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Camping pointers and other advice for Europe Camping pointers and other advice for Europe
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 21 Apr 2009
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Question Camping pointers and other advice for Europe
Whilst saving continues for a Siberia trip in the future (a couple of years away, I imagine), we are taking advantage of my academic holidays to have a shorter jaunt around Europe. A trip in its own right, albeit shorter than the one above, but also quite therapeutic given that our next ride seems so far away right now...

As this is an interim outing, we are trying to keep it cheap so as not to plunder our hard earned savings too much. We plan to camp everywhere, and in this we may not have a choice, as we are travelling with the dog. It will also be a good test of the Ural's performance on the road (Alps might be interesting....)

Over 30 days, we plan to ride South-west from Estonia through
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, France, Switzerland,

East through
Northern Italy, and Slovenia

Then North through
Hungary, Czech Rep, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and home.

So any pointers that spring to mind on camping in those countries?

Is free camping allowed in those countries?

Any other advice that is handy to know before arriving?
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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Wow! you're going to do all that in 30 days?

You're biggest problem is going to be eating breakfast and packing up every morning before 9am! How fast is that Ural again?

Have fun.
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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allowed?
we free-camped in all of those countries and others in europe. not sure if it's 'allowed' or not though. details on Out for a spin and elsewhere on HUBB.
cheers,
andy.
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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A bit ambitious in places!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor View Post
Wow! you're going to do all that in 30 days?

You're biggest problem is going to be eating breakfast and packing up every morning before 9am! How fast is that Ural again?

Have fun.

Ural: about 45-50 mph comfy cruising speed!! Weare seeing friends in Germany and France, so we will just keep our heads doqwn for the first 5 days and get into Germany. It works out at about 5-6000km round trip. Average 200km per day. So some days at about 500 km: leaves some easy days elsewhere!

If the schedule is cocked up,we can always head East, not South through Switzerland and reach Austria/Czech, that way...
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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When I've toured in France, I've rarely paid for camping, usually because come stopping time I've found a suitable house/farm and gone and knocked on the door, saying

"Excusez-moi monsieur/madame, avez-vous un peu d'espace dans vos champs/votre jardin pour un petit tente, que pour un nuit."

And rarely have I been turned away, whether on foot, bicycle or bike. Just look a)friendly b)clean c)slightly bedraggled d)sane and you should be fine. I've even camped in people's front gardens in the suburbs before. Quite often you might get invited in for coffee/wine/vicious homemade cabbage based liquor, equally often you find you'll get breakfast, rarely you'll get the farmer's daughter. Anyway you look at it, it's a great way to get to know the locals a little bit, to pick up some tips on places you might want to see, and places/roads to avoid.

And if when the evening's coming you find you can't find a farm/garden/balcony then try the municipal campsites in France, either follow the signs, or head from the Mairie/Office de Tourisme/Bar Tabac. They're usually only a few euros, mostly clean, and pretty much all have loos/showers, although sometimes cold water only. Far cheaper than private camping.
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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200km is easy in a day. It just sounded like months of travel when i read through your list!

Good luck.
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Old 21 Apr 2009
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In France, apart from the usual discreet free camping off smaller roads, I use the autoroute laybys -The Aires de Repos. If I must pay, then its the municipal camping.
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