Good campsite directions are one of the cheapest ways to improve a guest's stay, and one of the most neglected. Sat navs are brilliant until they send a 7 metre motorhome down a single track lane with a ford at the end of it. I have heard that story more than once, and the guest rarely arrives in a good mood.

If your site is tucked away in the countryside, as most are, it is worth spending an hour getting this right. Here is how I would do it.

Why sat navs get campsites wrong

A standard sat nav is built for cars. It picks the shortest or quickest route, not the one that suits a caravan or a tall motorhome. Add a rural postcode that covers half a village and you have a recipe for confusion.

The usual problems are:

None of this is your fault, but it is your problem. A guest who has been lost for forty minutes does not remember that you have lovely pitches.

Give guests a route, not just a postcode

Do not rely on the postcode alone. Give guests three things: the postcode, a what3words reference or latitude and longitude for the entrance, and a short written route from the nearest main road.

The written route is the bit that matters. Keep it plain and use landmarks people can actually see.

Test it yourself, or better still, ask a friend who has never been to follow your instructions cold. You will be amazed what they get stuck on.

Warn about unsuitable roads honestly

If the quickest route is a bad one for towing, say so. Guests will thank you for it. Tell them which approach to avoid and which to use, and be specific about height and width restrictions.

Say it before they leave home

Put the warning in your booking confirmation and again in a message a few days before arrival. A note on your website helps too, because many guests look at the location page while they are still deciding.

If you take motorhomes and larger outfits, include a clear note on maximum length and the gradient of your drive. Our guide to setting up a campsite for motorhomes has more on what bigger vehicles need once they are on site.

Make your entrance impossible to miss

Even with perfect directions, guests still need to spot the turn. A good entrance sign, visible from both directions and readable at speed, saves a lot of reversing. Think about lighting for guests arriving in winter dusk too.

Once guests are through the gate, they need to know where to go. Clear arrows to reception or the check in point stop people wandering across your pitches. Our campsite signage guide covers what to put where, and it is worth reading alongside this one.

Add photos and a simple map

Words only go so far. A handful of photos on your directions page makes a real difference: the turn off the main road, the entrance sign, the gate and the first stretch of drive. Guests can match what they see through the windscreen against what you showed them, and that reassurance is worth a lot when the lane gets narrow.

A simple map helps as well. It does not need to be fancy. A screenshot with your entrance marked, the recommended approach drawn in and any no go roads crossed out is enough. Save it as an image or PDF so guests can open it offline, because signal can vanish exactly where you need it.

Check your online listings

While you are at it, check the pin on Google Maps and any directory listings. If the pin sits in the middle of a field or on the wrong lane, guests will follow it faithfully. Our guide to a Google Business Profile for campsites shows how to fix the location and add useful photos.

Think about arrival time and the last mile

The last mile is where most problems happen, so picture it from a guest's seat. Is there somewhere to pull over safely if they need to check the route? Can a long outfit turn round if they miss the entrance? If the answer is no, say so in your directions and suggest where to stop.

Arrival time matters too. Guests who arrive in daylight cope with a tricky lane far better than those who arrive at 10pm in the rain. If your approach is difficult, gently encourage daytime arrival and tell people what to do if they are running late.

Plan for late and lost arrivals

Some guests will still get lost. Make it easy for them to tell you. Put a mobile number on every message and on a sign at the entrance, and make sure it is answered during arrival hours.

It also helps to have a plan for people who arrive after dark or after you have gone home. Our guide to handling late arrivals shows how to keep it calm for everyone, and a self check in setup can make the whole thing painless.

Send directions automatically

The best directions in the world are useless if guests never see them. The simplest fix is to send them automatically, so nothing depends on you remembering.

A good rhythm looks like this:

With CampSuite guest communications, these messages go out on a schedule you set once, with the right details pulled in for each booking. Our post on automated guest emails explains how to set that up. If you want to see how arrivals work on the day, the check in features are worth a look too.

One more tip. Keep a note of every time a guest tells you they got lost, and where. After a season you will see the same two or three trouble spots come up again and again, and each one tells you exactly what to add to your directions.

The takeaway

Do not trust the sat nav to get guests to your gate. Give them a postcode, a precise location and a written route with landmarks. Warn them about unsuitable roads, make the entrance obvious, and send it all automatically before they travel.

Do that and the first thing guests say when they arrive will be "found you easily", rather than a story about a ford. If you would like these messages to go out without you lifting a finger, start with CampSuite for free. It takes about 15 minutes to set up, and you can see how the plans work on the pricing page.

Rob