How to find motorhome sites - and if they have availability

[johneeeeski]

Hi all

We've dreams of a long trip with the kids this summer - Netherlands, Northern Germany (Sylt?), Denmark, May Sweden, back to Northern Germany (the ex-East German part/Mecklenburg Lake Plateau), and back with a couple of stops. 5-6 weeks. We like a bit of space, excellent cycling infrastructure like in the Netherlands, beach/play area/swimming, and entertainment for the 5 year old, who will be 6 by the time of the trip.

Put aside for now the important considerations about travel - FCO advice, quarantine or not, travel insurance, open borders and so on. Plus we tend to need sites with some facilities and stay typically 3-5 days so Stellplaetze and similar are only suitable for a night here and there.

Is there an easy way of finding campsites? And checking their availability? The two main clubs don't cover these areas very well. We can find campsite websites but there often seems to be a need to call/email and this is proving to be unbearably time consuming. The only reasonable website we have found is pitch up. Sorry if this is a beginners question.

We did a big trip to Montenegro two years ago and the admin then was laborious, although we did "wing it" a bit on the return leg.

Any wisdom anyone is prepared to share?

Cheers/Prost!

John

 

[bigtwin]

The network of ACSI sites would suit your needs; they do a book (two volumes) as well as an App.

There are also various Apps that cover both campsites and Aire/Stellplatz type stopovers.

Ian

 

[johneeeeski]

Thanks Ian - ACSI rings a bell, think we used that in Holland a few years ago. Will check out the App and give it a go. Cheers

 

[rosalan]

CamperContact app and Park4night both show aires and Campsites with latest info and reports. Reports are good but on occasions the other info has not been updated as recently as you may wish.

 

[suavecarve]

I can only speak for Southern Germany, but on the majority we have stayed time is not an issue in a van that is not too "attention seeking" which i would put your van into.
Having had a look on the internet around that area, I didnt even think about stopping for 3-4 days on a stellplatze.
Germany opened up today, Belgium really opening up allegedly on 15th and France similar. Holland arent welcoming atm but easy enough to go around if they dont let you through

Up there somewhere near Rostock is a cafe that submerges 10 m underwater for info

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[johneeeeski]

Just resurrecting this thread as I've followed the wisdom of my fellow motorhome funsters and thought it worth an update.
I've been using the Camping Card App (part of ACSI), CamperContact and a few others.
Taking Campingcard as an example - a search for sites with availability 15 July to 22 July (5 nights) in France, Germany and Netherlands yields 1 - yes ONE! - result. Blimey. The best site for availability is Pitch Up in our experience at the moment, and there is some choice there.
A reminder that we have a 9 month old baby and a soon-to-be 6 year old so do want some "trad" campsites with facilities. Happy to use Stellplaetze and Aires again for the occasional night but not so lovely for the kids for multiple nights.
So anyone know if this is:
(A) normal for high season in Europe and we've left it too late?
(B) any unusual factors relating to social distancing, barring of international bookings, or anything else that means I can't find any availability?
(C) A freak year where everyone has gone camping mad across Europe?
Slightly reluctant to commit to Europe - which we want to do - if we'll get stranded with only car parks to stay in.
Help!

 

[TerryL]

We've never had a problem finding sites anywhere in Europe whenever we need them, but to be fair we prefer aires/stellplatz etc. However the world is in an unusual state at the moment and no doubt other countries are having the same discussions as the UK as to when to open, what facilities etc etc. I would guess therefore that you may well have difficulties as you are planning to travel around the height of the season, notwithstanding the keenness of everybody to get away.

 

[klaatu]

ACSI CampingCard is for out of season discounts, so you won’t find many available from mid July-ish until the end of August-ish using that.

 

[The Coops]

Like others used stellplatz aires and ASCI but we go in September so never a problem, The Mohne Dam ( dambusters ) is a great stellplatz and Trier is a very large stellplatz but great if you like Roman history stock up in Luxembourg before crossing to Germany The Moselle/Rhine wines are going further East but very busy , moving further still Dresden is fascinating as to what they have rebuilt and the past history, going north the area known as the German Lake district is stunning for castles etc but no mountains and for beaches Porra on the Baltic ( Strength through Joy Hotels over 2km long and being converted into luxury flats) is worth a visit, loads of cycle tracks and whistling sands and a very good stellplatz for active kids, further north and into swieszgholstein then Fockbeck has a great stellplatz and an extensive cycling area and in September the open air baths ( 3 Olympic thermally heated pools and a dedicated diving area ) has an open day for dogs as a fund raiser, you and your dog can go swimming diving and hooning around in the swimming pool before they close and drain for the colder months, if you have a dog and kids it is the best day out ever, our dog ended up *high diving* off the top board! She was like an out of control three year old kids /dogs loved it