I’ve camped twice in Europe. Both times with a car. I’m not sure about the KOA type campgrounds you are referring to. None of the campsites I stayed in had fire pits. Warnings – don’t expect to chat with a lot of people at most campsites (maybe it was because we had French plates). It was surprising how little people interact at many of the campsites. We were always the only North Americans in the place. Many campsites close at a certain time, usually around midnight, sometimes earlier. We discovered this on our first night camping. We had to leave our car on the street and we “snuck” in and pitched our tent. We paid in the morning, they didn’t seem to have a problem with our late arrival. We never booked ahead and we usually didn’t have an address for our next campsite. Our general plan of attack was to look for the tent sign as we arrived into a city, as most campsites are on the edge of town. When we ere unable to find a campsite, we’d call the local tourist office (one time we called 5 mintues before closing!) and get directions to the local campsite that way. Guidebooks were hit and miss for giving campsites for each city. Let me know if there is anything else you’d like to know.