# Wild Camping in Belgium and Holland



## JohnDough

I am hoping to visit this area next month and would be interested in other MHs experiences in these areas.

Are there any aires there,the respective tourism web sites are a disgrace with very if at all mention of campsites.

What are the charges etc. as funds are quite low with us goldies!!!


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## Grizzly

These are 2 sites that might be useful John.

The first has sites in Holland and the second is a link to the Camping Cars Aires de Service book which has a list of Belgian ( and other European) sites as well as being the "Bible" for french aires.

http://www.camperplus.info/

http://www.campingfrance.com/campingenfrance.jsp?idPage=61

Have you tried the various local tourist offices in Dutch or Belgian towns you plan to visit ? I find that an e-mail to such towns usually floods you with useful information by return.

G


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## TonyHunt

Wild camp in Holland and your liable to get arrested. They take a very dim view apparently if you are not on a proper campsite. I have a lot of dutch friends who say you cant even park overnight in a friends garden or driveway without running the risk of attracting attention from the special police assigned to curbing illegal camping. Im told fines can be very heavy. Wouldnt have thought Belgium would be a problem. Campsites in Holland are quite plentiful but tend to be very busy near the coasts. Some parts are very popular with the Germans especially around Zeeland in the south.


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## Boff

Hi JD,

you won't get arrested in Holland, but you will be fined. Heavily. However, though I have carefully studied the law which regulates camping activities I have found no hint that an odd night in the garden or the driveway of friends or relatives is an issue. As long as this driveway is clearly separated from the public road and overnighting does not become a commercial activity.

And, by the way, this whole law ("Wet van de Openluchtrecreatie") becomes obsolete until 2008.

There is however a growing number of official stopover sites in Holland. Besides the links that Grizzly has already mentioned I want to point out www.campercontact.nl. Not only is this site very well kept and updated regularily, but they also provide the option to download site lists and maps in PDF format. And they are probably the most comprehensive site for Belgium as well.

In Belgium it is no problem to spend a night, unless local signs restrict this. Especially along the coast line these signs can be found frequently, and at least in summer season they will also be enforced. But in the rest of the country we have never faced any problem.

By the way, in both countries it is officially allowed to spend up to 24 hours on motorway service stations, but as you probably know I never recommend this for security reasons.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## Tucano

*Aires "Bible"*

Hello All,
Very interested in buying a copy of this book as mentioned by Grizzly, daft question really, but is it in French !
Like a few others I am also ex-RAF, serving time at the moment in Saudi Arabia, plenty of sunshine and ~~~~~~~~~~
Regards, Norman 8)


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## Grizzly

They are in French Norman and I don't think there is an English version. They are easy to use as many of the entries are symbols . It takes a bit of getting used to to work out the various departments and regions but once you've got the hang of it it is very useful.

Nuke is selling them:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-14241.html

(Thread below: Aires Guides have arrived ready for despatch)

See also;

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Aires

a useful guide to aires and this book on this site. Gives useful translations too.

We find the section telling you where to park in cities and towns very useful - saves lots of driving in built-up areas !

G


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## JohnDough

Many thanks guyz some great info there.
Good forum this 'innit.


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## 101819

We have wild camped in 2005 in Belgium and Netherlands. From what I have seen, the park places near the gas stations look quite safe, and I haven´t even had a glimpse of belgium police! In NED it was different because we stayed on the station near Aachen! About 1km from the border!
Places in Belgium look a bit sinister, without lights on the stations,
so you´re taking your own risks..


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## ruthiebabe

We have just been to belgium and did a bit of homework on this (I won't comment on Holland except to say that I know it's frowned upon generally). Gerhard's comments are spot on of ciourse, it seems tolerated unless expressly prohibited if that makes sense. 

I would say this: emailing toursist offices got me no useful response but phoning or calling in did, i.e. they told me where we could stay overnight.


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