Latvia is the camping capital of the Baltic states

As the weather improves and days get longer, the camping and caravanning season kicks off. In 2025, nights spent at camping grounds, recreational vehicle (RV) parks and trailer parks in the EU reached 413 million, according to Eurostat figures published on April 2nd. 

While camping and caravanning accounted for just 13.4% of all tourist accommodation nights in 2025, their popularity has steadily climbed over the past decade. Compared with 2015, nights spent at these outdoor areas increased by 28.5%, while nights spent at hotels, holidays or other short-stay accommodation went up by 23.4%.

👁 Nights spent at camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks in the EU, 2015 and 2025 (monthly number, millions). Line chart. Link to full dataset below.

Data shows that in 2025, 67.0% (277 million nights) of all nights spent at these accommodations were concentrated in the summer months, between June and August. The numbers started increasing in March, peaked in August with 118 million nights spent, and then decreased to 40 million in September and 15 million in October, ending the year with almost 5 million nights in December.

Camping and caravanning were the most popular in France, where 154 million nights were spent at campsites and caravan parks, representing 37.2% of nights spent at these accommodations across the EU. 

👁 Top 10 EU countries with the most nights spent in camping and caravanning, 2025 (absolute numbers). Bar chart. Link to full dataset below.

Nights spent at campsites and caravan parks were also high in Spain (49.8 million), Italy (49.1 million) and Germany (45.0 million). The number of nights spent in the remaining top 10 EU countries varied between 26.8 million in the Netherlands and 7.1 million in Portugal. 

Interestingly, delving into the data suggests Latvia is the camp capital of the Baltic states. By far the most popular months for camping – not surprising given the relatively short summer season – were June (30 000 nights), July (62 000 nights) and August (50 000 nights). The rest of the year is more modest, but even in the coldest months more than 1 000 nights per month were recorded.

In addition it should be noted that 'wild' camping in Latvia's state-owned forests is also a popular activity and such informal stays will not be recorded in the Eurostat data.

In all nearly 174 000 nights in campsites and caravan parks were recorded in Latvia – more than in Lithuania and Estonia.