We’ve come to the end of our trip – 6 months 10 days on the road, over 12,000 km driven, 11 different countries (and one island) visited, 29 campsites, 7 ferries (including four overnight and two river crossings) and we’ve made ourselves understood in 8 different foreign languages.
A big part of the trip has been selecting the different campsites that we’ve stayed on. ACSI – a Dutch version of the Caravan Club who vet all their sites, has been really helpful as they have an App which includes customer ratings which is brilliant. However, we haven’t aways had the luxury of being able to choose an ACSI site, and frankly some are better than others. So here are our Site Oscars.
Best Camp site overall
Seecamping Berghof, Villach, Austria. Although we were only there a week, the facilities were the best we’ve seen anywhere; very new and scrupulously clean, with a great restaurant, generous sized pitch, shop and helpful reception. We wished we’d stayed longer!
Worthy runners up
Campsite Sitges, Sitges, Spain
Campsite Belvedere, Seget Vranjica, Split, Croatia
Worst camp site overall
Campsite Orbitur Angarias, Porto, Portugal. Easily wins as the worst site. Cleaning of facilities consisted of them being hosed down with cold water; the access to the pitch was almost impassable and none of the advertised facilities were open.
Un-worthy runners up
Lisboa Camping, Lisbon
Campingplatz Albgau, Ettlingen
Camping L’Alqueria, Gandia, Spain
Best View from our pitch
Caravaning Oyambre, San Vicente de la Barquera, Spain – great view of snow covered Picos mountains when we arrived fresh off the ferry
Camping Official Born – Sure, Born, Luxembourg – pitch right beside the river, with Germany on the other side
Seecamping Berghof, Villach, Austria – view right down to Lake Ossiachersee, with the mountains in the background, and surrounded by the Alps.
Best Campsite Restaurant
Caravan Park La Vesima, Arenzano, Italy – best pasta I have ever eaten, and the best Italian wine I’ve tasted too. Still looking, unsuccessfully, for it elsewhere.
Best Bathrooms
Seecamping Berghof, Villach, Austria – brand new, and spotless, with separate cubicles for washing as well as superb showers.
Worthy of a mention
Camping L’Alqueria, Gandia, Spain – the main reason why it wasn’t the worst site was the fact that the bathrooms were spotless.
Campsite Alegria del Mar, Benecarlo, Spain – Spanish/English family owned site with spotless bathrooms
Campsite Belvedere, Seget Vranjica, Split, Croatia – consistently good facilities with very modern fittings.
Best Public Transport
Camping Official Born – Sure, Born, Luxembourg – Luxembourg has a €4 day pass to use any public transport – both buses and trains very modern and comfortable.
Worthy of a mention
Campsite Sitges, Sitges, Spain – luxury coach to Barcelona from right outside the camp site for €4 each for an hours journey. Only let down by occasional buses not turning up!
Campsite Orbitur Angarias, Porto, Portugal – very scary bus rides through narrow streets but excellent value and convenient.
Friendliest hosts
Camping Poncione, Sorico, Italy – Olga and Andrea were by far the most helpful and considerate hosts. Nothing was too much trouble, and they were so friendly.
Camp Slavic, Duga Resa, Karlovac, Croatia – a family run site where everyone was very helpful and friendly. They even tried to help us find parts for the caravan!
Worthy runners up
Campsite Sitges, Sitges, Spain – lots of good advice from the resident British handyman, who even rescued a baby bird from the washing machine!
Rudest hosts
Campsite Gulser Moselbogen, Koblenz – mein host was friendly enough when we checked in, but when Karol dared to ask for a bus timetable (which it was suggested in their English brochure was available from reception) he proceeded to sarcastically complain about her to his colleague in German on the assumption that she wouldn’t understand him. A level German meant that she did understand most of the insults! Also wins the award for smelliest dog!
Best Scenery of the trip
A tough call but it has to go to Lake Como, which is coincidentally where we spent our honeymoon!
That’s the lot! You can see that some sites have featured in the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ categories, as most sites have had some redeeming features, and the majority have been absolutely fine for what we needed. It’s a great way to live, and we’ll continue to explore with the caravan in the future!
Thanks for reading…..
Grant & Karol