July 9, 2024
Great news for all camping fans! In a pilot project, the Swiss Federal Railways SBB is making selected Park&Rail parking areas available for campers . Campers can drive to the mostly very centrally located parking spaces around the clock and spend a safe and undisturbed night. The overnight price is CHF 15 plus tourist tax.
The availability of parking spaces is displayed live in the Parkn'Sleep app, similar to the apps for charging stations for electric vehicles. This not only avoids unnecessary driving around in centers around train stations, but also provides a certain degree of planning security despite spontaneous travel behavior. No reservations can be made at Parkn'Sleep pitches, which also reflects the pitch philosophy of the Swiss camping start-up.
The start-up, which has been awarded Switzerland's top tourism prize, has been transforming simple parking spaces into areas for motorhomes that can be used for tourism since 2021. Municipalities often have the problem that free-standing campers are not perceived as guests. With Parkn'Sleep, precisely these areas can be managed with a digital payment system. The host does not have to be on site himself. A sign on site signals the overnight pitch and arriving campers "check in" themselves on site. In addition to the pitch price, the tourist tax is also assessed and paid directly to the local municipality.
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With almost 9,000 pitches in 23 European countries, Parkn'Sleep has become the largest digital campsite in Europe in just 3 years. Already 50,000 active app users are spontaneously traveling through Europe and enjoying the regained freedom of "no reservations". The app also has a reach of almost two million campers via partner directories such as Camping-App.eu and Wohnmobilland Schweiz.
Seats can be filtered according to your own travel behavior and needs and displayed in the search. With SBB, the seats are completely self-sufficient. In other words, you should have everything with you, such as an onboard toilet, sufficient electricity and food on board. On Camp & Rail sites, only "parking behavior" is permitted, i.e. spending the night in the camper is allowed - camping chairs and barbecue out? No way!
These rules of conduct make parking spaces usable even in densely populated areas and centers and make them compatible for all parties involved and residents.
The recent partnership between Parkn'Sleep and SBB is proving to be a promising and innovative project that offers numerous benefits to both travelers and SBB. One major advantage for travelers is the often very good and central location of Swiss train stations. You can arrive late in the evening and have a good starting point for possible excursions in the morning.
Foreign tourists in particular are thus offered the opportunity to park their vehicles and discover the regions and valleys by train, mountain railroad and boat.
The pilot phase will run throughout the summer and we hope that the offer will be well received by campers and SBB and that it can be expanded further. Would you also like to stay overnight on a Camp & Rail? Click here for the pitches:
Campn'Rail Neuhausen am Rheinfall
You can now become a co-owner of Parkn'Sleep by buying digital shares in our company.
You can find out how to do this here:
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