Where the map comes from
Every campsite on Vacamp comes from OpenStreetMap, the world map drawn by millions of volunteers — the same people who'll add the little farm campsite behind the church that no guidebook ever mentions. If it's mapped as a campsite or a caravan site, it's on Vacamp, with its website, its phone number and whatever else the community knows about it.
How we know there's space
Almost every campsite that takes online bookings does it through a booking system — a reservation platform working quietly behind the “Book now” button. There are dozens of them across Europe, and each speaks its own language.
Vacamp looks at every campsite's website to work out which system it uses. When it's one we've learned to read, we can ask it directly: two adults, one child, one dog, a van, arriving Friday, leaving Sunday — is there space, and what does it cost? We ask every campsite on your screen at the same moment, and the answers arrive as they come in.
What you see is what the campsite's own booking page would tell you: the cheapest stay that's actually available for your party, on your dates. Not a guess, not last year's price list.
Tokens: the only thing you'll ever count
Asking one campsite about your dates uses one token. That's the same effort as opening its website and filling in the booking widget yourself — we just do it for you, for every campsite at once.
- You start with a free allowance, and it refills on its own while you're out driving, hiking or asleep in the tent.
- Browsing is always free. Panning the map, reading about a campsite and opening its website never cost a thing.
- You pay for answers, not attempts. If a booking system is down or too busy to reply, the check costs nothing.
- Answers are kept. Once you've asked about a campsite for your dates, you can look at it again — and switch between tent, van and caravan pitches — without spending another token.
Why some campsites show no price
We'd love every pin to light up. Today, a campsite without a live price is usually one of these:
- Its booking system is one we can't read yet. We keep learning new ones, and the map fills in behind us.
- It books by email or phone. Lots of the most charming places do. Vacamp writes the enquiry for you, in the local language with an English copy underneath, ready to send.
- Its system didn't answer this time. Busy booking systems sometimes ask us to slow down, and we always do. Try again a little later — it won't cost you a token.
Either way the campsite stays on the map, because a great spot is still a great spot.
Booking
We don't do it — on purpose. When you've found your spot, Vacamp hands you to the campsite's own booking page with the question already answered. You book with them, pay them, and deal with them. No middleman, no commission, no surprises at the gate.
Your privacy
There are no accounts. Your location stays on your device. And because our servers do the asking, campsite booking systems never see who you are. The details are in our privacy policy, written to be read.
Want the full engineering story? Read Behind the map in our journal.
