This post is going to be all about planning for that upcoming trip. Wether it is a week long holiday, or on the road for a longer period, the way you use WikiCamps is the same.

Everybody is different when it comes to planning their holiday, some people want to “wing it” , others want to to know what, where, when and how before they have left home.

Research

We use WikiCamps, mainly because it was first on the scene that was really good, there is now another app available called Camps Australia, it works more or less the same way, but I have not had much experience with it.

Both apps, wether you are on Android or Iphone are relatively cheap. WikiCamps is a one off $10, while I believe Camps Australia is about $10/year.

The best feature about these apps is the user feedback unlike a paper map, without the feedback you have no idea on what the true current condition of the campground is, quite often when you have a selected campground, there is feedback left by someone, sometimes only hours / days before.

Also safety, some places, after reading the feedback, we have avoided due to safety concerns.

WikiCamps

The first thing to do after you have installed the app, is to create an account. This will be handy for backups, and also for synchronising between different devices.

Cathy and I use the same login details, we both edit and add info to the trip as we go along, once the edits have been synchronised, then the other person can see the changes.

Creating a Trip

After creating an account, the next step before you do anything, you will need to create a trip, this is where your saved campsite(s) go. From here you can sort them, find out how far to each campsite and even estimate how much fuel it will cost.

Once your trip is saved, you can come back to it later to delete/add campsites, change the order, add notes, and more.

Below images rotate from 1 to 3.

• 1 – Select Plan
• 2 – Select + Create Trip
• 3 – Fill in the details, only the trip name is essential, then select Create trip. Go back to home Explore screen
• 1 – In the Explore screen select Map settings icon on the right, then you will see your trip/s you created previously, select it, now as you add campsites, the green line (your path) will be created as you go.

You are now ready to filter campsites.

Set the filters

This comes down to what you want. Now the trick here is not to select too much, otherwise campsites will en-explicable start disappearing, or not show at all, or the other way if not enough filters options selected then you wont be able to find anything, the screen will become too crowded,

Since we are in a caravan, travelling with a dog, our selection is based on that as an example.

Our filters are set to –

• Caravan Parks
• Campgrounds
• Showgrounds
• Farm Stays
• Dog-friendly
• Free, Donation or paid.

Below images rotate from 1 to 5.

• 1 – Explore screen showing what the icons mean, select Filters, to get to the next screen
• 2 – On this screen, make sure the collections and fee category are like above.
• 3 – scrolling down, select the accommodation type that you want.
• 4 – Still further down the page is site features, again be careful here as campsites can start disappearing, just set the bare minimum.
• 5 – An example of us setting our site features to dog-friendly
• Lastly click the button Show results, you should be back at the Explore screen.

Icon Meanings

Selecting campsites

When in the Explore screen, it works the same as Google maps, use your fingers to pinch and zoom, move the map around, etc, when you are ready, click on an icon to get more information about that campsite.

Below images rotate from 1 to 7.

• 1 – Select campsite
• 2 – This screen is all the information about the campsite, reviews, cost, contact info, location.
• 3 – Site features – more information
• 4 – The reviews themselves, what other people have observed.
• 5 – Trip selector, what trip you want this campsite to go into
• 6 – Where in your trip do you want this to go
• 7 – The options available in the plan section of WikiCamps.

TIPS:

Always read the reviews, from here you can learn the current condition of the park, facilities, and also how safe it is. Not all caravan parks are created equal.

After reading some reviews we have given some parks a miss, due to safety concerns or condition of the park.

Summary

This is just a brief introduction to WikiCamps. From here you can –

• Save filters to re use later
• Off-line content
• Find other facilities
• Average fuel consumption, distance between camps etc

---

Feedback

We love hearing from fellow travellers — your thoughts help others too!

Have you found this article useful? Let us know in the comments below.
And if you’re enjoying our campsite reviews, subscribe to get new posts straight to your inbox: