Field notes, weekly.
Short pieces from the desk. Rule changes, closures, first-timer mistakes and seasonal notes. Cited where a claim needs a source, dated always.
Featured · Rules
Featured · Sep 16, 2026 · 3 min
Wild camping in Belgium: banned, and the bivouac zones that are not Belgium lets you sleep out in one place only: a bivouac area someone officially designated. Here are Wallonia's aires de bivouac and Flanders' bivakzones, the rules at each, the fine the Walloon forest code sets for everywhere else, and why none of it works for a motorhome. Read 
Rules · 3 min Wild Camping in the Czech Republic: What the Law Actually Bans There is no single nationwide ban, but the forest act and the nature protection act between them cover almost anywhere you would sleep. Here is what the paragraphs say, where a bivouac ends, and what that leaves a motorhome. Sep 15, 2026 FreeCampMaps Team 
Aires · 4 min Loire Valley motorhome aires: where to sleep at each château Chambord forbids overnight stays in its car park and charges 15 euros per 24 hours to park a motorhome there. Every other headline château on the corridor has an aire within 2 km, and the ones at Cheillé and Sully-sur-Loire are free. Sep 6, 2026 FreeCampMaps Team 
Rules · 3 min Wild camping in the Netherlands: banned, and what is actually legal Wild camping is not allowed anywhere in the Netherlands, and the free Staatsbosbeheer pole-camping sites that half the internet still recommends were dismantled in 2020. Here is what the municipal APV forbids, the free legal pitches that remain, and why none of it works for a motorhome. Sep 5, 2026 FreeCampMaps Team Older · 40 more
Sep 4, '26 Hauts-de-France motorhome aires: the coast is paid, the free ones are inland Ten to 15 euros a night between Le Touquet and the Baie de Somme, and Cucq bans motorhomes on its seafront from March to October. The free municipal aires are an hour east, and one of them has no water this year. Aires 4 min Sep 3, '26 Denmark by motorhome: where you can sleep, and what the bridges cost Sleeping in a motorhome in Denmark is a parking question, not a camping one. What a kommune can restrict and how it has to tell you, why the free shelters never reach you in a vehicle, and the 2026 Storebaelt and Oresund prices. Planning 4 min Sep 2, '26 Danish shelters: which ones you book, which take walk-ups, and what is at the site Denmark's free wooden shelters split almost evenly between bookable and first come, first served. The two booking deadlines that cancel your night, what Naturstyrelsen puts at a site, and why none of it reaches you in a vehicle. Europe 4 min Sep 1, '26 Wild camping in Poland: the state forest zones where it is allowed Poland bans camping in the forest outside designated places, then designates a lot of them. The state forest service runs a free program called Zanocuj w lesie covering over 600,000 hectares in 425 forest districts. Here is what it permits, and why your motorhome stays at the car park. Rules 4 min Aug 27, '26 Motorhome aires in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: where the free ones are, and what the borne costs Parking is free at most of them and the service point is not: 2 euros at Neussargues, 4 euros for water at Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. The free aires sit in the lowlands and on the valley floors, and winter shuts the tap before it shuts the bay. Aires 3 min Aug 26, '26 Motorhome in Sweden: where you can park for the night once the right to roam runs out Allemansrätten covers people and tents, not vehicles. What the off-road driving act bans, how long you can stand beside a road or at a Trafikverket rest area, what a ställplats costs in three towns, and what the Øresund Bridge charges a motorhome. Planning 4 min Aug 25, '26 Wild camping in the Peak District: you need the landowner's permission There is no right to wild camp in the Peak District. The National Park Authority says the CROW Act gives no provision for camping on open access land, and that it allows none on the land it owns. Here is what that leaves you, and why a van never qualifies. Rules 4 min Aug 24, '26 Free camping in Latvia: the state forest network is the answer Latvia's state forestry company keeps more than 300 free recreation places in the forests it manages, mapped and open to anybody. The Forest Law lets you walk anywhere in a state forest but keeps vehicles on the roads, and fires are legal only at a built fire place. Europe 3 min Aug 24, '26 Free camping in Lithuania: only at an equipped site, and the map is public Lithuanian forest rules let you stop for the night only at an equipped public recreation object. The state forest enterprise maps more than 1,100 of them, fires are legal only at a built fire ring, and the word stovyklavietė is the one that means you may sleep there. Europe 3 min Aug 24, '26 Where a motorhome can legally spend the night in Switzerland Switzerland has no national rule on sleeping in a motorhome. Federal law regulates parking, the cantons write the camping rule, and they disagree with each other. Obwalden allows one night without a permit, Ticino allows none outside a campsite. Planning 3 min Aug 24, '26 Wild camping in Ireland: there is no right to roam Ireland gives you no legal right of access to private land, so wild camping starts with the landowner. Wicklow's national park publishes a wilderness camping standard, Killarney allows none at all, Coillte allows it in a handful of named places, and no national park car park is open to a motorhome overnight. Rules 3 min Aug 24, '26 Wild camping in Montenegro: banned, and the fine is written into the law Montenegro's tourism law prohibits camping outside land designated for camping, and names the penalty for the camper personally: 200 to 2,000 euros. In the national parks, fires and vehicles are restricted too, and Durmitor lists the localities where a tent is allowed. Rules 3 min Aug 23, '26 Free camping in Estonia: how the RMK state forest network works Estonia's state forest agency RMK runs a network of designated campfire sites, campsites and forest huts that are free of charge, unbookable and first come, first served. What the law allows, what the sites provide, and where a motorhome fits in. Europe 4 min Aug 23, '26 Wild camping in Iceland: the rules for camper vans and tents Sleeping in a camper van, motorhome or caravan outside an organized campsite is illegal in Iceland unless the landowner has agreed to it. That is the Nature Conservation Act, tents get a narrow one-night rule, and the national parks add their own restrictions. Here is what is actually allowed. Rules 3 min Aug 23, '26 Motorhome in Norway: where you can stop overnight when the right to roam stops at the vehicle Allemannsretten covers people on foot and tents, not motorhomes. What the Friluftsloven says about motor vehicles, what Statens vegvesen says about its rest areas, how AutoPASS tolls and ferries work, and a practical plan for the night: campsite, municipal bobilparkering, sign 621. Planning 3 min Aug 23, '26 Wild camping in Finland: what everyman's rights actually allow Finland's jokamiehenoikeudet let you pitch a tent temporarily on most land without asking anyone. They never cover a vehicle: the off-road traffic act requires the landowner's permission to drive, stop or park off the road. Here is what the official guidance says, and the free huts and campsites Metsähallitus runs instead. Rules 3 min Aug 23, '26 Wild camping in Greece: banned nationwide, and what the law actually says Greece bans free camping everywhere. Tents and parked caravans and motorhomes are prohibited on beaches, in archaeological sites and on public land, with a 300 euro fine written into the statute. Here is the current law, verified against the Government Gazette, and the narrow space it leaves a motorhome. Rules 3 min Aug 23, '26 Wild camping in Portugal: what article 50-A actually allows Since August 2021 Portugal's road code lets a motorhome overnight for up to 48 hours in one municipality, outside protected areas and the coastal strip, as long as you sleep and do not camp. Here is the statute text, the fines, and where the line sits. Rules 4 min Aug 23, '26 Wild camping in Slovenia: the law changed in 2026, the answer did not You have no right to wild camp in Slovenia. Triglav National Park bans camping and motorhome parking outside designated areas, off-road parking is illegal under the Nature Conservation Act, and a new public order law from January 2026 fines overnighting in undesignated places at 100 to 500 euros. Rules 3 min Aug 15, '26 Alsace motorhome aires: what the wine route charges, and where the free nights are The wine villages publish their prices and they are real money: 10 euros at Kaysersberg and Riquewihr, 25 at Eguisheim. The free aires sit in three belts around the vineyard, in the Sundgau, the Florival and northern Alsace. Aires 4 min Aug 14, '26 Motorhome packing list for Europe: the legally required kit, country by country A vest, a triangle and a first aid kit cover most of a European trip. The exceptions are what catch people out: a warning lamp over 3.5 tonnes in Germany, Spain's new V-16, and the service kit nobody packs. Vanlife 4 min Aug 13, '26 Planning a motorhome trip to Europe: what to book, and when Book the crossing first, build the route around when the Alpine passes actually open, then do the paperwork. The 2026 pass dates from the Savoie department, the Grossglockner season from its operator, and where EES and ETIAS stand for a spring trip. Planning 4 min Aug 12, '26 Pays de la Loire motorhome aires: what the coast charges, and where the free nights are On the coast the night is paid and often card-only: 13.50 euros at Le Croisic, 9 euros at La Tranche-sur-Mer in high season. Inland and in Anjou the parking is free and the water is the thing that costs. Aires 4 min Aug 11, '26 Wild camping in Austria: what each Bundesland allows Austria has no right to roam. Five federal states ban camping outside campsites, three hand the decision to the Gemeinde, and one has no rule at all. Here is where the line falls, with the source and the date. Rules 4 min Aug 10, '26 Motorhome tolls in Europe: what moves you into a more expensive class France prices you by height, Italy measures at the front axle, Spain goes by weight alone, and Austria uses the mass stamped on the plate rather than the one on your registration. The class rules, from the operators' own tables. Planning 4 min Aug 9, '26 Atlantic coast motorhome aires: what Nouvelle-Aquitaine charges, and where you may not park On the Atlantic coast the aire is the only legal overnight option and it charges, from 15 euros a night at Hendaye. Verified prices, the coastal parking bans, and where the free aires actually are. Aires 4 min Aug 6, '26 Wild camping in Spain: the line between parking and camping Spain has no national wild camping law. What decides your night is a three-part test from the traffic authority, the town's own ordinance, the coastal law, and whichever national park you are standing in. Rules 4 min Aug 5, '26 UK motorhome aires: what exists, and how it differs from France Britain has no national aire network. What it has is a short list of council-run overnight car parks and a certificate scheme for five vans on private land. The prices, the hours and the rules, from the councils that set them. Aires 4 min Aug 4, '26 Occitania motorhome aires: where they are free and where you pay Occitania's free aires sit inland, the Aveyron above all, while the Mediterranean strip and the Pyrenean stations charge by the night. Verified prices, and the two national park cores where sleeping in the vehicle is banned outright. Aires 3 min Aug 3, '26 Normandy motorhome aires: what the coast costs and what the inland ones charge Six council-run aires east of Caen let you park free for 48 hours, with water on a 2 euro token. What the Pays d'Auge charges instead, which aire has been shut since 2023, and the two articles that decide where you may not sleep. Aires 3 min Aug 2, '26 Provence motorhome aires: free inland, paid on the coast, and what closes in summer Forcalquier's municipal aire is free for 48 hours all year. Sainte-Maxime charges 12 euros a day from April through September. What the borne takes, and the two rules that shut whole areas: one day by day from June to September, one all year round. Aires 3 min Aug 2, '26 Wild camping in the Lake District: tolerated, not permitted The Lake District gives you no right to wild camp. The National Park Authority calls it technically not permitted, then sets out the conditions under which landowners tolerate it. Here is what those conditions are, and why a van cannot meet them. Rules 4 min Jul 29, '26 Brittany motorhome aires: how to build a week with the official network 117 free aires are mapped in Brittany, most of their bornes run mid-March to mid-November, and the distances between them are short. What free actually means, what the borne costs, and the two Code de l'urbanisme rules that decide where you may not sleep. Aires 3 min Jul 29, '26 Wild camping in Wales: what the law actually says Wales gives you no right to wild camp. Both national parks state plainly that you need the landowner's permission. Here is what Eryri and Bannau Brycheiniog write, how that differs from Scotland, and where to sleep instead. Rules 4 min Jul 20, '26 Aires etiquette: how not to be the problem The unwritten rules of a municipal motorhome stopover, and the places they are written down. Arrive late, deploy nothing, take one bay, use the drain, and move on. Camp Life 4 min Jul 20, '26 Europe free camping mistakes first-timers make Six assumptions that cost people money or a night's sleep on a first European trip: one European rule, the aire as a campsite, the unbought vignette, the serviceless stopover, portable wild camping law, and August. Europe 5 min Jul 20, '26 Free aires in France: how to find them and how to use the map How to read the French free aires map, what its 2,066 records will and will not tell you, how to narrow it to a region, and the four checks to run before you drive to a pin. Planning 5 min Jul 20, '26 Free aires maps by country: what exists and what does not Which countries you can plan a trip from here, which are pins on the map with no written page, which are not on the map at all, and what to use instead. Europe 4 min Jul 20, '26 When to book nothing: a free camping France itinerary A French route built to work without reservations, because most aires have nothing to reserve. Which regions to string together, when the no-booking plan holds, and the month it stops working. Planning 5 min Jul 20, '26 Scotland NC500 free camping: a reality check Scotland's access rights cover a tent carried on foot, not a campervan. What the route's own official guidance and The Highland Council actually permit, what it costs, and why there is no free overnight network to plan around. Europe 4 minBeats
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