ACSI camping card are they worth?

Darcar

Forum Member
We’re planning a 2-3 month trip through France, Belgium,Germany, Austria, Slovenia into Croatia. Then maybe on down though to Greece. Then a ferry back to Italy and back up through France and home.
We don’t use camp site every night, probably only 1 in 5 nights, although obviously this trip will be a bit of an unknown for us.
Do any of you guys have and use the ACSI card, and do you get a good saving?

Cheers Darcar
 

Floydster

Forum Member
I've used one for the last couple of years and generally found that you get your money back after about 3 nights, so probably worth it for you.
The main thing to remember is that it's for off season only, so if you're going peak summer time you won't get any discount.
The other thing to watch on some sites is you may get a very low amperage electric supply.

Paul
 

Darcar

Forum Member
I've used one for the last couple of years and generally found that you get your money back after about 3 nights, so probably worth it for you.
The main thing to remember is that it's for off season only, so if you're going peak summer time you won't get any discount.
The other thing to watch on some sites is you may get a very low amperage electric supply.

Paul

Thanks Paul.
Well I’m glad you said that, as we’ve now ordered one. Only £15.00 if you buy 2 years.
Darren.
 

Millie Master

Forum Member
As an ex site owner in France, personally I hated them as I was lucky enough to be able to keep my site full without giving any discounts!

OK if you like going to sites, but personally speaking these days I/we have become so accustomed to going to Aires throughout France which are either free or at the most only a relative few €'s. We treat our Vicarious Publishing (https://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/) books "all the Aires of France" (North & South) as invaluable bibles, they also do similar books for Germany, Holland etc. etc.

As an indication of how tight we have become, and OK it was only in France, but our 5 week touring holiday around France last year saw us spend less than €40 on site & water charges for the entire trip, and yet that was stopping on small and mostly well cared for sites.

I hope you don't mind me giving you a couple of words of warning Darren?
It is so easy to burden yourself with a rapidly pocket emptying and generally physically and mentally exhausting holiday by sitting at home planning an extensive touring holiday, the reason being that on a map the mileages don't look all that great, but when it comes to the crunch the moving on almost every single day an additional 1 to 200 miles does become more than somewhat of a bind............ I know because like a fool I have done it so many times in the past, these days over in France we generally only move on about 40 to 50 miles each move!!

Good luck though, your holiday dos sound exciting.

Phil
 

wildebus

Forum Member
Sounds like it could be at the least a handy backup option.

I'm hoping to do a bit of a tour in Europe this coming year. The closest so far was a trip down to the Italian Lakes through France and Switzerland, staying at a Eurocamps near Lake Garda for 5 days, then making our way back home via Austria, Germany and Belgium.
On the trip down and up it was a matter of finding somewhere to stop over and just looked for someone when time to stop
Great trip but only thing missing was a Campervan! (did the trip in my car, averaging over 400 miles per day :) ). Did a similar thing to Catalonia twice a few years previously, once via Dover and once via Poole, butt again, in the car and stopping off at random motels and B&Bs stumbled across.


(FWIW, I MUCH prefered travelling home via Austria and Germany rather then going through France. Next time I would avoid France if at all possible)
 

Millie Master

Forum Member
Next time I would avoid France if at all possible)

Why?

France has superb rural roads that are mainly in excellent condition and with exceptionally low levels of traffic.

Whenever I am over there I normally will avoid toll roads and yet our average speeds are exceptionally good simply because next to nothing ever holds you up which has another benefit, it being very good/low fuel consumption figures.

Phil
 

wildebus

Forum Member
Why?

France has superb rural roads that are mainly in excellent condition and with exceptionally low levels of traffic.

Whenever I am over there I normally will avoid toll roads and yet our average speeds are exceptionally good simply because next to nothing ever holds you up which has another benefit, it being very good/low fuel consumption figures.

Phil
to put it bluntly, I don't like France that much and I am not enamoured with the French people that much.
I know loads of people love France and good luck to them, but no me.
 

Squiffy

Forum Member
to put it bluntly, I don't like France that much and I am not enamoured with the French people that much.
I know loads of people love France and good luck to them, but no me.

What that statement tells me wildebus is that you obviously have not either been to France or you hav'nt travelled the rural roads of France to any extent, I'm definitely not an EU ( Common market) fanatic as some on here will tell you, but I have to protest that the French country folk are amoung the most helpful and polite folk we have come across other than the Swiss, Italians, Germans, Polish and Spanish have to say some of the most poe faced miserable nasty people we have ever come across are here in the UK. Having said that I would still prefer to leave the EU on a No Deal if we have to. Phil
 

wildebus

Forum Member
What that statement tells me wildebus is that you obviously have not either been to France or you hav'nt travelled the rural roads of France to any extent, I'm definitely not an EU ( Common market) fanatic as some on here will tell you, but I have to protest that the French country folk are amoung the most helpful and polite folk we have come across other than the Swiss, Italians, Germans, Polish and Spanish have to say some of the most poe faced miserable nasty people we have ever come across are here in the UK. Having said that I would still prefer to leave the EU on a No Deal if we have to. Phil
Seeing as in the post where I said that I also said drove down to Italy through France, and that I had driven to Spain twice through France (the Poole and the Dover Crossings I mentioned) I think obviously I HAVE been to France. As well as having worked in France, I have had the unfortunate experience of both working with various French people remotely on multinational projects, and well as occasionally encountering them here (in the UK) and also being on holiday abroad in places where there were a variety of nationalities, including French - and I found many French people I encountered when on holiday rude to the resort staff, often highly racist, loud, obnoxious and arrogant.
You have your opinion about different Nationalities. I have mine. We are both correct as they are our respective opinions. Whether you agree with mine is a totally different matter.
 

Squiffy

Forum Member
It was ment as a metaphorical never been to France, as in you blast straight down the motorways in France and don't appreciate the possibilities and by the sounds of it will not even try. I have to say wildebus I was only reacting to your original statement. It would seem we must draw a line under it and move on, so as to speak. Phil
 

wildebus

Forum Member
There are many more places that I would like to visit than France for me to want to "try" it again. I did not say I hate France, or I that hate the French (unlike my Father, who hated the French after been forced off the road one time when on his bicycle apparently as a young man).
But that Country has a lot less appeal to me than ALL the countries that surround it, ALL of which I HAVE been to (excepting Andorra) and ALL of which I have enjoyed time in (except Luxembourg - it was closed when I dropped in). Likewise I have met some perfectly pleasant French Folk, but in all seriousness, I have enjoyed the company and presence of other nationalities (even the British!) much more than the French.
 

Darcar

Forum Member
As an ex site owner in France, personally I hated them as I was lucky enough to be able to keep my site full without giving any discounts!

OK if you like going to sites, but personally speaking these days I/we have become so accustomed to going to Aires throughout France which are either free or at the most only a relative few €'s. We treat our Vicarious Publishing (https://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/) books "all the Aires of France" (North & South) as invaluable bibles, they also do similar books for Germany, Holland etc. etc.

As an indication of how tight we have become, and OK it was only in France, but our 5 week touring holiday around France last year saw us spend less than €40 on site & water charges for the entire trip, and yet that was stopping on small and mostly well cared for sites.

I hope you don't mind me giving you a couple of words of warning Darren?
It is so easy to burden yourself with a rapidly pocket emptying and generally physically and mentally exhausting holiday by sitting at home planning an extensive touring holiday, the reason being that on a map the mileages don't look all that great, but when it comes to the crunch the moving on almost every single day an additional 1 to 200 miles does become more than somewhat of a bind............ I know because like a fool I have done it so many times in the past, these days over in France we generally only move on about 40 to 50 miles each move!!

Good luck though, your holiday dos sound exciting.

Phil
Thanks phil,
Yeah I’v done silly trips in the past, we now plan loads before we go, but we’re very easy and change our plans along the way, so if we find somewhere we like we stay longer, I just like to have a plan rather than a destination.
Darren
 

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