Hey Reddit,
Me and my partner are cycling the Alpe Adria route from Salzburg to Villach, and are hoping to get to Slovenia.
Has anyone done this route and have good camping experiences? Or know any good hosts?
It's been more difficult than I expected to plan for daily distance, roughly 45km days, and find good cheap campsites.
I'm assuming wild camping is too illegal to try, but it's frustrating that most campsites cost nearly €40 for 2 adults and a small tent?
I've been told you can ask people if it's okay to camp on their land/garden, although I'm unsure if this is polite or general welcomed, and I don't know how to best arrange this.
It's also annoying that most campsites seem to cater for motorhomes and caravans, and tents often get treated as an afterthought, but still expected to pay full prices.
Many thanks, G
by BUCKTHORN_gk
17 Comments
There are big difference between campsites. Almost 100% of them list their prices on their website, so you can check campsites along the route beforehand to find the cheaper ones. That being said, campsite are indeed increasing their prices all over Europe.
We camped for €15-40 along this route a few years ago. We noticed that emphasizing that we were two people with a small tent helped. We also offered to pay cash.
Sometimes we camped on odd hills, behind the showers, or alongside the picnic tables.
It was all good, and we didn’t pay too much.
I just toured from Croatia through Slovenia and Villach to South Tyrol. We paid between €20 and €50 for a small tent, highly variing on how busy with tourits the areas are. The most expensive one was in South Tyrol.
In Scandinavia you can wildcamp legally and for free
Haven’t done that route but cycled from London to Croatia. Yes, campsites are too expensive (and usually shit). In my experience they mainly cater to the motorhome crowd and jack up prices accordingly. I’ve been to some campsites that were surprised that anyone would use a tent.
I’ve had mixed experiences asking people if I can use their garden. Most people don’t want a stranger staying on their property but sometimes you get lucky. On one occasion I met a very lovely German couple who made me a huge breakfast the following morning. On another it was like staying in the garden of a serial killer (I’m a male).
Wild camping is illegal in most places, but if you find a good, quiet spot, set up late and leave early you should be fine. It’s a bit of a learning curve, but you get a way better (and cheaper!) experience doing it this way.
The motorhome explosion has destroyed the camping experience through much of Europe.
Yes, European campsites are terrible value.
I paid €50 in Belgium for a campsite where I had to listen to RV generators all night and kids screaming at the crack of dawn. The next night I got a hotel room for €60.
After that I felt so ripped off that I vowed never to pay for camping ever again and proceeded to wild camp for the next 10 months without a single issue.
I just came back from the Alpe Adria, but did Salzburg – Grado. I agree with you, the campsites are expensive and cater mostly to the campervan people. Some cities like Tarvisio and Udine I had to get a hotel as no campsites were available in the proximity. Platforms like 1 nite tent, welcome to my garden and warm showers can be a potential solution, but I still haven’t tried them.
Try Welcome to my garden. There are few in the US. But there are loads more in Europe. I’ll have my first WTMG experience this August and then again in fall.
Wildcamping being illegal isn’t a problem if no one finds you, which should be the case. €40 a night is very expensive and not what I’m used to paying in europe
I just took the cheap hotels around these parts, most included breakfast so I could load up and skip lunch.
Hey! We did this last year from Salzburg to Trieste. It is what it is with the campsite costs. I remember it being €25 euros for 2 people and a tent. In Chuisaforte, the restaurant (Stazione di Chiusaforte) lets you camp outside their restaurant. I don’t think you have to eat there, but I definitely recommend because the food was delicious! They also have showers and a toilet you can use for a small euro coin donation. In Udine, we stayed with a warmshowers host called John who’s an American expat and he was lovely!
I’ve just decided to pay more and stay at inexpensive hotels and hostels quite often. Yeah, the cost does add up fast, but a bed and shower is nice. Reserved a day ahead, you can roll in nearly at dusk, no worries. You can extend your biking, sightseeing, and general goofing around time during the day and not need to pitch.
When I toured for 2 years I switched to wildcamping and never looked back. Campsites are never worth the hassle just for a warm shower. Even if you get fined at some point (I never was) it will still be cheaper than campsite and you’ll have much better views.
Paid €30 plus euro for myself, bike and one man tent in Italy for a patch of dirt you couldn’t put tent pegs in without a mallet and to have to pay for showers on top of it. Like what am I even paying for? And yet to stick a little tent up in a forest or in some forgotten bit of woodland is a terrible crime.
people are going crazy expecting gold for shit they offer. wild camping all the way, its a human right to connect with nature. Just do it wise and responsible. Scandinavia’s Allemansrätten is the way to go. Balkans are cheaper than EU and easy to wild camp. I usually paid 10 eur for 1p + tent. On the campsite you got shower and fridge but also screaming kids, drunks and traffic noise as many are next or close to main roads.
In Czechia for example it’s not that expensive considering our wages, if you are from Western Europe, you would think we have everything for free.
But for us, paying 3 times more just behind border in Austria is devastating honestly. I wanted to travel to Netherlands this year on my bike. I could have done the distance in my country with our prices, but I just can’t afford paying for food and campsites in Germany and Netherlands. I was planning it from last year, just to realize I can’t afford it this year, maybe next time