ADAC route planner and Camperada compared
The ADAC plans a route with its costs, Camperada a trip across days and nights. And: entering your own vehicle dimensions requires a member login at the ADAC, not at Camperada.
The ADAC route planner is widespread among motorhome travellers, and for good reason: it calculates routes for motorhomes and rigs taking height, width, length and weight into account, shows campsites along the way, calculates tolls, vignettes and fuel costs, and brings editorially checked content no one-person project can rebuild. The difference lies elsewhere.
A route is not yet a trip
The ADAC answers the question of how you get from A to B and what that costs. A motorhome tour asks a different question: how does the distance spread across days? Where does day three end? How many nights will it be in total, and on which date am I where? Exactly that is what Camperada builds its plan from: the driving time you allow yourself per day, the nights per stop and the departure date. If a stage takes longer than your day, a night on the way is scheduled, located and backed with sites nearby.
The dimensions behind the login
The route calculation is accessible without signing in. But whoever wants to enter the exact dimensions of their motorhome or rig, so the route actually respects them, has to log in as an ADAC member, as the ADAC states itself. Precisely the feature that separates a motorhome route planner from an ordinary one is thereby tied to membership.
For members that is no issue. If you have no membership, or do not want to take one out for a route planner, you plan with the default dimensions ADAC Maps states for motorhomes: 3.2 metres high, 2.5 metres wide, 7 metres long and up to 3.5 tonnes. With a 3.30-metre-tall vehicle, that is a difference you feel on the road.
What both deliver
| Question | ADAC route planner | Camperada |
|---|---|---|
| Your own vehicle dimensions | Possible, but only after logging in as an ADAC member. | Without an account and without membership, right on the first visit. |
| Restriction check | The route is calculated based on the dimensions; a separate list of checked restrictions is not indicated. | In addition to the calculation, the finished route is checked against height, width and weight limits from OpenStreetMap and every finding is named individually. |
| Sites | Shows campsites on the map, plus the ADAC camping guide with its own classification. Clearly ahead here. | Sites from OpenStreetMap with facilities and address, without ratings and without prices. |
| Trip planning across days | Built around the route, with intermediate destinations. | Driving hours per day, nights per stop and a departure date produce dated travel days, scheduled nights on the way and the site search for them. |
| Taking the route with you | Save the route and use it in the ADAC Drive app; the help pages do not mention a GPX export. | GPX 1.1 with waypoints and track, for Garmin, OsmAnd and many other sat navs. |
| Costs | Fuel prices at filling stations and calculated tolls as part of the offering. | Fuel costs from consumption and the prices of the countries crossed, with refuelling stops; tolls split into fixed amounts and estimated ranges. |
| Cost of use | Basic features free, motorhome dimensions with membership. | Entirely free, no ad banners, no premium tier; labelled partner links to camping.info, Eurocampings and PiNCAMP (ADAC). |
Details on the ADAC route planner as of October 2026. Sources: maps.adac.de (home page and FAQ) and adac.de (corporate news “ADAC Maps: Routenplaner mit Reiseführer”, 9 October 2025).
Who each one suits
The ADAC fits better if you are a member anyway, value inspected site ratings and want breakdown assistance, congestion forecasts and trip planning from one house. The editorial work behind it is real substance and nothing that could be rebuilt.
Camperada fits better if you want to plan with your real dimensions without a membership, if the split of the trip into days and nights interests you more than the bare route, or if you want to take the route as GPX onto a device of your own.
The two do not exclude each other. Planning where no login is needed, and securing the choice of site with inspected ratings, is a perfectly sensible division of labour. How Camperada handles dimensions and restrictions is under vehicle dimensions and restrictions.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the ADAC route planner free?
- The route planning itself can be used without signing in; the ADAC says so itself on maps.adac.de. For entering your own motorhome dimensions, however, it requires a member login by its own account. Membership costs an annual fee depending on the tier.
- Do I need ADAC membership for motorhome route planning?
- For planning with your vehicle’s exact dimensions, yes. Camperada requires neither membership nor an account for that: height, width, length and weight can be entered on your first visit.
- What can the ADAC do that Camperada cannot?
- The ADAC brings editorially checked content: campsites rated through its own inspections, congestion forecasts, fuel prices and breakdown assistance under the same roof. That editorial depth and the reliability of a large organisation is nothing a one-person project can replace.
- Can I use both together?
- Yes, and for many that is the most sensible option: plan the route with stages, costs and GPX export in Camperada, and draw on the ADAC’s inspected site ratings when choosing where to stay.
Comparing for yourself is the most honest way
Camperada needs neither sign-up nor installation. Entering two stops is enough to see whether it fits the way you travel.
Details on ADAC Routenplaner checked on 28 October 2026