How to find a good campsite in Spain
- Use Google maps to look at the area
- Read Google reviews and note reocurring comments
- Search for independent reviews, blogs and websites
- Use Google images
- Search for the campsite on Youtube
- Search for reviews on Tripadvisor and similar websites
In this post we’ll be looking at how to find a good campsite in Spain whether you are a tourist looking to come to the country for holidays or if you are already here. Spain has plenty to explore and with over 1000+ campsites to choose from there is usually somewhere to stay.
Google reviews
Begin with Google reviews. Google is your friend and with the introduction of reviews in 2007 you can find campsites in Spain on Google maps as well as people’s thoughts about those sites. Reviews do need to be taken with a pinch of salt but they give you a feel of what that particular campsite is like, for example if customer reviews are mentioning the same complaint over and over again then you are armed with the knowledge of what to expect.
Spanish campsite reviews are never that good. Seriously, you should not be expecting very much above a 4.3 out of 5.0 on Google reviews. Noise complaints always top the list. The fact remains though that these online reviews are very useful when it comes to helping you make a decision of whether to stop at that campsite or not.
Google images
Google maps and reviews offer images which are great as most have been taken by campsite guests, for some reason though there tends to be a lot of irrelevant selfies too which are of little help. Searching Google images will bring up images from reviews and also images from across the net pulled from articles, independent reviews, blogs and more.
Getting a feel for the place with images is advantageous as you can also find images that have been taken across the seasons, for example some campsites are open all year so it’s good to know what the campsite will look like with a blanket of snow over it…
Independent reviews
Independent reviews, what are they and how do they differ? Independent reviews are written by individuals/campers/overlanders for personal blogs and websites like this one. Every time we camp at a site we’ve never been to before we write an independent review, shoot video, images and offer our opinion on the campsite and the experience we had.
Independent reviews tend to be far more detailed than Google reviews, you also tend to get a more balanced view and in depth account of the camping experience written by those who are both experienced and enthusiastic about camping and the outdoors.
Other online reviews
Other online reviews include the likes of Tripadvisor and websites dedicated to camping and campgrounds. Very similar to Google reviews when it comes to feedback although most tend to be a little more detailed and very camping specific.
Looking for the name of the campsite itself may also throw up more results and reviews for you to read, search for the campsite name or web address by typing ‘forum:’ in front of it and you will get forum threads where that site has been mentioned, many of these old forum threads are buried in the depths of the internet but are still useful to read.
Youtube
Youtube is a good place to look for your next potential campsite stay, if the site is on there then you get a real good idea of what the place is like. Unfortunately there does not tend to be that many videos made by campsite owners in Spain so you have to rely on people who have stayed there.
Does the site have a website?
Spanish businesses are not known for having up to date websites or having a website at all but we’ve found that the large majority of campsites in Spain do have a website. This does not mean however that you’re going to get a response to any equiries you’d like to make.
We contacted four campsites through the contact form on their websites and did not hear back from any of them which was not a suprise. The best way to contact a campsite owner is either direcly by phone [assuming you speak Spanish] or by whatsapp.
Conclusion
Why is it so important anyway? A good campsite can mean the difference between a good night’s rest and a bad one which can make all the difference to your mood and enthusiasm for the next day. Nobody wants to be kept up all night by noise, partying and disco music all of which are common complaints across all online reviews.
Finding a good campsite in Spain can be difficult but remember they are out there and much will depend on the time of year you go, early or late season is always the time when we venture out – we wouldn’t even consider camping in July or August.
Taking your time, checking out all of the reviews online is a good idea and remember that people are very quick to leave bad feedback, for every negative review there are are always positive ones too from both Spanish people and foreign visitors alike.
Resources
- Tripadvisor
- Camping.info [Spain]
- Pitchup.com [Spain]
- Campingred
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