FRANCE has
about eleven thousand campsites both municipal and privately owned and ranging from basic to luxury.
There are also over 2000 aires de service where you can park
overnight, normally with a small charge for the water and waste supply points
and even electric hookups. Some of these are free, others within or just
outside campsites where the normal camping fees may apply. In some places you can stay for one night free in
a town car park or village square but beware you may find you are
surrounded by market stalls the next morning! .
France 1996 France 2001
France 2002 France 2005
France 2006 France 2007
France 2009
ITALY has many campsites and aires
(Aree di Sosta). The campsites are
mostly large and developed usually with full amenities and many pitches
occupied by static caravans often with very permanent extensions. They
tend to be rather expensive especially in high season (but see ACSI
below) The aree di sosta vary from excellent with free water, waste and
even free electric hookups, to awful where we wouldn't park for an hour
let alone overnight!
Italy 2005 Italy
2006 Italy 2009
GERMANY has a few thousand
campsites and stellplatz (aires) for motorhomes especially in the Rhine/Mosel
area and Bavaria.
We spent three weeks touring Germany in 2008 staying only at stellplatz in many
areas including the Weser Valley, Harz Mountains, Thuringia, Bavaria and Black
Forest which were mostly well signposted and had good facilities.
Germany 2006 Germany 2008
SLOVENIA
has about 30 listed campsites and only a handful of official
aires
Slovenia 2006
BELGIUM
has campsites and aires near large
cities and many towns. We have only stayed at aires.
Belgium 2005
SWITZERLAND is expensive for touring with high site fees
and fuel costs. We found the campsites in the main tourist areas to be mostly large and
crowded with very small pitches.
Switzerland Switzerland
2009
AUSTRIA has a mix of small and large
campsites depending on the popularity
of the area as a tourist destination. Pitch sizes are usually
similar to in Switzerland but some sites have larger marked pitches. Many
sites have excellent facilities with luxury toilet blocks and services
points for each pitch. There are now more stellplatz
in Austria.
Austria 1998 Austria
2006 Austria 2008
SPAIN has very few official aires
but wild camping is tolerated unless there are too many crowded together
in hotspots. There are many campsites mostly fairly expensive with
full facilities but we only have personal experience of the North and
Pyrenees. The popular costas of the South can be packed with motorhomes
and caravan sites are often full during the winter months although a few
miles inland wild camping is apparently easier.
Spain 2007
The Czech Republic has many
campsites mostly in the more popular tourist areas and wild camping is not
allowed. Site fees are reasonable and site standards vary from fairly
basic to a few luxury sites with swimming pools or by lakes. There are
several sites near Prague the one we stayed at felt secure and was near a
metro station for easy access to the city centre
The Czech Republic 2008
Hungary has a mix of large sites near the tourist centres around Lake
Balaton and Budapest. We found site facilities in need of updating and
their fees are rather high considering the standards. There are several
sites around Budapest. Do NOT park a motorhome in the city centre as it is
likely to be broken into
Hungary 2008
NEW
Site Updates - with thanks to our
website users
ACSI
This is a
low season discount card scheme run by the Dutch ACSI organisation which
inspects campsites across Europe.
An excellent site guidebook and map in English is supplied with the card
listing over 1600 campsites in the scheme in 18 countries. For 2009 the site fees are mostly
15€ per
night including electric hookup (which may vary from 3 to 10 amps) but
some smaller sites are only 11€ or 13€ a night.
The card and guidebook costs £10.50 including postage
for 2009.
We found the scheme to be good value for money and the sites mostly of a
high standard. The ones in popular resort areas especially in Italy were
quite busy with many Dutch campers, reflecting the success of the scheme.
The low season dates are mostly to the end of June or early July and September onwards
but some weeks in Spring around public holidays are excluded at
some sites.
Link to the ACSI website
and
the latest edition of the guide can be purchased from Vicarious Books in the UK
(also see
links page)
There are similar low season discount schemes such as Camping
Cheques and Freedom Camping which require the purchase of vouchers before
travelling.
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