Planning a Camping Route - Tips for Your Next Road Trip
Top tips for planning your camping route. Easily find the best stops and routes for an unforgettable journey into nature.
“Just getting away” is usually anything but simple. Infinite possibilities are wonderful, but—let’s be honest—often overwhelming. When planning your next camping route, it's easy to get lost in all the choices. Here are some tips on how to make great travel decisions and properly plan your camping route—because a truly great camping route is flexible without ever being aimless.
Two Options
When it comes to camping, you now have two options—either you take the time to do all the research yourself, or you let someone else handle the planning. There are now great providers and services available, which we introduce below. Because heading out completely unprepared isn't always as fun as it sounds. Read through the following tips and see what works best for your next road trip.
Route Planning - Do It Yourself
Set the Timing
Peak season or low season? It makes a big difference. Low-season camping offers maximum flexibility, and the advantages are clear: far more available pitches, fewer tourists, much cheaper travel, and much more relaxed conditions at your destination. There is just one thing to keep in mind: some campsites are closed during the off-season. In peak season, it’s a different story: standard campsites often get booked out well in advance. For true camping flexibility, we recommend—if at all possible—choosing a date outside peak season.
Plan for Buffers and Leisure
The true vanlife feeling thrives on slowing down and going with the flow. If you really like a place, you want to stay a little longer and dive deeper into the local culture. Adding one more stop isn't worth it if it results in stress and bad moods. So: build in plenty of buffer time! Focus on a few destinations you’re really excited about. That way, you can linger when you like a place more than expected, make spontaneous detours for insider tips, unwind when you need to process your experiences, and truly get to know these new places.
Camper, Motorhome, or Tent
Your choice of camping setup matters too. Campsites—including Nomady's natural camping spots—are often limited to specific categories. A spot that fits a tent might not accommodate a camper or motorhome. On the other hand, vehicles are more weatherproof and require less setup effort. Plus, having a toilet on board makes you completely self-sufficient and independent of public facilities throughout the day. Definitely keep this in mind when planning your trip!
Stops and Activities
Planning stops is much easier when you have a final destination. Along the way, you can always discover great places and activities using Google Maps or travel blogs. However, they aren't always ideally spaced out. When that's the case, we recommend adding intermediate stops. No single leg should be much longer than 200 kilometres, or you'll spend most of your holiday behind the wheel. Often, these “forced stops” lead you to places you would never have thought of visiting otherwise. Who knows, there might be a fantastic hiking trail or an amazing local restaurant—embrace it!
Comparing Camping Route Planners
The internet is full of travel inspiration. However, actual camping routes are rare, or the existing ones don't match your personal preferences. Fortunately, there are several services that make planning much easier. Here are three of them.
Off Guide
€19 per day
The Off Guide is your personalised itinerary planned by Off: places, spots, activities, and restaurants are tailored individually to you. First, you fill out a questionnaire, followed by a personal consultation with your travel designer to go over details. When creating your custom guide, the team draws on a vast pool of destinations as well as years of personal travel experience. In the end, you receive a route overview, destination information, and curated recommendations for restaurants, activities, and campsites at every single stop. You can choose any country in Europe as your destination and even rent an Off camper directly. You stay flexible at all times, as nothing is pre-booked.
Campers Compass
€20–30 per day depending on your needs
Campers Compass tailors your trip completely to your needs—from personal consulting and route planning to camper rental and, if desired, booking pitches and activities. Everything remains as flexible as you want—whether you need more support and structure or prefer more freedom. To start, you fill out a detailed questionnaire, followed by a personal call to clarify any questions. You can provide feedback on the initial route proposal, with minor adjustments included in your finalised itinerary. Campers Compass focuses on slow travel and off-the-beaten-path routes across selected European destinations they know intimately and can genuinely recommend.
ADAC Camping Tour Finder
Free
The route planning tool by ADAC Reisen is well-known. It generates route suggestions based on destination, travel month, duration, surroundings, preferred activities, budget, and weather, drawing on an impressive database. The big plus: the tool is completely free. However, it does have its limits, as routes are fixed, pre-packaged suggestions. Starting points, directions, and individual requests cannot be customised. In addition, tour details are fairly basic. Apart from brief descriptions, route overviews, and highlights, no in-depth travel details are provided. The ADAC Reisen tool is great for general camping route inspiration, but it won't take much of the actual planning off your hands.
Conclusion
Camping is all about freedom, flexibility, and going with the flow. Even so, heading out completely unprepared is rarely the best idea. Setting your timing, duration, and personal travel wishes in advance is key. You can then work out stops, activities, and details through your own research or on the fly. And if you'd rather not, route planning services are always there to help.
