# Off Grid Camping Information



## bevsmith (Sep 10, 2017)

Hi all, apologies if this has been discussed before but I am really new to all of this and am looking for help and advice.

My husband and I recently bought an Auto Trail Motorhome, which we love to bit! and did our first European trip a few weeks ago. We found lots of places were you can camp for free which is amazing, but I was wondering how people deal with there chemical waste if there are no facilities and also where do you get water from?

Any help, hints and tips would be really appreciated.

We are looking to do a winter trip which is likely to feature a lot more "off grid/wild" camping as we may be in more remote areas, so this will be more of a concern for us.

Thanks
Bev


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

A warm welcome Bev.
If you post the same question in two places life will get complicated.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Welcome Bev

You may already have found Aires, in France, Stellplatz in Germany etc. The All the Aires books are available for these countries and Belgium, Netherlands and Spain/Portugal. There are online sources of info, some of which include Aires and other parking for motorhomes not listed in the books.

The online sites are

campingcar-infos.com

sarchforsites.co.uk

park4night

campercontact

Some or all of these have offline downloads available, usually for a fee, but I do not know details as we can always access internet.

Hope this helps.

Geoff


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## Lesleykh (Apr 13, 2009)

Hi and welcome,

https://www.wildcamping.co.uk/ have a good map of places to camp, get water etc.

There are campsite where you can drop your waste for a charge. We cope with it by using an aire or stellplatz every few days abroad or a cheap certificted site of the Camping and Caravanning Club here in the UK.

Lesley


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Your never stuck for a place to empty or fill in most of western Europe. France, italy and Germany are crawling with Aires.

Having said that for water, cemeteries, marinas, toilets, Laveries (in France), petrol stations are usually a good source of water and although they are getting scarce public loos are ok to empty a cassette unless it states otherwise.


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Whether Europe or UK id the weather is cold some water supplies may be switched off. Especially Belgium and holland
Planning is the key as is up to date info on open aires/stellplatz. Get a good aires book and this will tell you which aires have water/waste. Most of them have waste of some sort. All uk official camp sites must have water and chemical loo waste so if they are open they have it.

You can increase your range by dumping unwanted stuff like camping chairs and non essential items and carrying extra water. Also consider getting an extra waste tank for the loo.

Ironically i think its wee wees that fill toilets and so keeping these to a minimum by going in public toilets or wherever :wink2: will also make things better. Dont bother putting water into a freshly emptied loo as this will just reduce the time between fills a bit and it will naturally fill anyway if you know what i mean.

We kept a 10L tank for tea and coffee and only used the main tank for washing and washing up. and this would last a week easily.


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## Garcia (Mar 5, 2010)

As stated above, in Europe you'll be fine....UK is not so easy....
There are Britstops in U.K. And there's usually no OBLIGATION to buy anything, though when it's a pub, most will surely have a beer or a wine. In France there are also the France Passion Aires on vineyards and farms. Do remember that Aires and stellplatz do mostly charge a small fee, though cheaper than camp sites (usually...tho we noticed in France this year the growing no. of rather expensive, unmanned, private Aires that need to be paid by card!!!many local councils selling off their old municipal facilities...)

Remember that many motorway services in France, Spain and Portugal have waste facilities, tho it is usually NOT recommended to stay overnight on these, partic in Spain.
Carrying a spare toilet cassette can double the number of days wilding, as does getting the habit of using facilities in cafes and bars whenever you can, rather than your own.
In addition we used to mark spots on a map that we'd overnighted.....certainly coming back to UK when we lived in France we would never use a site. We had a list of places up and down where we'd stayed....village car parks where there was a bar and / or a pizzeria , town centres we liked ,.....wherever.
We never got moved on , but then never overstayed our welcome. Few people object to a camper for a night or two if you don't abuse the place you are stopping.
General rule....if you don't like the feel of the place....move on / don't go back. You'll get to know places you like and can stop safely for free....Rumours of attack on wild campervan era are greatly exaggerated ....though they do happen, so you must be sensible and careful...
Garcia


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well it is indeed we wees

If you are male not a problem, you can pee up trees and in Europe why not , every one does and not discreetly 

For us the female of the species not that easy 

So I have a bowl that I put in the toilet 

And empty it in the bushes

Same as the males, but a few minutes behind them 

Sandra


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