, there are photographs, maps, GPS co-ordinates, opening dates and links to the campsite's own website. In some cases, all the information is also available on a DVD on open sale over the internet (ie not limited to members of the respective club).

Often you can search the website by theme: 'No Dogs', 'No Children', 'No Naturists', 'Motorhomes over 5 Tons', etc.

This is in sharp contrast with what is offered by the only British Club that provides any sort of list of campsites on the mainland of Europe - the Caravan Club. It publishes lists of campsites by country in two thick, heavy and expensive volumes (each costing £15.99 in 2007); the lists are not on the Club website. Interestingly, the books are entitled: Caravan Europe. This title ignores the many members of the club and users of campsites who are motorhomers, and is also apparently ignorant of the fairly obvious fact that Britain itself is in Europe.

The entries are made on a voluntary basis by members and therefore lack any kind of format, accuracy or systematic coverage. Many entries are out of date and the directions given are famously idiosyncratic (something we literally know to our cost). For example, a pair of sites in Greece which are a 5-minute walk apart are listed under completely separate towns, lying miles away. And several CC members do not know east from west! There are no inspections and only club members can correct or add entries.

Countries missing from the Caravan Club books include Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco (as well as the UK which is also in Europe).

Here is our list of free websites - if you can add to it, please Contact Us.

http://bessyonthemove.weebly.com/hungarian-campsites.html

Here Ian Shires provides a Google-based map guide to dozens of campsites throughout Hungary from the largest to the smallest. Taken from a Hungarian source, this list may take you to places you have never been before!

http://www.langdale-associates.com/slovakia_2008/campsites.htm
This is Paul and Sheila Barker's list of campsites they have used in Sicily, Croatia, Sardinia, Corsica, Denmark, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland. At the time of writing, they are travelling and camping Germany and the Baltic Republics. An interactive map links to a description and review of each site - and they tell it as it really is with a rating scale from -5 (dreadful) to +5 (excellent).  

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/
Country of Origin: Holland. In English, from the Dutch Camping Club ACSI. 8,600 campsites, map-based with an excellent and detailed coverage.

http://www.campingwijzer.nl/
Country of Origin: Holland. In Dutch with over 6,600 campsites in 32 countries.

http://www.campingidee.nl/english/
Country of Origin: Holland. In English with many campsites listed in 16 countries with initial search by map. Multiple bookings are possible via the website.

http://campingfuehrer.adac.de/campingfuehrer/suche.php
Country of Origin: Germany. In German, from the motoring club ADAC. Map-based with an excellent and detailed coverage.

http://www.campingo.com/campsite.html
Country of Origin: France. Available in English, as well as German, Dutch and the original French. The coverage is world-wide!

http://en.camping.info/Search.aspx?showTab=map
Country of Origin: Austria. In English, as well as the original German and many other languages. It has 23,006 campsites in Europe, even including details of 11 sites in Serbia.

http://www.europe-camping-guide.com/
Country of Origin: Italy. In English and including 2 campsites in Albania.

http://www.campingcompass.com/
Country of Origin: Probably Eastern Europe. Map-based with a limited coverage, but includes 3 campsites in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina.

http://www.camping.bg/?page=&savelang=en.lang.php
Country of Origin: Bulgaria. In English with an excellent map-based coverage of Bulgaria.

Paul and Sheila Barker are the designers, writers, cartographers and photographers for the best travel website we know: www.langdale-associates.com. They have sent us the following list of websites used on recent travels in mainland Europe.

This is Paul and Sheila's list, along with their own comments:

http://www.camping-in-greece.gr/default.asp  Covering mainland Greece and the islands.

http://www.camping-frankrijk.nl/  A Dutch site which gives a thorough coverage of all the departments of France; we used this as an invaluable source of info about Corsican sites and found many small sites which got no mention anywhere else; they were consequently much cheaper than the outrageous prices charged by the bigger plebby sites.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=search  I really don't like and never have anything to do with Internet Forums, since I generally find myself at odds with the values and culture of so many Forum-addicts, who have little else to fill their sad time but write whingeing notes; however, the Motorhome Facts campsites pages do have some value, if you accept that they are included by members' recommendation and you may not agree with what is said.

http://www.camping.hr/   The Croatian Camping Union offers both an excellent web-listing and a very helpful service on information about campsites in Croatia; they readily respond to emailed enquiries.

http://www.czech-camping.com/    This was an invaluable guide to Czech and Slovak campsites which revealed to us many smaller sites, whereas the ACSI website manages to include all the ultra-luxury, plebby and ultra-expensive sites; also of course sites full of noisy Dutch caravanners and our antipathy to this breed is well-known!

Martin Jeffes, entrepreneurial designer, owner and manager of Camping Sakar Hills in South-East Bulgaria (http://www.sakar-hills.com/index.html) has given us details of a Dutch website (with a version in English) which gives, free of charge, Points of Interest (POIs) to download to your SatNav. There are latitudes and longitudes for over 30,000 campsites throughout Europe, which does, of course, include the UK. This is an essential adjunct to the Caravan Club's idiosyncratic directions for the sites in their 'European' guides.

http://www.archiescampings.eu/eng1/   (many thanks to Archie).

Martin is happy that he is included in the list as a Point of Interest, since he is very much a POI. We have always admired his longitude (tall), latitude (wiry), attitude (positive) and altitude (above all others in Bulgaria).

John Hughes has kindly added the following websites (the notes are ours):

"Various Dutch motorhomers whom we met during our stay in Greece recommended the following Dutch and German websites:

www.griekenlandmetdecamper.nl (means 'Greece with the motorhome'). In Dutch. Many free camping places in Greece, with maps and GPS co-ordinates)

www.campercontact.nl (means 'Motorhome contact'). In Dutch. 6 free camping places in Greece plus many sites in many other countries.

www.campervriendelijk.nl (means 'Motorhome Friendly'). In Dutch. Look under 'Camper Plaatsen' ('Motorhome Places') then 'Buitenland' ('Abroad' if you are Dutch). Many free and paying camping places in Greece and elsewhere including 1 in Albania.

www.womo.de (means 'Motorhome') In German. Devoted to selling books of free camping places throughout Europe."

www.campings-in-roemenie.nl This was recommended to us by John and Sue in August 2010.
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