Camper-stop guides The Contenders
CamperStop Europe
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping CarLe Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars
CamperStop Europe
CamperStop Europe has 6200 camper-stops in 14 countries. This guide provides text in four languages including English. Information is not limited just to camper-stops as valuable tourist information, including market days and local attractions is included.
Finding the desired camper-stop is easy as the maps have pictograms on them identifying what type of camper-stop, they are. The second option it to look at the index, which is divided into regions; each camper stop has a map reference.
The town titles in CamperStop Europe although in bold, can be hard to spot. Once you have familiarised yourself with the book it becomes simple to use. A simple users guide is also included when you buy your copy from Vicarious Books.
For Holland (179 listings), Belgium (183), Luxemburg (21), Portugal (143), Denmark (98), Switzerland (64) and Greece (37) the information is fantastic and invaluable detailing every style of camper-stop, from sani station, municipal to farm site. This excellent information continues for the 1642 entries for France, 1119 for Germany, and 889 for Italy. The information on Spain and Croatia is disappointing to dedicated camper-stop users, but this is because camping outside of campsites is illegal in Croatia and there are very few camper-stops in Spain, however plenty of motorhome suitable campsites are detailed instead.
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International is very clearly laid out, each camper stop is clearly defined with title, GPS, and photo. It also boasts 29 countries. This publication is available in German only.
Although it looks fantastic when you flick through Bord Atlas it isn’t that user friendly. Camper-stops are indicated by dots on the maps so you have no idea what kind of camper-stop it is. All the camper-stops for a whole country are listed alphabetically so you have to keep searching backwards and forwards just to look at camper-stops in the same area. On a recent trip back from Germany I needed to find a camper-stop just before the German/Belgium boarder. Using the front maps I had to randomly search around 18 camper-stops. I was looking for a free night halt and I found several restaurant stops before I settled for Wiehl.
There is limited tourist information provided for each camper-stop.
Dumping at a German Stelpllatz
Finally Bord Atlas promotes 3400 camper-stops in 29 countries. However it is primarily a guide for Austria and Germany, detailing around 2500 German camper-stop and 120 Austrian ones. The only other useful country is Poland, after that information is limited with only 283 listings for France and 202 for Italy. Some countries such as Finland and Portugal only have one or two listings.
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car boasts 6500 camper-stops for Motorhomes in 9 countries, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Switzerland. This guide is written in French.
Included with the aires guide is very good fold out map showing the location of the French aires this is easy to misplace and would render the guide useless. There are no maps for the other countries. The French camper-stops are also indexed at the front of Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car detailing what kind of camper-stop they are and whether they are free. However the index has no page numbers, so you have to find the region. Unless you know where regions are, or the name of an exact town you need to refer to the map to find the camper-stop. The directions are generally good, but there is no GPS or photographs to help. A small amount of tourist information is provided. First timers will need to be careful, as many of the listings are campsites that do not necessarily offer any motorhome discount.
Outside of France the book becomes very disappointing. Most countries have very limited information, the exception being Italy. There are no maps but the country regions are clearly identified.
A small, but useful point should you need a repair or part is Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car has many dealer adverts listing their addresses across France.
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car lists 1,732 aires in France, 517 stellplatz in Germany, 81 camper stops in Belgium, 1,268 Aree di sosta in Italy, 71 in Portugal and 106 in Switzerland. Also listed in France are 735 France Passion stops and 1,683 French campsites. Croatia and Spain only have campsites listed due to the lack of camper stops.
Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars
The 2006 edition has 1600 stops in France only. This comparison is made with the 2003 edition, as I am yet to find the 2006 edition for sale – everywhere has sold out! Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars is easy to use if you have a little French. The maps at the rear are colour-coded so you can identify which type of camper-stop they are. The camper-stops are also indexed by region. There is no tourist information in this guide and very few photographs. Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars has fewer entries for France than CamperStop Europe.
Overview
If you intend to travel to in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, and Denmark CamperStop Europe offers the most information and ideal for new users of camper-stops. Although Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping-Car looks better on paper for Greece and Switzerland, far more information is provided in CamperStop Europe. If you would like information in English CamperStop Europe is your only option.
However if you are heading to Germany, Austria, Hungary or Poland Bord Atlas offers the most information. If you need GPS then this guide is the only one offering this information at present.
For France Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping-Car is a good choice but interestingly it only has 90 more camper-stops than CamperStop Europe. It does have significantly more listing for Italy.
As an overall guide to Europe, CamperStop Europe is more favourable than the two other Europe guides as it covers countries in better detail, and although it might lack a few listings for France, Germany and Austria it has plenty to keep the average motorhomer happy.
If anyone knows of any other camper-stop books please let us know so we can add them to the overview.
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping CarLe Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars
CamperStop Europe
CamperStop Europe has 6200 camper-stops in 14 countries. This guide provides text in four languages including English. Information is not limited just to camper-stops as valuable tourist information, including market days and local attractions is included.
Finding the desired camper-stop is easy as the maps have pictograms on them identifying what type of camper-stop, they are. The second option it to look at the index, which is divided into regions; each camper stop has a map reference.
The town titles in CamperStop Europe although in bold, can be hard to spot. Once you have familiarised yourself with the book it becomes simple to use. A simple users guide is also included when you buy your copy from Vicarious Books.
For Holland (179 listings), Belgium (183), Luxemburg (21), Portugal (143), Denmark (98), Switzerland (64) and Greece (37) the information is fantastic and invaluable detailing every style of camper-stop, from sani station, municipal to farm site. This excellent information continues for the 1642 entries for France, 1119 for Germany, and 889 for Italy. The information on Spain and Croatia is disappointing to dedicated camper-stop users, but this is because camping outside of campsites is illegal in Croatia and there are very few camper-stops in Spain, however plenty of motorhome suitable campsites are detailed instead.
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International
Bord Atlas 2006 Reise Mobil International is very clearly laid out, each camper stop is clearly defined with title, GPS, and photo. It also boasts 29 countries. This publication is available in German only.
Although it looks fantastic when you flick through Bord Atlas it isn’t that user friendly. Camper-stops are indicated by dots on the maps so you have no idea what kind of camper-stop it is. All the camper-stops for a whole country are listed alphabetically so you have to keep searching backwards and forwards just to look at camper-stops in the same area. On a recent trip back from Germany I needed to find a camper-stop just before the German/Belgium boarder. Using the front maps I had to randomly search around 18 camper-stops. I was looking for a free night halt and I found several restaurant stops before I settled for Wiehl.
There is limited tourist information provided for each camper-stop.
Dumping at a German StelpllatzFinally Bord Atlas promotes 3400 camper-stops in 29 countries. However it is primarily a guide for Austria and Germany, detailing around 2500 German camper-stop and 120 Austrian ones. The only other useful country is Poland, after that information is limited with only 283 listings for France and 202 for Italy. Some countries such as Finland and Portugal only have one or two listings.
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car boasts 6500 camper-stops for Motorhomes in 9 countries, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Switzerland. This guide is written in French.
Included with the aires guide is very good fold out map showing the location of the French aires this is easy to misplace and would render the guide useless. There are no maps for the other countries. The French camper-stops are also indexed at the front of Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car detailing what kind of camper-stop they are and whether they are free. However the index has no page numbers, so you have to find the region. Unless you know where regions are, or the name of an exact town you need to refer to the map to find the camper-stop. The directions are generally good, but there is no GPS or photographs to help. A small amount of tourist information is provided. First timers will need to be careful, as many of the listings are campsites that do not necessarily offer any motorhome discount.
Outside of France the book becomes very disappointing. Most countries have very limited information, the exception being Italy. There are no maps but the country regions are clearly identified.
A small, but useful point should you need a repair or part is Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car has many dealer adverts listing their addresses across France.
Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping Car lists 1,732 aires in France, 517 stellplatz in Germany, 81 camper stops in Belgium, 1,268 Aree di sosta in Italy, 71 in Portugal and 106 in Switzerland. Also listed in France are 735 France Passion stops and 1,683 French campsites. Croatia and Spain only have campsites listed due to the lack of camper stops.
Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars
The 2006 edition has 1600 stops in France only. This comparison is made with the 2003 edition, as I am yet to find the 2006 edition for sale – everywhere has sold out! Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars is easy to use if you have a little French. The maps at the rear are colour-coded so you can identify which type of camper-stop they are. The camper-stops are also indexed by region. There is no tourist information in this guide and very few photographs. Le Guide National des Aires de Service Camping-cars has fewer entries for France than CamperStop Europe.
Overview
If you intend to travel to in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, and Denmark CamperStop Europe offers the most information and ideal for new users of camper-stops. Although Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping-Car looks better on paper for Greece and Switzerland, far more information is provided in CamperStop Europe. If you would like information in English CamperStop Europe is your only option.
However if you are heading to Germany, Austria, Hungary or Poland Bord Atlas offers the most information. If you need GPS then this guide is the only one offering this information at present.
For France Le Guide Official 2006 Aires de Service Camping-Car is a good choice but interestingly it only has 90 more camper-stops than CamperStop Europe. It does have significantly more listing for Italy.
As an overall guide to Europe, CamperStop Europe is more favourable than the two other Europe guides as it covers countries in better detail, and although it might lack a few listings for France, Germany and Austria it has plenty to keep the average motorhomer happy.
If anyone knows of any other camper-stop books please let us know so we can add them to the overview.
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