travelling in europe booking campsites

andrew h smith

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We are travelling to europe in june ,,,,, belgium , germany , switzerland and france . Do we need to prebook sites or book as we go , we toured ireland last year and prebooked all sites but could have booked en route as most sites were quiet ... any advice would be helpful

Thanks
 
Do you specifically want to use campsites, rather than doing what many on here do, which is to use the aires and stellplatz and sostas? Personally I’ll never use a campsite unless I was forced into having to do it. I much prefer to find somewhere on the route we happen to be on at that time. We don’t plan to have to be anywhere on any specific time.
 
We are travelling to europe in june ,,,,, belgium , germany , switzerland and france . Do we need to prebook sites or book as we go , we toured ireland last year and prebooked all sites but could have booked en route as most sites were quiet ... any advice would be helpful

Thanks
If you are going to be in France in June and have to use campsites (I always use aires or wilding locations), I would be surprised if it is necessary to prebook. You will probably find discounts available in June through Camping Card ACSI.
 
Similar question, but France, Normandy in particular, in August? I think I know the answer, but just checking...
 
Similar question, but France, Normandy in particular, in August? I think I know the answer, but just checking...
I would suggest that it would be prudent to prebook - well in advance!
 
Depends on where and when you want to go. In six years of 6 months a year in Europe we have never yet needed to book a campsite, on the few occasions when we thought it might be prudent it turned out to be unnecessary. However if you want to go to a particular place in a popular area (coastal or ‘honeypot’ resort) in July-August or on a public holiday it might be a good idea, although if it turns out to be less pleasant than you expect you’ll be stuck there.
 
We done about 3 weeks in France last summer and my intentions were to mix it up between aires and sites but found ourselves on sites most of the time due to the weather being really hot and travelling with a ten year old who wanted some sort of entertainment so a site near the beach with a nice swimming pool was the answer. It was our holidays so why not. Never got to travel and see as much as we originally set out to do but to be honest we had a ball. So depends on what you wanna do have a holiday or just travel between concrete car parks and save money because that’s what most aires are car parks with a few facilities that you sometimes end up paying for anyway. Ideally airs for night stops when travelling and sites if you’re gonna be a couple of days or longer in the one place.
 
I was in France and Germany in June last year. No problem getting a campsite in France at that time of year, lots of space.
I was quite happy staying on the Stellplatz in Germany as they were more like campsites, lots had showers and toilets and you could have awnings and chairs out.
 
Depends on your style.
We mainly use aires and stellplatz and wilding...But just the 2 of us sometimes we will stay 2 nights other times move on after 1
Even on sites we shower in the Vehicle !
Yes awnings OK in Both aires and stellplatz and BBQs possible

Some a bit like carparks or are carparks so either move on or just 1 night
Lots very very pleasant with EHU shade grass and picnic tables.... views / rivers / local services

Swiss sites are expensive...We needed one last summer as the repair to a flat tyre was a pain (week end and busy).
Camp about £35 all facilities but no pool !

Possible to find free overnights even in Switzerland !

Only time we booked was for Paris (Bois de Boulogne) for a week. Site busy and crowded (surprise surprise) but it is Paris and handy transport links with a cheap rail/bus/metro card for 1 week
 
Plan to arrive mid afternoon,then you still have time to move on.We always use aires.If you want to use a particular site,try ringing or emailing the day before, much better than planning in advance then deciding you want to go somewhere else once you are on holiday
 
I would suggest that it would be prudent to prebook - well in advance!

Having been there and done that. We now never book UNLESS we have been before. The pictures online bear no relation to some of the sites and you do wonder where they take the pictures from. We fancied showers and needed water and black waste disposal and saw signs for a farm site. Pulled in and the woman was at the MH door explaining where everything was. Took our 10 Euro and legged it. What a dump. The toilet and shower block we certainly in the French tradition of rustic with holes in the floor. Loads of kids hanging round the toilets in the evening and the BBQ area was part of the toilet block.

If we want a Campsite / Aire we start looking about 3pm. Head to the one we have picked with PLAN B and PLAN C just in case it's rubbish or full.
 
We are travelling to europe in june ,,,,, belgium , germany , switzerland and france . Do we need to prebook sites or book as we go , we toured ireland last year and prebooked all sites but could have booked en route as most sites were quiet ... any advice would be helpful

Thanks
Get yourself a copy of Camperstop Europe and save yourself a pile of money by avoiding the outrageous and unnecessary cost of campsites!!!!
 

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