Anybody ever stayed at a European campground? How did it compare to the American camping experience?

14 comments

1. Camping in Europe is like sleeping outside in an American park. There’s not much wilderness in Europe.

2. I haven’t camped in Europe, but I’ve seen the campgrounds. They vary from little more than plots on the edge some farmer’s field to resorts with pools and waterslides like in the US.

   They seem to be located more “in the country” than truly in the wilderness. Yes, Europe still has some wilderness, even in the west.

3. Yes, in Iceland. Just big grassy areas with lots of vans and such. Pretty unremarkable but an inexpensive way to travel.

4. I was not impressed, it’s literally just a parking lot.

5. Yeah I did while backpacking across Europe. It was unremarkable.

6. Imagine camping in a Walmart parking lot – that was my experience in Germany.

7. European trailers (or caravans as they call them) are TINY compared to American travel trailers and RVs. Here in the US you can tow a 45ft fifth wheel with a regular driver’s license

8. (European popping in to tell us how much BETTER camping is in Europe in 3 … 2 … 1 …)

9. Stayed at many. The ones in Spain and Greece were especially nice but they all were on par with American camp grounds, at least for tent camping. The one in Paris was a mess but to be fair it rained the entire time. I will edit to say that it seemed strange to have campgrounds right in the cities.

10. I’ve camped all over Scotland. It was weird, there’s basically just a giant lawn. If you don’t pay for hookups, you don’t have a designated space. So you just try to pitch a tent somewhere in a giant field, and people end up right on top of each other.

    I loved every other aspect of bikepacking around Scotland but I found the campgrounds underwhelming.

11. I went camping in France, somewhere around the Loire valley. It was a place to put up a tent and had showers. I had never camped before so it was all new to me. All I remember was the terrifying size of the spiders hanging up in the corners and I refused to camp again.

12. It’s pretty weird from an American perspective. It’s like camping in a city park, like everyone is just together in a field, and so you can always see and hear your neighbors. It’s very different from even the most basic car camping I’ve done here. But there is the right to roam and people do camp just anywhere under that. I just couldn’t get over my American anxiety when I lived abroad so I never did it.

13. You can go to the toilet

14. Lots are like a big soccer field where you park.
    Most have a restaurant or small cafe. Laundry service.
    Showers .
    Maybe a pool.