Camping-Car Park with and without the Privilege Pack.

We have tried to use Camping-Car Park in the past, sat outside one of their campsites for about an hour trying to register and book. What stopped us was all the add on fees, so the overnight cost went from something like €14 to €56 – admittedly that included the €5 card fee, some compulsory insurance and an annual subscription, so we moved on.

Is Camping-Car Park for us? That’s hard to know, we’re independent travellers and read the websites carefully before going. The wording on the Camping-Car Park website is not clear, you have to read it, then read it again, and then read it again and still you are not absolutely sure what it means.

Same with the Camping-Car Park app on iPhone, what do you actually have to pay in order to use the Camping-Car Park sites?

Here’s my understanding at the time of writing (Aug 2025).

• You need an account to be able to use the website or app on your phone. This part is free.
• Next you need to pay €5 for a Pass ‘Etapes access card, this is needed to enter Camping-Car Park sites and use the facilities. You only pay the €5 once, it lasts a lifetime.
• What happens next depends on whether or not you purchase the Camping-Car Park Privilege Pack for €29. 
  • without the Camping-Car Park Privilege Pack:
  • You turn up at a site and if there are available spaces you can book a 24 hour stay. Your stay is just that, up to 24 hours as long as you stay on the site during that time and don’t leave. When you leave your time ends. If you overstay you will have to pay for another 24 hours to be able to leave the site.
  • You can not book in advance.
  • with the Camping-Car Park Privilege Pack:
  • You can book your stay from 72 hours (3 days) in advance, to 6 months in advance.
  • You can cancel without charge up to 48 hours before the start of your stay.
  • You can leave and re-enter the Camping-Car Park site during your stay.
  • Your reservation guarantees your spot for a 24 hour period.

For us, the Camping-Car Park Privilege Pack seems like a waste of money, we don’t know where we will be in 3 days, so having to book at least 3 days in advance is not helpful, all we want to be able to do is check whether or not there is a pitch available when we are a couple of hours drive away. It seems that we can do that with the Camping-Car Park app without the Privilege Pack.

Whether the Camping-Car Park system with the Privilege Pack works for you really depends on what kind of motorhome trek or trip you are making. If like us you set off with only a vague idea of where you are going and even less idea where you will stay then don’t buy the Privilege Pack. If you like to know exactly where you will stay and know that your reservation is fixed and accepted then buy it because it will give you the peace of mind and security that you want. For us, that’s just not how we travel, we often turn up and there’s no space, or we don’t like the look of the place, so we move on – sometimes that’s not convenient, but it’s how we travel and it’s what makes us independent travellers.