Camping of the week

And then what do we like: quietness, nice flat grassy lawns for your tent, very important the personal touch that you most often find on smaller family run businesses and then of course the facilities, which doesn't mean that we are after things like the dishwasher we found in Honnginsvåg. In this list you will certainly miss swimming pools, disco's, large tarmac areas, power points, TV-rooms, etc.

To promote a little the campings we like and hoping that that will help the owners, we have decided to select once a week our "Fra Kapp A Cabo Camping of the Week". A "grand cru selection", spread over the whole of Europe.

19 - 20 June	Tromsdalen camping near Tromsø This was of course a short week with not much competition, but we liked this camping because of its special island for tents, only accessible after crossing a footbridge over the river. We first thought of staying in the Youth Hostel, but that opened only a day after our arrival. So we plunged in and camped already the first day after our arrival above the Arctic Circle. Also our first experiences with camping under the midsummernight sun. With a view on the snow capped mountains. This camping is 3 km from Tromsø, but is a nice walk into town, crossing the huge bridge over the fjord. All in all a good start of our trip.
21 - 26 June	Repparfjord camping 5 km east of Skáidi This camping on the road to Hammerfest stole our heart because of its nice grassy lawn, specially for tents, with small trees to provide the necessary shadow. The personal touch by the owners and other staff did the rest. The camping is next to a waterfall for the background noise, that we like so much during the night. Recommended when you're in the area. [Note after 3 weeks: still the nicest camping so far!]
27 June - 4 July	Camping at Dupvik This camping, encountered on our way through Finnmark, was selected as "Camping of the Week" for two reasons. First the superb setting at the fjord, with high snow-white peaks at the other side. And secondly the spacious layout, with for all types of campers their favorite type of place: a choice between real lawn, under the trees or for those who (like us) prefer quietness more in the woods. Until late at night (or better early in the morning), I looked how the middersummernight sun changed the light on the white mountains. Something that you could do the whole day long.
5 - 11 July	Brustranda camping at Strandslett (near Stramsund) While avoiding the busy traffic on the E10 and taking the smaller 815, after a (too) long journey we pitched up our tent at this camping. Located at the end of a small fjord, they have created a site with places of very different kind. For some who don't mind the strong winds, there is a small island, while on the other end some places are very hidden for the wind behind the trees. The see, including the tides, comes into the center of the camping. This all is completed with a nice "Kafe" and shop and naturally for a "Fra Kapp A Cabo Camping of the Week" friendly owners. This means of course too no problem with using the phone for updating these web-pages.
12 - 18 July	Vennesund camping at the ferry to Holm The unique feature of this camping is that 25% of the time you are within the influence of the loud decibels of the car-ferry :-), which has its docking at a distance of less than 50 meters. If you are in for absolute silence, don't go here. But if you like to sit in front of your tent and watch the constant activity of the ferry coming and going, this is it. Good point coming together is the nice cafe / restaurant that suits both the ferry users as well as camping guests. Its specialty (at least on Friday) is eating shrimps, as much as you want.
19 - 25 July	Camping at Leksvik A small and nearly empty camping, with therefore ample space. Run by a nice lady who added plenty of personal touch. Like in this case the bottle of tomatoketchup and mustard in the kitchen, free to use for her guests. And very important for us, the only camping around in a large area north of Trondheim. So this one formed an essential link to plan our route.
26 July - 01 Aug	Camping south of Opdal The smallest of two campings 1 km apart along the E6. In most cases the campings along the E6 were large efficient ones with too many campers, caravans, etc on too little space. Here much space and not many people. Which makes you wonder why the nice campings are often not that crowded or better rather empty. Is it because nice campings are visited by nice people and are there not many of those? Or is it a chicken and egg problem. Anyway, here there were fresh eggs for sale. And no telephone connection for my computer, which was not because of unwillingness, but because they only used a handphone.
02 - 08 Aug	Attrup camping in Northern Jutland A very quiet place with large sites and the best lawn we had during our whole journey. Not surprisingly, after we found out that the owner was an Englishman married with a Danish wife. Attrup is a small village of a couple of farms, a small camping shop and for the rest nothing. Very different from the huge over-organized campings along the Danish coast. The camping is a few hundred meters from the fjord, with a local harbor where we had planned to see if there would be a sailing boat for hire. But the weather was too bad, not because of the wind but because of the rain. We stayed here two days, being the perfect spot for a day of rest.
09 - 15 Aug	Vorbasse camping near Legoland The camping where our international camping got lost. But still camping of the week. The campsites are nothing spectacular, but the staff was very friendly, they had a shop with fresh rolls and pastries and the showers gave you just that little more hot water for your money. Difficult to say why it was nice staying here, but it was. Oh yes, they managed to replace our camping card with a new one.
16 - 22 Aug	Camping in Barnstrup A camping where our hart was stolen by the man taking care of the grass, sitting on his machine bear-chested and full of tattoos. Because of his caravan just over the border in Holland he was learning some Dutch and after having heard we were from Amsterdam, you could see that he would really have liked to live there. And for the rest a nice camping where as I would call it "all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place". And, as you can see, plenty of place for a little tent.
23 - 29 Aug	Azur Camping in Wolfstein This was again a perfect example of the type of camping we liked. A not too big, family run affair, with a nice chat when you come and again a nice talk at departure. In the middle perfect grass, the best showers we came across in Germany and a good hotel-restaurant in town for our evening dinner. The funny thing was we were welcomed in Dutch by the brother of the owner who was from Limburg. We got a "winter-season discount" which was indeed confirmed by the fact that the mornings are getting colder and colder. We really must get south!
30 Aug - 05 Sep	Camping Le Chateau in Montigny-le-Roi On the top of the hill, next to the Autoroute du Soleil, we found a pleasant surprise at this camping. The facilities OK, the grass green, everything as found more often on good campings. A nice view from our tent directly on the village tower, no need to look at you watch anymore, that is more special. But as said before, the most important for our camping of the week selection a very kind owner. He gave us for free the camping guide we couldn't find in the bookstore. That steals our hearts. Forever. We'll be back.
06 - 12 Sep	Camping Municipal of Pontgibaud We love the "Camping Municipals" in France. There where a private campgrounds don't exist, the local government takes over. Most often near to the swimming pools or sports complex, the town provides a basic but most often very adequate camping. No luxuries, just for traveling people. But that's exactly what a camping should be. This 2-star camping municipal had better facilities and more space than the 4-star in Vichy. And not only the "guardian", but even the guests are suddenly much nicer. How come?
13 - 19 Sep	Camping at Mauléon-Licharre This camping was at the same time our day of rest. An unplanned one. But we stayed two nights, which is a sign why it became our Camping of the Week. At the end of the season, it was very quiet. And it was a very small camping, but lying nice at the side of a very beautiful river, which we had all for ourselves. The lady in-charge was really in charge, a fact that we like, also because she supplied us with washing machines, dryers and telephone connections. All of which absolute essentials for long distance bikers like us.
20 - 26 Sep	Camping Ariztigain in Sunbilla Our first camping in Spain. And also our best. Not on the map, not in a popular touristic area, just a sign along the road. We had crossed the border, were aiming for a town a little bit further and then you see that sign. Temptation: Let's call it a day. And we did. Nice camping on top of the hill, we had to push our bikes the last 200 meters. But it was worth it. Perfect grass, beautiful view, super clean sanitairy facilities and most important of all, a very nice family running the place. The owner doubles as the cook of the restautant that was part of the camping. Delicous food and as said already, we swapped immediately to red wine from the fridge and two bottles instead of one. After a small local brandy with the coffee, there was only one thing to do: Roll to your tent.
27 Sep - 03 Oct	Camping "Agua Sobre" in Bragança During a full week of crossing the Picos de Europa and the plains around León, we had to stay in hotels, because of a lack of campings. After crossing the border with Portugal, this was our first opportunity to pitch our tent again. So the only camping of this week and therefore automatically a Fra Kapp A Cabo Camping of the Week. But in this case this camping also deserved the title. Ever had a camping, with bar and restaurant, that lights an open fire-place during the evening? Here it happened. Here no grass, but typical Portuguese camping under the pine-trees for the shade. Which is in this season not really necessary, but we found a place with still some sun. So we stayed here two days to recover a bit from the heavy cycling we did in Spain.
04 - 10 Oct	Camping Municipal in Castello Branco I can not say this was the best camping overall looking at facilities, services, etc. But have you ever found a camping where after adding up all for two persons and a tent you pay only 120 Escudos, which is roughly the equivalent of 75 dollar cent. On our way to Castello Branco we met some people who stayed here the night before and they warned us that the place would be horrible. What we found was a nice terrain, partly shaded, partly sunny. With stone benches and tables. And we found a nice corner which had all we needed. Again it proves that you never can rely on other people's opinions about campings (or hotels). What one person likes, the other hates and the other way round. So probably all these campings of the week are only nice to us and not to you .
11 - 17 Oct	Camping Los Cabanas at Cumbres Mayorez A closed camping. The guides said it was open, the people in the village said the camping was open, but the owner said he was definitely closed. Lots of discussion followed, it was clear he was officially not allowed to make the decision. But finally he gave us the permission to stay under the condition that there was no water available. We had had a long day, so that was fine. We got some bottles of water from the friendly neighbouring farm and we settled down. Nice view, nice grass, nice sunset, nice dinner. What do you want more. Well, "el chico" (the guy) came back and told he had managed to get the water running for us. So, nice guy. It was a problematic start maybe, but in the end we were really happy at this camping. And in full summer, when everything is running a bit more streamlined, this really must be a perfect quiet spot for those who love small campings.
18 - 21 Oct	Los Acornocales at Jimera de la Frontiera The day before, the camping that should be open was closed. But when we approached Jimera, the camping that shouldn't be there, was suddenly there. Not mentioned by any of our maps and guides. But there it was, at the moment we had big doubts if we would be able to get a bed for the night. Beautifully designed buildings. Mirrors in old ocean-steamer windows. Combined with rough rocks, old wood and granite table-tops. With a very nice restaurant and bar, the former unfortunately for us opened only mañana ;-). But that was the only mishap at this camping. Washing machines, which happens seldom in Spain and open all year around. And as said so many times before: very nice people running the place. They came to our tent to ask us to register, but when they saw that the steak was just "medium rare", they told us it could wait of course and wished us a nice dinner. This would be a camping to stay longer, however the day after we wanted to reach Gibraltar. A pity, but we can always come back.