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 and
Spain 2007
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
GERMANY has a few thousand
campsites and stellplatz (aires) for motorhomes especially in the Rhine/Mosel
area and Bavaria
Germany 2006
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
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.
Austria 1998 Austria
2006
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.
ACSI This is a
low season discount card scheme run by the Dutch ACSI organisation which
inspects campsites across Europe. The card costs £6.95 plus postage
for 2008. An excellent site guide in English is supplied with the card
listing over 1000 sites in the scheme. The site fees are mostly 14€ per
night including electric hookup (which may vary from 3 to 10 amps) but
some smaller sites are only 10€ or 12€ a night.
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 were mostly to the end of June and September onwards
but some weeks in Spring around public holidays were excluded at
some sites. There are similar low season discount schemes such as Camping
Cheques and Freedom Camping
Link to the ACSI website here and
the latest guide can be purchased from Vicarious Books in the UK (see
links page)
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