Camping Blaarmeersen, Ghent.......if you're desperate! - Stop One of Summer Tour 2016

For a number of years we have only ever used Belgium as a cheap toll-free transit route for our journey's south to the French Alps, Italy or Germany. Driving through the country on their abysmal road network never pricked our ears to consider stopping and seeing the sights.

However, that changed last year when we elected to visit the beautiful town of Bruges to see the Christmas market as part of our annual festive vacation. I'd read good reports about the town, an Aire close by and so we gave it a go.

To say we were pleasantly surprised is a bit of an understatement and as we enjoyed the visit so much I decided to factor in another Belgium stop this year on our annual summer vacation. 

On this occasion our chosen destination was Ghent, which according to the Lonely Planet Guide is Belgium's best kept secret. A bit of research on the internet led me to discover that our best option for staying near Ghent would be to pitch our motorhome at Camping Blaarmeersen.

The campsite is located close to a lake in the city of Ghent’s leisure complex. The town centre is about three miles away and easy accessible by bike route, bus or walking should you choose.

Now I often don't bother to book sites in advance but on this occasion I made an exception as I had read that there was a limit to van size during peak season of 7m, and as we are nearer 8.5m I thought it prudent to double check first.

After a brief interchange of emails directly with  the campsite I was assured that a pitch would be reserved for us for two nights ideal for our 8.5m motorhome. 

A dash-cam video of our route to Camping Blaarmeersen 

On arrival the campsite reception is welcoming and clean with English speaking staff. First impressions are it's a bit prefabricated and now looking a bit dated.

The entrance to Camping Blaarmeersen

Arriving a little earlier than anticipated I checked in at reception with our booking reservation to see if our pitch might be ready. Yes no problem was the reply.....marvellous said I! Formalities concluded on the check-in front I was duly given a map of the site and our pitch number with directions on how to find it.

Site access roads are a combination of one and two-way systems

Access roads get narrower and bushier!

Once through the gates we realised that our pitch was someway away from the reception area, shop and cafe but in close proximity of a shower and toilet block. Pitches appeared to be arranged in small paddock size enclaves combining areas for caravan's, tents and motorhomes. Motorhome only pitches had specific hard standing areas on which to park. As we ventured onward down our access road the trees got lower, the kerbside bushes wider and the road narrower. Fine if your a small unit but we're 3.3m tall!

Our allocated 8.5 metre Motorhome only pitch!

On arrival at our pre-booked pitch it was evident we would be unable to access the pitch. The over-hanging trees were down to windscreen height, the pitch hedgerows were overgrown and the pitch was probably only 6m in total length. To say it was hard standing would be a bit misleading!

Ground conditions in the middle of August leave a lot to be desired.

Only the smallest of campers would have been able to access this pitch and to be honest it would not be much fun as all under-foot was sodden and boggy. A trip back to reception was made to ask if there were any alternate pitches available.

What seemed to be a straight forward task turned into a bit of a nightmare and every alternate pitch we were offered was either still too small or occupied. Several pitches we identified on our walk round the site as being passible were dismissed by the reception staff as either for caravan's only or pre-booked pitches not available.

Eventually, we managed to settle on a pitch that was ideal for us but probably less so for the people who had pre-booked it and were now faced with eviction upon their arrival!

Happily settled on our new pitch

  

Our new pitch was located in the paddock almost opposite the cafe and reception area. Nice location, but due to cars parked where they shouldn't, it involved us reversing into the paddock area and then pulling forward into our pitch.

Once parked and levelled it was apparent that electric hook-up points are on the scarce side; with only two for the entire paddock (10 pitches). I would hazard a guess that more than half the pitches would require an electric cable in excess of 25m. Thankfully, we carry a 25m and 10m cable so we had just enough to get us to our nearest electric point.

The general feel of the campsite is that it is very unkempt, wet, overgrown and certainly looking past it's best. Each pitch appeared to have some form of dividing hedge that clearly had not been cut the entire season to date (this was late August). 

The Campsite Cafe / Restaurant - The only cut hedge on site!

We were located just across the road from the shower and toilet facilities which consisted of separate toilets blocks and shower blocks. The gents toilet block was passible but her ladyship said the female ones were disgusting with the toilets not even fixed to the floor properly. 

My frustration with the site was pushed even further to the limit when I went for my morning shower at around 8am to find the facilities closed for jet washing and cleaning! Why would they clean the showers first thing in the morning when everyone wants to use them! Needless to say it was a trek down the road to the next available facilities which were very poor to say the least.

There is free WiFi on the site and as we were close to reception the signal was pretty good. If you're located further away I'd suggest that the service may not be so good due to the amount of vegetation growing!

Once off-site the area is very nice. There is a popular beach area close-by with swimming lake and cafe. Cycling is easy and the town of Ghent is not too far away.

Once in Ghent it is clear to see where the appeal lies. It is a very pretty medieval city and certainly well worth the visit. I would suggest it is a nicer location than Bruges and certainly seems less touristy.

So, in conclusion Camping Blaarmeersen, is a dirty, unkempt campsite that obviously relies upon its lack of competition for campers wanting to see Ghent. Cannot recommend this site.....but if needs must Ghent is well worth it!