In May and June 2022 we spent seven weeks touring Germany and The Netherlands. We caught the DFDS ferry from Newcastle to Ijmuiden and explored at a slow pace, staying at 21 different places during our trip for up to four nights. We made good use of our ACSI low season discount card.
| Campsite name | Comments |
| Germany | |
| Wilsumer Berge, Wilsum | This is a large grassy site surrounded by trees. It is mostly level but some pitches can be slightly uneven. The facilities are cleaned regularly & the five minute showers are roomy & hot. The free wifi is good and the site is peaceful. The check-in process seemed a bit long winded & the automatic barrier wouldn’t recognise our number plate. We stayed here on the way there and back & walked through the forest to the nearby village. It was about £25/night in May and a couple of £s more in June. |
| Camping Bambi, Bosingfeld, Extertal | An extremely peaceful & green site with marked pitches. We had a view over a pond from our pitch and there was lots of birdsong here. No bread is available & the facilities are dated but clean with hot showers & indoor wash up sinks. There are walks and cycle routes from the site. The ACSI price includes 4 kw/day of electric which was enough for us in summer and the site is around £15 / night with an ACSI card. |
| Wohnmobilpark Stadtbad Okeraue, Wolfenbüttel | This is a level & nicely laid out parking area with clear pitches. On arrival you need to book in at the sports centre. There is some road noise but trees do screen it. The facilities are 2 toilets & 2 showers for each sex and these are clean with hot showers. A pitch costs about £12.50 a night. |
| Campingplatz Barleber See near Magdeburg | This large site is by a lake with a number of camping fields, no defined pitches & a long cable might be needed. There is some road noise. The facilities are clean but the showers a bit hit & miss for temperature. No bread was available when we visited. There is good cycling from the site & the railway station for Magdeburg is about 2kms away. The site cost around £20 a night in May. |
| Heide-Camp Schlaitz near Bitterfeld | This is another large campsite where long electric leads are needed. We received a friendly welcome in German & bread was available daily. The facilities are clean with hot continuous & adjustable showers but just 1 hook to hang your clothes & the shower heads are at chest height (we got used to this)! The cycling and walking from the site are fantastic. It cost around £17 a night in May. |
| Rast-und Campingplatz Marina Mühlberg | Situated on a small lake and on the Elbe Radweg (so plenty of cycling options) this is a grassy & fairly level site with facilities reached by a flight of steps. If you can’t manage the steps there are a few hard-standing pitches on the same level as the toilets. No English was spoken at reception. The facilities are clean & modern & the showers hot, adjustable & roomy. The site is by a small town with a convent church, a supermarket and bakery and cost about £20 a night. |
| Campingplatz Rehbocktal, Meissen | This green & tranquil site with marked out pitches was a big hit with us. English was spoken at the friendly reception, bread was available & the facilities were clean with hot adjustable showers. The site is on the Elbe Radweg and just 4kms from beautiful Meissen This was the most expensive campsite we stayed at, costing about £27.50 a night but still our favourite. |
| Camping Am Grossen Lausiger Teich, Pretzsch | This large site is by a small lake and has mostly marked out pitches. The showers were cramped with poor lighting, were €1 for four minutes & were hot. The rural site has plenty of walking and cycling options. We paid around £22 / night which includes approx £3 for 3.5kw of metered electric. |
| Wörlitz Park car park | There is a stellplatz at Wörlitz with EHU but that gets busy & is around €15 so we opted to have our own space on the large level car park for €5 for 24 hours. There are toilets from 07.00 until 19.00 and the car park was quiet and is very near to the beautiful park. |
| Campingplatz Magdeburg, Schönebeck | We stayed here for a night during a holiday weekend and so didn’t see it at its best & had a small cramped pitch. The campsite is by the Elbe and there are some lovely pitches with views. The showers are €1 each & are hot but you don’t have much room. The electric is metered & the owners are friendly but don’t speak much English. To get hot water at the washing up sinks you have to pay 50c. The site has a small bar and is about 2kms from the centre of the town in an industrial area. This cost around £21.50 / night. |
| La Porte Wohnmobilstellplatze Bertingen | This newly developed 50 place camping area is in trees & by a hotel. The site has new modern facilities & self-service touch-screen check in (available in English). The check-in machine gives you a card that is used to access all the facilities (EHU, toilet emptying, water, showers) & updates to show what you have spent. We had some difficulties figuring out how to use this for the showers but eventually got there and had excellent hot showers. We saved money by switching the shower off while we lathered up & this way could shower for around 30c. The automatic system went wrong somewhere & didn’t charge us for extras & so it was good value at just the basic €15 / night! |
| Campinginsel Havelberg | While reception is lovely, the rest of this site is slightly rundown. It is near to the town with reasonable sized pitches that are marked. The facilities are also scruffy but we appreciated the good hot showers that are adjustable, continuous & spacious & have a sink. The site is near the river & has a small cafe at reception where bread is available. With the tourist tax we paid almost £27 a night. |
| Wasser-Wander-Zentrum Dömitz | A small & pleasantly arranged site with some marked pitches that slope a little, 4 bathrooms & additional toilets. The showers are temperature adjustable, hot & clean. The site is near to the large fort & by the town. With showers & metered electric this cost around £22/night. |
| Camping Elbeling, Bleckede | A prettily laid out rural and grassy site that is Dutch run, this is a well organised campsite with morning bread & a restaurant. The facilities are kept clean but the showers were only just warm enough for me & cost 50c for 2 mins, so if you have long hair you need lots of 50c pieces! It is on Elbe cycle path and there is plenty of good cycling. With an ACSI card this was about £19/night. |
| Freizeit-Camp-Nordheide, Garlstorf (west of Luneburg) | A large woodland campsite that is geared up for transit overnights. It has a large sanitary block that is dated but functional with good hot continuous showers. Toilet paper is on a large roll outside the cubicles. With an ACSI card this site cost around £15.50 / night. |
| Camping Nesshof, Guderhandviertel | This rustic and green farmhouse site has bushes & trees around the narrow, somewhat cramped pitches. The showers are dated but very hot & adjustable. Bread is available & the site sells local apple juice & a few other food items. The site is just 5kms from the train station for Hamburg & on the Elbe Radweg so there is plenty of good cycling in the area. Around £21/night. |
| Beckman Camping, Nordholz near Cuxhaven | An ACSI discount card site with marked pitches, clean & modern facilities & indoor wash up. It is by an airport & planes took off during the daytime. Fresh bread is available at the snack bar. The push button showers were only just warm but the facilities were clean. The site was around £17/night. |
| Campingplatz am Königssee, Zetel | A busy site by a lake, the reasonable-sized pitches are grassy & some were marked with hedges. Tokens give a four minute shower which were good & hot in clean & modern facilities. Reception was friendly although no English was spoken. No bread was on sale & there are no nearby shops. Excellent cycling in the area. The site was around £17 / night. |
| Campsite name | Comments |
| Netherlands | |
| Camping ‘t Oppertje, Lelystad | The pitches are laid out in small groups on this campsite with central facilities that are clean, with roomy showers for five minutes that are just warm enough. There are trees and bushes and lots of sparrows & geese on the site. Free wifi that is fast is provided. Fantastic cycling from the site around the nature reserve & into Lelystad. With an ACSI card this cost about £20/night. |
| Camping de Kolibrie near Alkmaar | A large rural site with unmarked pitches mostly arranged around the edge of fields. The free wifi was good. The facilities are clean & it cost 50c for a four minute shower in a roomy cubicle but the water was only just warm enough. Bread is available at reception every day. There is good cycling in the area including to Alkmaar and the coast. With an ACSI card this cost under £19/night. |
| Camping Strandbad, Edam | This is a large popular and crowded site on the Markermeer. Tokens provided timed showers that were variable, the block near reception was better & cleaner with hotter water. There is access to the beach & the site has a bar & restaurant. Edam is a delightful town & is about 15 minutes walk away. Regular buses to Amsterdam leave from the bus station This site cost around £20/night with an ACSI card. |
Back on the road again 