# free parking/wild camping



## phil-hazel (Apr 3, 2009)

Hi All,

Is there anyone out there with practical experience in wild camping or free parking in and around Europe?

I'm planing a prolonged stay in Europe next year when I take early retirement. I am wondering how practical wild camping/ free parking actually is? How hard is it to find places where you can do this without upsetting anyone?

It appears, from my enquires, it's going to cost me something like £100 a week to use sites, allowing for discounts etc. If I could wild camp a couple nights a week that would make quite a big monthly saving.

Phil & Hazel


----------



## griffly16 (Jul 6, 2006)

Well I'm sure you'll get many replies on this topic.

France - Aires - free to a few euro a night
Germany - Stellplatz - same.
No experience of Spain/Italy but someone will come along soon and explain.

There are many sites (this one included) with much information on this. Just google 

Griff


----------



## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi Phil & Hazel,

some time ago I had put together wild camping FAQs about Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Apart from a few exceptions, in most European countries "wild camping" is forbidden, while "overnight parking" is not. The threshold between the two is usually drawn if you:

stay for more than one night
put down corner steadies etc.
roll out an awning
put out items such as camping furniture, BBQs, tents, etc.
run a generator.

As a rule of thumb: If you stay for more than one night on the same spot, and if you could drive away at any time without leaving the vehicle, then you are just parking.

Some short country-specific info:

Austria:
Similar to Germany (see FAQ above), with one notable exception: The federal state of Tyrol maintains a very strict ban on overnighting in all kinds of "mobile dwellings" outside of regular camp sites. And enforces it even on private ground!

Belgium:
Wild camping is forbidden. Overnight parking is tolerated, except where bans are explicitly signposted.

Denmark:
Wild camping is forbidden. Overnight parking is forbidden on beaches, and where it is explicitly signposted. Police strictly distinguishes between wild camping and overnight parking.

France:
Wild camping is allowed out-of-town, except in certain areas like nature reserves, water protection areas, military areas, or close to listed monuments. In towns it is usually "regulated" by the local authorities, meaning that it is restricted to certain areas like Camping Municipals or Aire Camping-Cars.

Luxembourg:
Both wild camping and overnight parking are forbidden. There are however a few "aires" like in France.

Netherlands:
Wild camping is forbidden. Overnight parking is (since 2008) normally legal, but local councils may ban it on their territory. It is seen as sufficient if signs with notifications about such local bans are placed at the border of the municipality.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


----------



## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

As above 

Germany, Italy, France all equal in friendliness and facilities.

Our website has details of our last few longish trips (200+ days total) around Europe and shows how many nights have been on sites/wild/aires along with the costs (look on trip summary). This may be of use to to you.

For instance, 7 week trip around Italy: Wild 14 nights 0.00 € Aires (or equiv) 22 nights 19.00 € ACSI Site 1 night at 16.00 € Camping Cheque Site 9 at 117.00 € Other sites 2 at 40.00 - so total 192 euros ( £180?) for 49 nights.

Hope this is useful.


----------



## hblewett (Jan 28, 2008)

We have friends who spent much of last winter in Spain. Contrary to what is often said, they had no problem wildcamping, but there are areas where it is specifically forbidden, and you won't be popular if you do it in popular holiday areas, especially as the weather improves. 

There have also been comments on here about problems in South of France in very popular areas, but it is common sense really that it will be discouraged in at times and in places where too many people will flock.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

We did three months last summer mainly in France but also in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. We spent two nights in three months on one campsite in the Loire valley and that was only because I went and bought an ACSI card and though I should use it to see what a Euro site was like otherwise I wouldnt have bothered. If your going to stay in France I would say you could full time and camp free all the time with very little effort. Wildcamping in France is dead easy. We found the Black Forest and Italian lakes a little harder and ended up stopping on Aires (or whatever they call them there) for 6-12 Euros per night. We were however in the height of the season by then and in touristy areas. 

A good idea if your wild camping is to download all the Aires in Europe to you sat nav. Then when you need to top up water or empty the loo just ask it to take you to the nearest Aire which in France will nearly always be less than 30 min away. Just pull in fill up and empty and drive off! 

Dont waste your money on campsites. You dont need to.


----------



## DocHoliday (Jul 18, 2008)

I fulltime and wildcamp 95% of the time. The most difficult country I've encountered in the last year is the UK! As for the others:

France - no problem, but there are so many free aires, just use them
Spain - no problem, except in national parks and some sections of the coast
Portugal - no problem
Italy - no problem and quite a lot of free sostas (aires)
Greece - no problem, except near the Bulgarian border
Turkey - no problem, except near Jandarma posts

Go for it - I've saved a fortune!


----------



## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

There's also the France Passion scheme and the equivalent Italian and Spanish schemes (neither of which are as big). Cost you a joining fee of £20 ish each but allow you a night free on any listed property (space permitting).

JohnW


----------

