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Campsites
Following are some personal reviews of the campsites we have stayed at. The ratings column is based more on our personal experience than on the facilities the site offers. Sometimes the two tally, sometimes not. Our journey has taken us to most places at the very start of the season so most sites were quieter than would normally be expected..
All prices were the total we paid for 1 night for 2 people, 1 car and a roof tent.
Quick country links:
Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Turkey
| Country |
Campsite |
Review |
Price |
Rating |
| Belgium |
Camping de la Sabliere
51 Bois Tonnin, Epinois, 7134
N50.4057490 E4.2164446 |
A very friendly site with several permanent residents in pretty mobile homes. Very quiet with lots of trees. Not many specific tent spots. Cold showers but maybe due to the fact that they were only just open for the season. |
10 € |
*** |
| France |
"La Riviere Fleurie"
St Antoine de Breuilh |
La Rivier Fleurie is definitely at the luxurious end of the camping scale! We were slightly nervous about the fact that it appears in some of the big 'Camping & Caravanning' guides but it had none of the big caravan feel. It has approx 60 big pitches, all of which are divided by shrubs and trees with shade provided by plum trees. While we were there, there were no other tenting campers, which meant that most people kept themselves to themselves, with just the occasional nod hello and slightly baffled look at the roof tent!
Highlights included a beautiful pool, small bar stocked with local wine, seemingly unlimited hot water in very nice showers and a 'Pain au Chocolate / Croissant ordering service' for breakfast.
The campsite location is about a 2 minute walk to the Dordogne, where there are footpaths in both directions. St Foy Le Grande is about a 15 minute drive and we arrived on market day which was great; we stocked up on smelly cheese, olives, bread and wine and then fell back to the campsite to consume!
Other activities that the campsite will help you out with are canoeing and wine tasting, unfortunately we got stuck in a very impressive thunder storm which meant that we had to cancel the canoeing....and the wine Caves seemed to have rather random opening hours.
All in all, a great site, just don't forget your mozzie repellent! |
18 € |
***** |
| France |
"Camping Aire Ona"
Urrugne |
We barely spent any time in this campsite, just enough to throw open the tent, cook some dinner, sleep and shower (in that order!). Although very basic, it has everything you need; hot showers, level ground and lots of 'quiet'.
If you want to avoid the massive beach campsites of Biarritz and Bayonne, this is the site to choose. |
10 € |
*** |
| France |
"Chateau de Martragny"
Martragny |
This campsite is well positioned for a tour of Normandy, especially the landing beaches, and for catching the ferry home. As a result there are a lot of motor homes and people waiting for something.
It's strange experience, driving up the grand avenue in a battered land rover, we felt slightly out of place! Once in the bar, drinking cider and eating crepes, however, we felt distinctly at home.
It's a lovely site, but seemed very busy.. The toilet/shower block was slightly 'worn' but plenty of hot water. If possible, get there before the management leave for the day, otherwise you will end up being allocated the worst spot on the site as it's the only one they can guarantee is not booked. |
22 € |
*** |
| Germany |
Spitzer Stein
57 Alsfelderstrasse, Grunberg 35305
N50.5910774 E8.9718573 |
Very big sprawling site with lots of mobile homes, but a very nice tent field on the top of the hill (long walk to toilets!) with plenty of space and a big fire circle.
We arrived outside normal office hours (maybe 6.30pm) but the office was closed for the day so a very kind resident let us in with their key.
Showers are token operated - 50c for approx 10 mins. |
10 € |
** |
| Germany |
Camping Colditz
12 Wettiner Ring, Colditz 04680
N51.1272135 E12.8109979 |
Very friendly site in a pretty valley with plenty of trees, space for tents and a fire circle. Less mobile homes than many sites.
Nice clean bathrooms. Showers are token operated - 50c for 4 mins. |
11 € |
*** |
| Hungary |
Zala Kemping
Entz Geza Setany, Keszthely, 8360
Lake Balaton
N46.7454766 E17.2458533 |
Great location on the lake side, 2km to Keszthely, 6km to Heviz on great cycle paths. It's a very big, predominantly German site with an onsite hairdresser and pedicure person in peak season!!! It probably gets very busy with caravans, which certainly seemed to get priority over tents, but the whole site is grassy with plenty of shade. The facilities are very clean with free showers. There is a restaurant onsite (closed when we were there) and a cluster of bars/restaurants very close by.
There is a trainline running very close by, the trains didn't run all night but they were certainly very noisy! |
3320 HUF |
*** |
| Hungary |
Familia Kemping es Motel, Pecs
N46.1749445 E18.2228872 |
What can I say? This was a very cheap campsite at very expensive prices. We turned up in the "yard" of the campsite and just had a bad feeling. It was more like a front garden but not in a homely way - just cramped. The minute we arrived we were presented with a list of rules of the campsite and that set the scene. Don't believe the write-up that town is 2km away - it's more like 5km along a lorry-laden road.
On the plus side, the bathrooms were fine with hot water (rules - no more than 5 mins) and clean toilets, but this just didn't make up for the bad atmosphere. |
4000 HUF |
0 |
| Hungary |
Nyfara Camping Poroszlo,
Lake Tisza
N47.6355086 E20.6422271 |
We weren't sure about this campsite when we pulled into the driveway but as soon as we turned into the main camping field our fears were allayed. It's a lovely small site with a shop/cafe selling beers and burgers. The showers and toilet block are fairly old but clean, with plenty of hot water. The site itself is next to the lake with access to cycle tracks, boats, etc. The owners speak no english but were happy to communicate with sign language! You won't find many caravans here as there's no electric points.. Generally it was the right price for a friendly but rough and ready campsite. |
1500 HUF |
*** |
| Poland |
Clepardia Camp
12 Gornickiego Lukasza, Krakow 31-223
N50.0956103 E19.9406051 |
This campsite is in a great location for visiting Krakow, being about 4km from the city centre. We cycled and walked but there were also easy buses. The bathroom facilities were very good and clean and the staff were friendly. It seemed that they were just starting up and so really wanted to make a good impression, and it worked. There is plenty of shade and grassy patches for tents. They also have wireless internet access. The only downside of this site is the lack of privacy but for a city centre site this is a reasonable compromise.. |
60 zl |
***1/2 |
| Poland |
Podkrokwia
Zakopane (at foot of ski jump)
N49.2827531 E19.9687224 |
Slightly more worn-in than other campsites but clean and no problems. The whole campsite is in a pine wood with no regimented spots. The town is approx 2km downhill, which makes for a tough walk back in the evening - a great excuse to eat a lot in the town! The cable car to the mountain top is about 4km uphill from the site, with horse and carts going from just up the road. There is a pub/restaurant onsite but it was closed when we were there. The toilets are heated which was nice in some ways but did make them a bit smelly! |
33 zl |
** |
| Portugal |
"Entre Ambos os Rios"
Parque Nacional de Peneda-Geres |
Entre Ambos os Rios is a great campsite for getting 'back to nature' without leaving behind too many home comforts. The whole camping area is covered with pine trees, which means that there is plenty of shade.
There are no marked spots, so we picked our patch on a raised part of the site with fabulous views of the river. We only stayed 2 nights, but would have loved to stay longer given the time.
The area of the national park is absolutely stunning with woodland, rivers and mountain villages. We "followed" one of the walks given to us by the tourist information, which was a great walk but the map didn't seem to bear any relation to the physical paths! Thankfully some friendly locals in a cafe served us cheese sandwiches and pointed us in the direction of home!
Facilities at the site included electricity (generally dotted around the site), good toilets and showers, internet and some local info leaflets. |
10 € |
**** |
Romania |
Lake Lesu
N46.7980237 E22.5827299 |
We rough camped here on the edge of the lake. It is an incredibly beautiful spot in a wooded valley on the edge of a mirror like lake. Much better than the campsite on the other side of the lake! There are plenty of places where other people have had fires and plenty of dead wood around to collect. |
Free |
***** |
| Romania |
Eldorado - Gilau DN1/E60 near Cluj-Napoca
N46.7522586 E23.3902357 |
This is a Dutch run campsite and has some welcome facilities including clean toilets, washing machine (v.v.v. expensive) and wifi (free). The camping spots are fairly regulated in lines, but there is plenty of grass so it doesn't have the feel of a huge caravan site. Shade is a bit limited however. They run tours to the local attractions and have some good leaflets on things to do in the area. It is on the main road so there's lots of road noise throughout the day and night but it's a good spot to get human again after a few nights of rough camping! |
70 Lei |
***1/2 |
| Romania |
De Oude Wilg, Carta
N45.8145389 E24.1470067 |
This is one of my favourite campsites of the trip so far. It has got a very relaxed feel to it - you can tell that the owners (Dutch/Romanian couple) are artists. The setting is within a rural village/small town so there's plenty of rural sound effects including cockrels, dogs and the like plus a rather close train line but none of this detracts from the peacefulness of the campsite (no trains at night). There are plenty of trees already at the site and there are many new trees just planted so although it can accomodate plenty of people it won't feel crowded. The showers are fantastic - like standing under a waterfall - a major luxury for us!
The owners are very friendly and happy to chat, they also have a lovely gift on arrival of a small carafe of homemade fruit liquer. |
36 Lei |
***** |
| Romania |
Amara Campsite
N44.6070653 E27.3179787 |
This was not the best campsite. It's in a nice enough location next to a pond with plenty of grass, but there are only open, outdoor cold showers. It's fine for a short hop on the way to the coast but I wouldn't waste effort going out of the way to get there. There is a restaurant onsite but it wasn't open when we were there. There is also a restaurant 2 minutes up the road that served decent food. |
25 Lei |
** |
| Scotland |
Red Squirrel
Glen Coe |
The location and setting of this unique campsite are simply stunning. In the midst of Glencoe right on the river, away from civilization is this wooded campsite, that offers peace and serenity all day and all night. The pitches are informal, and distributed throughout the wood and open areas, including hidden in the trees and jutting out into the shingle bottomed stream. Camp fires are allowed in the many existing fire places and along the banks of the river, with freshly chopped (aka smokey) wood available to all. The facilities are basic, but managed to refresh Ollie after a 75 mile cycle, and this campsite is not about pooing in style! To make the most of this amazing site bring: midge repellent, firewood, washing up bowl, 50p for shower and natural washing up liquid. |
£14 |
***** |
| Scotland |
Borlum Farm
Loch Ness |
Unfortunately this is the sort of place we would struggle to find an excuse to return to, which is strange because none of the complaints in themselves are fatal, it just felt like no one here was bothered about us, in fact, it felt like we were an inconvenience. The campsite is just outside the main village of Drumnadrochit, but to Ollie's horror up a very step hill. The farm itself is mainly a riding school, and within seconds of arriving you realise this is the primary focus, and the campers are just using up a space. There are a couple of fields, one severely sloped, but we found ourselves on a hard standing, basically in a farm court yard. We did get into the village for a lively meal in the Italian restaurant, but the general attitude to the campers really made us feel unwelcome. The facilities were adequate, yet basic, and the final straw was when we asked to borrow enough milk for two cups of tea, we were made to feel like beggars. A shame really, because this place could have been good, especially as they had hens! |
£15 for two |
** |
| Scotland |
Brora |
The campsite is on a beautiful spot right behind the golf course and beach. The camping spot for tents (rather than caravans) was limited to maybe six tents (and we probably took up two!), but they are the best spots in the campsite, with great views across the golf course to the sea. The golf course is also occupied with sheep and cows! Also we saw seals in the water at the seaside, which is very broad and stunning at sunset. We were the only people on it too. The facilities are very good, with free showers and washing up facilities etc. Maybe a little too geared towards caravans (which stops it getting 4 stars) for our liking, but at the time it was perfect for us, and we had a fab night. |
£25 for two |
***1/2 |
| Scotland |
John O'Groats Campsite |
Perfectly situated to make you feel like your falling off the end of Britain - surrounded by sea and whipped by a brisk wind. Site facilities were average - 20p for a shower, but generally nice and clean. Also the owner was very nice considering we turned up at 10:30pm (although we had phoned to say so). We didn't stop long as had to start the bike ride in the morning. |
About £20 a night |
*** |
| Spain |
"Camping Playa Joyel "
Noja |
Everything you would expect from a large continental campsite; massive, loud and lots of facilities. If you expect this when you pull up, it's not too much of a shock!
The reason for staying here is the beach - it really is a great beach and well worth the stay if you can manage it.
Two pieces of advice - don't eat at the restaurant and make sure you have enough wine to send you to sleep! |
10 € |
** |
| Turkey |
Sezcum Mocamp, Istanbul
N41.0721449 E28.1609495 |
This is a very friendly site with a lot of mobile homes with many permanent or summer-long Turkish residents. It has space for a few tents/campers along the beach front which is where we parked up. The beach is good, with the campsite providing parasols and loungers. There is an onsite shop and cafe but these weren't open when we were there. There is also a mini-market about 10 minutes walk away. The very friendly people are the best asset of this site. The toilets were pretty bad (generally dirty) and the shower not much better - although it was hot.
To get to Istanbul from here is quite a mission - 80km on the bus to the outskirts and then another train/bus combo to get into the centre....or find yourself a friendly local heading in that direction! |
20TL
+ 4 TL electric |
*** |
| Turkey |
Goreme Camping
N38.6474334 E34.8392604
(Opposite posh hotel on road to museum) |
A well located campsite in Goreme - it is a 10 minute walk to town and 20 minute walk (uphill!) to the outdoor museum. It is also directly on the tracks that will take you into the valleys of the region. It has an amazing swimming pool, good toilets and average hot showers. The site overlooks some of the fairy chimenys so if you choose your spot well you could wake up thinking you're on the set of a starwars movie!
The only warning would be that it is right on the flight path of hot air balloons and so your 6am wake up call will be the sound of burners and people staring into your tent!
Goreme itself is a lovely little town with plenty of cafes / restaurants and a generally relaxed feel. |
20TL |
**** |
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Last
Updated
July 30, 2009->
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