Camping in Europe
 

My girlfriend and I are taking a motorcycle trip through Europe, April-May 2012. We plan on camping for the majority of the stops and would greatly appreciate any suggestions on awesome campgrounds throughout Europe. Here's our tentative route:

Ostersund (Sweden) - Stockholm - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Cologne (Germany) - Rheims (France) - Paris - Bordeaux - Valencia (Spain) - Barcelona - French Riviera - Florence (Italy) - Siena - Rome - Amalfi Coast - Sicily - Brindisi - Corfu (Greece) via ferry - Dubrovnik (Croatia) - Fussen (Germany) - Wurtzburg - Prague (Czech Republic) - Gmina Osweicim (Poland) - Berlin - Copenhagen - Gothenburg - Preikestolen (Norway) - Geiranger - Ostersund

This looks like an awesome itinerary. I think you would be better off posting on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum. This is not really a forum for camping fans.

Thanks Tentek, I'll do that

I have camped for years at hundreds of camps all over Europe - marking for later comment.

Thanks PalenQ

Surprisingly, the Czech Republic doesn't have many campsites but it does have a lot of cheap pensions. For Prague I would recommend staying outside of town and taking the tube into Prague.
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/prague_photos.html

There are plenty of guides to European campsites available, maybe the AAA has them?
If not have a look at http://shop.theaa.com/store/camping-caravanning for instance. They have two guides I think.

http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/ and http://www.europe-camping-guide.com/ are also a really good online resource for you.

Paris has two TCF Touring Club Francaise camps - one in the Bois de Boulogne and one I prefer on the east side at Joinville-le-Pont - this one is a much nicer camp than the Bois de Boulogne which I find really congested - the Joinville camp is easy to reach by autoroute from the east. There is RER metro train service constantly from Joinville into Paris in about 20 minutes so easy to get into town. A nice quiet leafy suburban area - camp in right on the Marne River.

http://www.campingcardinternational....9/cci_nps4.jpg

You may want to get an International Camping Carnet - this serves as a document you can often leave with the camp office instead of your passport and you even get discounts with it in some camps.

Thanks for the replies!

JeremyinFrance: What can I expect to pay at a pension outside of Prague? Oh, and a pension, that’s like a simpler version of a hotel correct?

hetismij2: Thanks for the websites; they will definitely come handy!

PalenQ: I wasn’t aware of the International Camping Carnet card, looks like I could get lots of great benefits from that. What’s the best way to get this European card being that I currently live in the US?

If the AAA don't offer carnets the Canadian AA does - for AAA members too.

http://www.caa.ca/travel/travel-camping-aaa-e.cfm

I think in U S only available from the web site I gave above. In Europe yes the Auto Associations seem to sell them but I do not think AAA does, but not sure - they do offer the International Drivers License that is recommended for driving in some countries and even supposedly required in say Italy.

I have often bought International Camping Carnets in Europe - in Amsterdam at the Dutch Auto Club near the American Consulate on Museumplein - I would think in any large city there would be the equivalent of the AAA that sells them.

Italy has lots of camping options. Many have bungalows very cheap. This one is just outside of Florence.
http://www.camping.it/english/toscana/michelangelo/

This one is next to Pompeii.
http://www.campingspartacus.it/en/

There are lots of others. Just do a search for campeggio and you will turn up various websites.

http://english.campeggio.it/index.asp

florence also has one right in the town center or near it - next to the famous Piazza Michelangelo - a belvedere lovingly overlooking the ancient burnt-orange tiled roofs of Florence, romantically pierced by dozens of church steeples. This camp however fills up fast so the one I stayed in just a few miles out of town to the southwest I believe was spacious and in a neat natural location with great bus service to Florence.

Yes, a pension is a small version of a hotel. Some of them are lovely and there are also some cheap and not very cheerful pensions. You should count on about 1200 Kc a night for two people including breakfast. (There are 25 crowns to the euro).
Have a good trip.

Tent camping in parts of Tuscany is difficult. Almost all of the camping is in campers and people with tents are discouraged because of the "Monster of Florence". Monster of Florence was a serial killer in and around Florence in the early 80's who attacked and killed many "lovers" or tenters in that area. So, you might get a pension in the Florence - Siena area.