Our European Wild & Free Camping Database 51 Comments

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Introducing Our Bumble Wild Camping Database

This is a list of all our sleepy spots and more! As we travel around Europe we often stop on a car park for the day, rest areas for afternoon tea or in nice cove for a spot of lunch. If we see somewhere that is suitable for motorhome overnight parking then record the GPS location within our database.

We’ve created a few formats to try and cater from everyone, so scroll down the page until you find the format that best suits you – google maps, csv, pdf, excel and our own database.

Map of wild camping positions.

Our European wild camping spots are one of our most visited pages on our website.  Well it just got better!  We now have over 1,000 camping spots to share with you and a google map!

 CSV Format

Fancy uploading to your GPS device then  CSV format (you may have to right click and select “download linked file”) is for those who just want the coordinates/numbers. To upload the csv file in to your GPS device you will need to check how to do this with the device instruction manual, as each device is different.

Note from Michael, one of our followers: Garmin and csv files.  It appears the first two columns need to be the Lat/Longs.  As soon as I moved those columns across and re-saved the file, it uploaded perfectly.

Important: You must access these files directly through an internet browser like Safari or Chrome, accessing it from a Facebook page, Facebook link or the Facebook App will not work.

Filemaker Database

This is our latest database file we created for use on our iPad. It uses the free App FileMaker Go and it includes data like GPS positions, location, site facilities and other related info.

Download the FileMaker Go AppJust download the App from the Apple store or click the left icon to go to App store.

Download OurBumble latest database.Now click this link or the right icon and after a few seconds (depending on your internet connection) the file will install on your iOS device.

Important: You must access these files directly through an internet browser like Safari or Chrome, accessing it from a Facebook page, Facebook link or the Facebook App will not work.

How to use the database.

First of all the terms I will use mean the following:-

  • Database – A collection of information similar to a filing cabinet of office records.
  • Record – A collection of information similar to a sheet of paper with lots of information on it.
  • Field – An individual piece of information contained in a box.

So basically the screen shows a Database constructed from Records/pieces of paper for each particular site made up of Fields containing all the specific pieces of information inside them.

Tablet landscape view

The blue buttons at the top are for creating new entries into the database for specific types of parking spots, i.e. Mixed parking, campsites etc.

You can also manually add new records by using the buttons on the bottom right of the screen.

The fields below these buttons are the information you wish to add such as town name and comments about the current site. Below this are some more buttons for selecting extra information about the current site such as the sites location and any extra services like water, showers etc.

If you are looking through the database and changes you make are permanent and there are no save options as it always saves the latest change, there is also no undo function.

On an iPad the navigation controls are located at the bottom of the screen.

Phone portrait view

If you wish to find a particular country for example then you can choose a couple of options from the icon at the top right of the screen, “Quick find” works by looking in every record and every field for the text you enter. So if you were looking for the word France then it will show all records that have the word France in them, whether it be in the country field, site name or comments section or even any other field. Once a search has been performed you are only looking at the search results and the remainder of the other records are temporarily hidden. To show all the records again tap the centre bottom icon and choose “Show all records”

If you wish to perform a more advanced search then select the “Create new find” from the top right icon and you can search for files with text in specific fields i.e. To find a site in France at the beach with fresh water you would go into “Create new find” select France from the country list, Water from the services button and Beach from the location button and then select search at the top right of the screen. The resulting database entries are now navigated with the buttons at the bottom of the screen again, remember that you need to “Show all records again in order to look at everything.

The view on map button will load change to another screen with google maps in it and show you the location of the currently selected record entry.

I will change the interface as time permits to make life easier and upload our latest files whenever possible.

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Our motorhome is mid left

Our Bumble Sleepy Spots

Finally, the good old printed copy of the GPS positions of our overnight stops, the places we write about in our blog. This is available in a pdf file, click here, of all the locations we have parked overnight. The majority of locations will be unpaid spots but there will be a small number of inexpensive aires or campsites.

***JUST ADDED***if non of the above work try downloading the file in Excel or Numbers.

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Updates

As we travel, we will keep logging our locations and try to upload a new file every months or so. Subject to internet access and speed, of course.

Final Note

One final note, things do change and it is inevitable that overtime land will be purchased, car parks will be sold, wild camping rules will change etc and as a result, the parking spot may no longer be available or suitable.  We therefore do not accept any responsibility for any adverse consequences including fines, if you chose to use the locations. These are places we stayed but if you chose to stay in the same locations, you need to check out suitability for yourself, make sure it is legal and make sure its still OK to stay.

The best part of wild camping is that you can truly get back to nature unlike if you stay in a campsite.  Please remember to respect the area around you and not leave any rubbish or waste that could potentially harm the environment.

Wild camping exciting and liberating, so if you are looking for something new to do it could be just the thing! However, you must always remember to respect the areas that you travel to so that they can also be used and enjoyed by others in the future.

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