Guides to europe

[Sab]

Just about to purchase a t5 beach, v excited and want to plan our first summer adventure around Europe. Been looking on the Internet for a handy guide to campsites that would help us but too many to choose from!! Could anybody recommend one that would help us on our way. We have 3 kids so prefer kid friendly but quiet campsites that are off the beaten track. Thanks for your help.

 

[Hotel California]

ACSI camping guide if you want a paper version , and this website ....http://www.campercontact.com/en/

Should give you plenty to chose from

 

[snowy55]

Europe is a big place, try narrowing it down a bit. A book with every campsite in Europe wold be a bit of a handful!

 

[Skylark2.0]

ACSI camping guide if you want a paper version , and this website ....http://www.campercontact.com/en/

Should give you plenty to chose from

Why not just get the app!

 

[surfer-rich]

Got back from our 1st Europe trip yesterday. Used the ACSI books/map as well as the ACSI app, worked well for us doing Belgium & Netherlands. Made no advanced plans/bookings, just got up in the morning, look at the maps/app and go... That said it was out of school hols so knew campsites would have spaces which probably won't be the same for you having kids. Either way, a thumbs up from me

 

[Howard 66]

Cool Camping website has given us our best experiences. Need to check out ahead though as you will be dependent on iffy 3G signals.

 

[Hotel California]

Why not just get the app!

Hardly ever use internet on vacation , to expencife .
As others above in some places there's no 3g so app is useless.
The good old paper version , keeps you busy in the evening searching the next day's location....

 

[Bramco]

The ACSI app doesn't use an interweb connection. You download the database for off line use. So 3G doesn't come into it. The app also includes non ACSI sites so covers a lot broader set of sites. Also useful for us, you can put a filters on your search and see the sites on a map. Out of season on our current trip this let's us see which sites are still open in the area we're going to next.

Probably not much use for a family with kids but very useful for people touring out of season is the motorhome parkings app. Again you can set filters on a search, so can easily restrict the list to those with WCs. .

Another great app for anyone wanting off line maps is maps.me. this also shows footpaths. We use it all the time. In Italy last week we came across a new bypass with typically awful signage. Whipped out the tablet (after we'd parked up of course) hit the current location button and hey presto we knew immediately where we needed to be. We also use it in towns were visiting for example we were in Perugia day before yesterday and you can quickly get a navigation fix.

 

[Hotel California]

The ACSI book also comes with the card giving discount in low season . We did campsites for 12 euro/night :verhicle , two persons , dog , shower included some even free internet!

 

[Sab]

Thanks for all your suggestions guys can't wait to get planning!

 

[Skylark2.0]

The ACSI app doesn't use an interweb connection. You download the database for off line use. So 3G doesn't come into it. The app also includes non ACSI sites so covers a lot broader set of sites. Also useful for us, you can put a filters on your search and see the sites on a map. Out of season on our current trip this let's us see which sites are still open in the area we're going to next.

Probably not much use for a family with kids but very useful for people touring out of season is the motorhome parkings app. Again you can set filters on a search, so can easily restrict the list to those with WCs. .

Another great app for anyone wanting off line maps is maps.me. this also shows footpaths. We use it all the time. In Italy last week we came across a new bypass with typically awful signage. Whipped out the tablet (after we'd parked up of course) hit the current location button and hey presto we knew immediately where we needed to be. We also use it in towns were visiting for example we were in Perugia day before yesterday and you can quickly get a navigation fix.

It's a bit pricy at £10 for the maps

 

[Bramco]

Skylark. I just downloaded the ones I needed. For the ACSI app I think it was £1.99 for Italy. Can't see now cos I've already bought it!

Unless you are on a mamoth trip you'd only need one or two areas, so I reckon for the price of a beer or two (depending where you are) it's a snip.

Also should have mentioned all of the apps above work off line. I'll edit my first post to make that clear.

 

[sapto]

We do not have any kids however we lik the ADAC Camping App. Although there were some sites missing...

 

[campandfly]

Anyone know how to filter out the closed campsites on the ACSI App. Or search for ones in a specific date range.
We are travelling out of season, we find a nearby campsite to our route on the the app only to find it will be closed when we get there.
Thank you.

 

[GrannyJen]

No.

It drives me nuts.

Would be ever so grateful for the same advice.

 

[Skylark2.0]

No.

It drives me nuts.

Would be ever so grateful for the same advice.

Know the feeling.
Took us blooming ages prescreening the closed ones woth computer and crossing them out in the book.
In the Picos I rang a site and they said they would be open in October. When we got there they had shut! Took us ages in the failing light to find a site. -2 deg too so we wanted electric.

 

[GrannyJen]

Know the feeling.
Took us blooming ages prescreening the closed ones woth computer and crossing them out in the book.
In the Picos I rang a site and they said they would be open in October. When we got there they had shut! Took us ages in the failing light to find a site. -2 deg too so we wanted electric.

Happened to me in Normandy.

Turned up on a "end 31/10 closure" site to find it had closed to all but "travellers". The place was like a shanty town with 500 year old caravans and rusting wrecks of vehicles towing them.

I parked on the beach and thought "If Montgomery arrives tonight he and Ike would have to find somewhere else to stay".....

Albert is convinced he is a Panzer taking Mrs Rommel on a shopping trip so was completely at home

 

[campandfly]

Sent a message to ASCI, will wait to see what they say. May not even get to use the out of season CC discount card as most of the sites we have searched for are closed.

 

[GrannyJen]

I got my new ID card today. Wonderful.

All I need now is my new membership card to go with it

They are a quaint organisation

 

[Larkrise]

We use ACSI quite a lot for France and Spain but do find that extensive facilities and swimming pools feature large but we prefer small and (relatively) simple, but we haven't found a good guide for those yet. We don't want the aires or the mega camps but something in between.

 

[Bramco]

I'm pretty sure I used the filter function on our recent trip to Italy. However I think there are 2 apps. The one we were using was the one with ACSI and other sites. Which out of season is actually more useful because it gives you a much wider view.

You have to purchase the country for less than a pint of beer/glass of wine. Maybe there is a way of entering your ACSI code to get these free but I couldn't see how to do that.

From our experience though sites close when they feel like it not on the published dates. Except for the ACSI sites which have to open and close on the dates they have stated.

You can also see campsites on maps.me which given they tend to cluster may show other possibilities. Although we ended up wild camping on a couple of very nice beaches in southern Italy using this strategy which was fun.

If you are planning on going to Italy it's not easy to find sites after the end of September. There are some areas where there are enough and then some really barren areas.

 

[GrannyJen]

We use ACSI quite a lot for France and Spain but do find that extensive facilities and swimming pools feature large but we prefer small and (relatively) simple, but we haven't found a good guide for those yet. We don't want the aires or the mega camps but something in between.

For those I have found ukcampsites to be the best online source.

It's found me a couple of little gems both in France and Belgium

 

[sapto]

Just about to purchase a t5 beach, v excited and want to plan our first summer adventure around Europe. Been looking on the Internet for a handy guide to campsites that would help us but too many to choose from!! Could anybody recommend one that would help us on our way. We have 3 kids so prefer kid friendly but quiet campsites that are off the beaten track. Thanks for your help.

If you are planning to travel around Switzerland, I would try to find out which CP are still open for you. Off the beaten track might be a bit difficult because those who are, are often up in the mountains and closed...

Just let me know in advanced