Australia’s a bloody big country… with literally thousands of places to choose from for freedom camping, low cost/budget camping, caravan/tourist parks and more!
For the novice, finding these spots can be a battle if you are not “in the know”.
HINT: Your biggest problem will be out-of-date information. Make sure you check the date of the source info. If in doubt, phone the campsite and/or check their website and/or nearest visitor information center 🙂
Here’s our selection of the essential resources you should have in your kit, to help you find and plan your next camping/touring adventure!
MUST HAVE!
WikiCamps Australia :
Don’t Go Touring Without It!
WikiCamps Australia is the “go-to” camping app for IOS, Android and Windows phones and tablets.
It includes thousands of user-generated listings, reviews, and photos of Caravan Parks, Camp Sites, Backpacker Hostels, Day Stops, Points of Interest and Information Centres across Australia.
Pros:
- Free to download and try for 14 days.
- Minimal cost to upgrade (currently around $8). No additional/ongoing fees to use the full version.
- Can use on multiple devices on the SAME platform without paying again
- Works offline. Can download all site and user content if required. High-quality offline map available.
- Regularly updated with the latest “first-hand” information from users, about sites from all over Australia.
- Loads of information to help you plan your get-away.
- See what the camp site looks like before you go there.
Cons: None really… except maybe for:
- Incorrect use of “filters” can severely limit the results shown. Be careful when setting these, or when searching for key words.
- Licence is per platform. If you’ve got an iPad, and an Android phone, you’ll need two licences.
- Since Bogan users can edit listings, or add inappropriate comments, some info may not be 100% reliable.
- I didn’t come up with the idea to develop this great app 🙂
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED : PRINT
Camps Australia Wide is one of Australia’s most comprehensive guides to free, low-cost camping and unique out of the way camping sites throughout Australia.
The team from Camps Australia Wide produce a printed campsite guide, a caravan park guide, a Camps App and also POI (Point of Interest) navigation tools for your GPS.
They release a new edition of Camps Australia Wide every 2 years. Camps 8 was released in February 2015, so 9th Camps Edition is on sale mid-February 2017. Updates are posted online as they are received.
Multiple versions of the publication are available, including one with lots of campsite pics!
As well as on-line sales, you’ll also find copies for sale at Outdoors and Caravan retailers across the country
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED : WEB
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED : FACEBOOK GROUPS
It seems there are Facebook Groups for almost anything these days. These are some of the better ones relevant to Camping and Caravanning around Australia.
TIP: Make sure you check out the FILES section in each group (check the TAB up near the top of the screen). You’ll probably find LOTS of extra useful information 🙂
But Wait… There’s More???
There are certainly plenty more… So add your suggestions in the comments below, and if deemed “worthy”, they may be added to this main post 😉