A Camper Van Journey Through France and Belgium
This was quite a different experience from our usual travels. Aside from picking up the van in Paris and dropping it off in Brussels, we had no official day to day plans. Greg had researched ideas of possible campsites and farms, but we didn’t book anything in advance. I loved the spontaneity and freedom of this!
Prior to this trip, we had never been in a camper van, camped, slept in a tent, or anything like this. So… why did we choose a trip like this?
In a quick answer- We’ve been curious about the camper van life and wanted a flexible way to travel the countryside and explore the outdoors, without having to pack/unpack every day. We really thought we’d be hiking, biking, and watching the sunset along cliffs and beaches on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It was rainy and cold most of the week. This was not the outdoorsy trip we thought it was going to be, and yes, it would have been much better at a different time of year, but we still had a good time and learned a lot about traveling in a camper van. And we still had a little bit of sunshine :)
Lesson learned… don’t plan a European camping trip in rainy October.
Getting the van
We picked up the van from Indie Campers near the Paris airport. Pick up was easy, but took awhile. I was prepared with some questions in broken French, but thankfully, the staff spoke fluent English, taking a lot of the stress away from renting our first camper van.
While waiting for the van to be readied, the lobby had complimentary coffee and wifi. Good start! There was also a ‘free pantry’ of items people had left behind that next renters could use. We took some tea, spices, potatoes, and a roll of toilet paper.
When completing the booking, Greg had added wifi, a toilet, and 2 bikes to our reservation. Unfortunately, they were out of the wifi boxes (we wound up not really needing that anyways). The worker talked us out of the portable toilet. He said “it’s awful, sloshes a lot, and no one ever really wants it.” We were happy we listened to him; we didn’t need it. However, we did regret taking the bikes. Not only did they take up a lot of space (it had no bike rack), we never actually got to use them because of the rainy week.
Tip: check the bike condition before leaving… flat tires? repair kit? air pump? We didn’t check and were later disappointed when we discovered flat tires with no way of fixing them.
Where to stay?
Greg downloaded the app ‘Park 4 Night” which was essential for this trip. It shows a map with all of the overnight camper van options from parking lots, farms, campgrounds, and more. You can further filter amenities such as wifi, toilets/showers, water, etc. Just like airbnb or yelp, guests leave reviews and some facilities include pictures. Greg did a great job planning our stops by utilizing this app.
Itinerary:
Piquingy —> Ambleteuse —> Audinghen —> Nieuwpoort —> Middelkerke —> Bruges —> Donkmeer
Day 1
We drove for about two hours to our base for the night, Picquingy, and stayed on a farm. We pulled in and parked in a field, never seeing a host. I found a small hut with the prices (which matched what Greg had read online), signed the book, and left the money on the table. It cost 5 euro per van plus 5 euro for electricity so just 10 euro to stay here for the night. So cheap!
It had a small bathroom and shower hut. The toilets were essentially just holes in the ground and the showers were not very clean. After seeing these, I was VERY worried about our decision to stay in a camper van for a week. After this night, Greg looked for spots with better amenities.
The location itself is what we wanted. Countryside with a small town nearby. We spent the evening walking around the vacant village, explored the church and chateau, and caught a glimpse of the sunset. It was a great first night! We wish the weather had been this nice the whole trip.
Cooking dinner in the van is about what we expected. We have experience cooking in small spaces from our sailboat, so this wasn’t a problem for us. We had to be strategic about the order in which we did things, because most of the counter space was lost when needing the burners or sink, as we had to lift the counter up to access these areas. The propane tank was in the back, so we’d go outside to turn the gas on/off. We’d raise the roof when cooking so we could stand. I got creative with space and used the bunk shelf as a spice rack and cup holder while cooking. It was challenging washing the dishes in the tiny sink, but besides that, all was good.
The van included a tote of basic cooking gear- a pot, skillet, cutting board, forks, spoons, and cups. We stopped at the store along the way and bought additional items such as a knife, spatula, and towels.
Preparing our bed was a funny experience. We laid the backseat down to form a bed- a hard bumpy bed. I opened up the bag of sheets provided by Indie, which was supposed to include sheets and pillowcases, but it was just 5 mismatched pillowcases. We kept laughing because it was just so silly and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. For this first night, I put pillowcases down to serve as a half sheet, but that didn’t work out. We never slept in the pop top due to rain. Neither of us slept good this first night, even after taking benadryl. It was very uncomfortable, tight, and cold. Sleeping was better for rest of the journey; we didn’t have things figured out this first night.
We kept the bikes outside the van and hoped nobody would steal them. There were just 2 other vans on this farm, so we figured it would be ok (and it was).
Day 2
After this morning, I was ready to hit the road to the next stop- one with a warm, clean shower. Instead of using the farm showers, I did a variation of a sponge bath in the van. It is possible to shower with the van, but it would be outside with the hose. Way too cold for that!
We stopped in Ambleteuse as a possible home base, but chose to move on. We drove just a bit further and decided to stay at the Camping Municipal du Musee, Audinghen campground. There was another farm option, but we were wanting more amenities, especially a nice shower. The office didn’t open until 4pm so we went exploring until we were able to check in. This location was prime for biking and walking along the coast. We were wanting to ride our bikes, but this is when we discovered the flat tires and lack of bike supplies, so we chose to walk along one of the trails.
We walked the ‘blue’ trail and unexpectedly saw lots of German bunkers. From the coast, you could even see England! This trail took us through cliffside, forests, and farms. It was a drizzly, cold, gray day. Even with this weather, I’m glad we ventured out! It was a neat walk.
We liked this facility and location a lot. It cost us 26 euro total which included electricity, 2 showers, and general facility fees. This was more expensive than what we had seen online, due to an unexpected 5 euro fee. With the language barrier, we never really figured out what that fee was for.
The showers were a max of 5 minutes each and cost 1.50 per shower. Men had a tap card to activate the shower and women had a token system. We had to keep hitting the button every 30 seconds or so to keep the water flowing. This is a water preservation technique. There were 4-5 showers but also had matching vanity stations with outlets, sinks, and mirrors. It was a nice facility. Very clean.
The campground had free wifi, outdoor workout equipment, basketball court, a playground, and other activities. Aside from the permanent homes, this site had 10 additional parking spots. I’m sure this gets full during the spring/summer, but we were the only ones here on this night. We loved our spot- spot 1. It was right next to the toilets and shower facilities.
Every morning, a local woman sells fresh bread at 8am on the campsite, but for some reason, she didn’t show up for the one morning we were there. Apparently, it’s really good though! At check in, they even point out the hut and write “bread 8:00” on the map.
Days 3 & 4
…and now we enter Belgium! Before settling into our home for the night, we stopped at Nieuwpoort. It was such a beautiful entry into the country! We thought it’d be very similar to France since it is SO close, but it was vastly different, especially in its’ architecture.
We drove about 1.5 hours to our campsite in Belgium: Zeester Campground in Middelkerke. Greg booked this online in advance, as there is not an attendant upon arrival. At check in, you choose whichever parking spot you want. This was hard to do as it’s before you drive through the gate, so you don’t know the grounds or where other guests are; you just randomly choose a number and lock it into the online system. We chose spot 50, but after parking, we realized our electric cable was too short to reach the outlet. There isn’t a worker at check in (it’s all online) but Greg eventually found a woman who was able to help us change our spot so we could get closer to the electric.
The bathrooms and showers are co-ed. This could bother some people, but wasn’t a problem for us. This facility was super nice and clean. It even had a dish cleaning area. To enter, we had to type in a personalized code that was given to us upon check in.
From here, we were able to take a nice walk along the beach and into the city of Middelkerke. The city consisted of lots of tall holiday-homes (looks like huge apartment buildings), trendy shops, and cafes. We spent most of the evening at Den Toogaloog Bier Bar and wobbled back to the camper van to sleep. Watch out, Belgian beer will getch’ya! This was our first night in Belgium. We had so much fun talking with the bar owner and his friends for hours. Turns out, they had even been to Louisville, KY! Small world.
We were planning to stay at a farm the next night and taste their homemade ice cream (which sounded neat!), but we opted to stay here an extra night since the forecast predicted rain all day. Staying at a farm in the rain with no electric, wifi, toilets, or showers didn’t sound ideal when we could just stay at this comfortable campsite which we were already enjoying. That’s the beauty of a camper van… freedom and spontaneity!
Zeester campground provides 24 hours of free electric and wifi. Instead of adding a day to our existing reservation, we left at checkout (noon) and made a new reservation for that night. We spent most of this rainy day just cuddled up in the van watching shows and playing games. We were happy with our decision to stay.
Days 5 and 6
We stayed at the Memling Campsite in Bruges. This site was much busier than the rest of the grounds we’d been to, likely because Bruges itself is a larger city and destination. The shower/toilet facilities always had people in them, whereas our previous spots had basically been vacant every time. These were nice facilities, but we did like the privateness of the other spots more. We paid 23 euro a night which included all amenities. You can’t beat this price for staying in such a neat city!
Bruges itself was absolutely amazing! It is a beautiful, intact, preserved medieval city and was one of the highlights of our 2023 travels. We really loved everything about Bruges! It felt like a medieval fall romance but with a hipster twist.
It had endless breweries and things to do. We enjoyed the free night tour and learned a lot about its’ dark history. We did a Waffles N Beer interactive brunch experience, sipped coffee along the canal, drank lots of Belgian beer, and just soaked up the medieval charm of the city. We could go on and on about how much we loved Bruges, but I’ll leave it at… Bruges is a must visit!
Day 7
From Bruges, we drove to the Donkmeer campsite. There were no shower or toilet facilities here, but it did have wifi and water. It was basically just a fenced in grass lot connected to a trailer home village. It cost 20 euros, which we did find expensive compared to the other sites which included more amenities. We were the only van here, so that was nice.
Although it was quite deserted during our time here, this would be a great location during the summer. The lake was just about a 15-minute walk from this lot. Even though everything was closed for the season, we still enjoyed walking around the lake and swinging at the playground.
Drop off
Indie made it a strong point letting us know we could not be late with drop off or else we would be charged a hefty late fee, so we woke up quite early to make sure we made it to Brussels on time. Our drop off time was scheduled for 8am, having to catch a train to Paris shortly after. Upon arriving, no one was at the office. We called the number, no one answered. Ultimately, we left the keys with the neighbor. He told us “ehhh sometimes they’re here at 8, sometimes 10, 1030.” I told him we are leaving our trust with him. It was a bit worrysome, but we had to move on. Everything worked out. But yes, we did leave the keys with a complete stranger.
Traveling via camper van requires lots of flexibility, spontaneity, curiosity, and adventure. I think that’s what makes it fun though! We normally travel with a set day to day plan. It was good for us to do something new! Not having to unpack everyday was a nice bonus too. We wish we could have done more hiking and biking, but here’s to hoping that the next journey brings more sunshine and warmth!