Campers are looking for pleasant temperatures, and demand is increasingly shifting towards destinations less affected by the heatwaves that are becoming ever more characteristic of the summer period, particularly in Southern Europe. This is what emerges from PiNCAMP’s Analysis of the 2026 Season, based on booking trends for the travel years from 2023 to 2026.
The study highlights how climate change is increasingly influencing the travel habits of European campers. In terms of temperatures, 2025 was a record year, with the July heatwave lasting as long as 25 days, and 2026 appears to be following the same path, with exceptionally high values already recorded between May and June in France and Portugal.
Northern European countries are therefore becoming increasingly attractive, while spring and autumn are playing an ever more important role in holiday planning, contributing to a gradual extension of the tourism season.
Southern Europe remains a sought-after destination, but the “coolcation” phenomenon is growing
Climate is therefore gradually becoming one of the most important criteria to consider when planning outdoor holidays. Southern Europe continues to hold its place in campers’ preferences, particularly among the German market, with France, Italy, Spain, Croatia and Portugal accounting together for 67% of the booking volume for all countries considered on PiNCAMP during the height of summer. However, bookings are down by 2% compared with 2025. By contrast, bookings for the cooler destinations of Central and Northern Europe are increasing.
This is the “coolcation” phenomenon, namely the deliberate choice of cooler holiday regions during the summer months: Denmark, Sweden and Norway recorded overall growth of 15% in July and August compared with the previous year. The trend becomes even clearer in the long-term comparison: since 2023, demand for camping holidays in Scandinavia during the summer months has increased by 68%. Central Europe is also developing positively, with particularly strong growth in the Netherlands (+22%) and Germany (+10%).
Rising costs are slowing the Mediterranean
Mediterranean holidays, therefore, are holding up but are being “reorganised”, and not only because of the climate factor. What is also holding campers back is the increase in travel costs, which is particularly evident in Southern European destinations.
It is worth recalling that, according to the PiNCAMP Price Analysis 2026, a night at a campsite during the high season for a family costs on average €73 in Croatia, €63 in Italy and €58 in Spain, while prices are significantly lower in Northern European countries, averaging €38 in Norway, €40 in Sweden and €41 in Germany.
As Uwe Frers, Managing Director of PiNCAMP, points out, it is precisely in destinations where high summer temperatures coincide with higher travel costs that the first signs of changing demand can be observed, with campers showing a growing willingness to consider alternative destinations or different times of the year for their holidays.
The camping season is getting longer
If it is not the destination that changes, it is the holiday period. To escape heatwaves, campers are becoming increasingly flexible and willing to plan their holidays outside the summer period, favouring spring and autumn. Compared with the same period of the previous year, there has therefore been an overall increase in demand between April and June (Northern Europe: +53%, Central Europe: +25%, Southern Europe: +18%) and between September and October (Northern Europe: +47%, Central Europe: +5%, Southern Europe: +4%).
The trend, therefore, is towards demand that remains strong but is beginning to spread not only across a wider geographical area but also over a longer period of time, thanks to the flexibility of campers, who are willing to travel during the low season in order to enjoy more pleasant temperatures. “Instead of an extreme concentration over a few summer weeks, we are seeing the development of a longer camping season. Southern Europe is becoming a year-round travel destination for campers,” says Frers.
Between March and May, Italy lost over 80 million tourists