Advice on eastern EU countries?

[Tony Jones]

We're planning for a 5-week trip in summer 2009, and want to visit some cities (and countries) we've never been to before. So starting from Amsterdam, we'll include time in Berlin, Warsaw, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.

At the moment we're trying to plan a budget, so we know how much we've got to save each month in the meantime. Ferry is booked, and we can take an educated guess at spending money and food, but I've no idea what to allow for campsite fees. We always use Aires in France, and only want to use sites where it's either compulsory, or strongly recommended on safety grounds (ie more dangerous than France or Spain - please don't try to engage me in the general argument about whether aires are a "good thing" or not).

We've got a site booked in Amsterdam already, as we'll be there for a big Baptist knees-up, and I know Germany has "aires" although they spell it differently :-D .

But what about Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Rep., and Austria?

Can some of you tell me:

Which (if any) of those countries have plentiful aires or equivalent?

Which countries are campsites are essential or even compulsory?

Of those, how do the pitch fees compare with UK?

 

Thanks

Tony

[Brian Kirby]

Tony

We toured Hungary and Czech Rep (+ Slovenia) this spring, and are now in Croatia.

Simple answers, no aires or equivalents: wild camping is illegal so, in the absence of aires, you have to use sites.  Fees are variable, but on a par with UK.  PM me your e-mail address for more inf.  I'll reply when we return.