October the 27th, 2026 – Croatian campsites might be considered the most expensive in Europe, but the Germans still deem them the best. Here’s how much an average day costs.
For the ever-keen German campers, Germany itself is the most popular camping destination, while Croatia is the third most popular foreign destination, behind Italy and France, with the Netherlands in fifth place. Poslovni reports that Croatian campsites can expect continued strong demand from the German market throughout 2027, given that German campers give them the highest quality ratings in all of Europe, even though according to new research they are simultaneously the most expensive. This was highlighted by Uwe Frers, CEO of PiNCAMP, part of the German automobile club ADAC system.
German tourists, along with Slovenian and Austrian visitors, are the most numerous guests filling up Croatian campsites, and the German market is of particular importance for this segment, as well as for overall Croatian tourism. In a recent interview with Hina, Frers explained that ADAC’s digital tourism platform PiNCAMP also cooperates with the Dutch automobile club ANWB and the Swiss TCS.
“These auto clubs are among the largest in all of Europe, with a total of around 30 million members, many of whom are campers,” says Frers. At the recent Croatian Camping Congress, Frers presented one of their newer surveys on campers’ attitudes towards the quality and prices of campsites in 2026 and for 2027, conducted on the German and Dutch markets. For this purpose, they surveyed more than six thousand campers in two studies during the first three quarters of 2026.
around 25% of germans now go camping
The research showed that campers have positive attitudes and that demand from these two countries for Croatian campsites is growing. Demand from German campers is growing particularly strongly, for which Frers sees reasons in the rising number of camping vehicles in that country, from last year’s 1.7 million to this year’s 2 million, which is also a new record and, as he adds, “a great figure for the camping sector.” They also established that around 25 percent of Germans now go camping, which is a 19 percent increase compared to data from 2023. Frers also noted that a quarter of all camping vehicles in Europe are registered in Germany, followed by France with 19 percent, the United Kingdom with 13 percent, and the Netherlands with a 9 percent share.
interesting results for croatia and croatian camping
For Croatia specifically, he cites two interesting research results. The first is quality, which is the most important novelty, because campers gave it the best ratings. The second result is that Croatia is at the same time the most expensive camping destination. “In the past, we discussed how someone can be the most expensive and yet not the best. Now we can end such discussions, because Croatia has shown that it is the best in camping in terms of quality, so it is therefore justified that it also leads in price levels,” Frers believes.
He finds it interesting that Croatia has pursued a fairly aggressive pricing policy in recent years, but that this has now changed, because the average price increase in camping in Europe is around 8 percent, while Croatia with 7 percent is below that average. “So, being a leader in quality, while at the same time keeping price growth below the average, is the right tactic for surviving in this market,” Frers recommends. When asked about the average prices, he said that in Croatia it is €77 per day in a campsite, which is also the highest price among all countries, while the European average is around €50.
“In Europe, there are regions that are extremely cheap, as well as some very expensive ones. Croatia is clearly positioned in the luxury segment, and that position is further strengthened by its ‘leadership’ in quality, which is additionally confirmed in the research by campers stating that Croatian campsites offer good value for money,” says Frers.
However, he adds, in the research 56 percent of respondents said they had no opinion on this, which means they do not have a negative attitude either, while the remaining 44 percent are divided – half of them consider the Croatian camping offer acceptable and good, and the other half poor. “The fact that more than half of the respondents have no opinion at all I consider a good starting point for attracting new guests to Croatian campsites that should be utilised,” Frers stated.
croatia is the third most popular camping destination
For German campers, Germany itself is the most popular camping destination, while Croatia is the third most popular foreign destination, behind Italy and France, with the Netherlands in fifth place. Croatia is rated the best by the largest number of respondents (22 percent) in terms of price-quality ratio for camping, followed by Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. In terms of quality, Croatia also occupies the leading position with the best average campsite rating of 3.9 stars, while the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France have 3.7 stars, Spain 3.6, and Italy 3.5. In terms of camping prices per day for 2027, Croatia leads with an average of €77, Switzerland is second with €65, followed by Italy with €64, Austria with €61 and the United Kingdom with €55.
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