Blog · Planning · Aug 24, 2026

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.

FreeCampMaps Team Editorial team · 3 min read 7 sources cited

Switzerland has no national rule on spending the night in a motorhome. Federal law regulates where you may park a vehicle. Whether you may camp there is written by the canton, and in practice often by the commune, which is why the answer changes when you cross a cantonal border and why no single sentence covers the country.

What federal law covers, and what it leaves alone

The Strassenverkehrsgesetz (SVG, SR 741.01) says at Art. 37 para. 2 that vehicles must not be stopped or parked where they could obstruct or endanger traffic, and should be put in parking areas where possible. The Verkehrsregelnverordnung (VRV, SR 741.11) fills in the detail. Art. 19 defines parking as leaving a vehicle for anything other than dropping people or goods, then lists where it is forbidden. Two of those entries catch motorhome drivers: parking on main roads outside built-up areas is banned outright, and so is parking in front of the entrance to somebody else’s building or land.

Neither text uses the words camping, motorhome or overnight. Verified on Fedlex on 24 August 2026. Legally parked stays legally parked at midnight. What federal traffic law does not do is tell you whether that spot is a place you may camp.

The cantons write that part, and they disagree

Obwalden puts both halves in one short statute. Its Gesetz über das Campieren (GDB 971.4, in force since 1 March 2015) says at Art. 6 that putting up tents, caravans or motorhomes to camp outside an authorized campsite is not permitted. Art. 8 then allows a single overnight stay, with no permit at all, outside an authorized campsite, as long as no public or private interests are affected. It adds that you do it at your own risk. That is the one night stop, written into cantonal law.

Ticino goes the other way. Its Legge sui campeggi (943.100, 26 January 2004) says at Art. 2 that you may camp only in areas authorized for camping, and allows exactly one exception: pitching a tent to bivouac in the mountains. Art. 3 defines camping as stopping and staying overnight away from home using mobile installations, and names motorhomes in that definition, so the vehicle is not a way around it. Art. 27 lets the Municipio fine a breach from 50 to 10,000 francs. Verified on 24 August 2026.

Most cantons sit somewhere between those two and many hand the decision to the communes. That is the practical reason a sign at a car park entrance is worth more than any list, ours included: the sign and the current word from the Gemeinde or Municipio beat this page.

Parked or camping is the line that decides it

Where a canton distinguishes the two, the distinction is visible from outside. A motorhome standing in a legal space with the door shut is parked. Chairs, a table, an awning out, levelling ramps under the wheels, and it reads as camping to anybody who comes to look. Keep everything inside, arrive late, leave early, and you will rarely have a conversation about it.

Two places where the answer is already no. In the federal game reserves, Art. 5 para. 1 let. e of the Verordnung über die eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebiete (SR 922.31) bans free pitching and camping outright, with official campsites excepted. The boundaries are on the federal map viewer at map.geo.admin.ch, worth a look before an alpine night. And on the motorway network, federal law describes rest areas without ever saying whether you may sleep at one, so the entrance sign and any posted time limit are the whole rule.

Before the border

Buy the vignette. It is 40 francs, valid from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following one, and it covers motor vehicles and trailers that are not subject to the heavy vehicle charge, so a towed caravan needs its own. A motorhome is on the vignette up to 3.5 tonnes. Over that it pays the pauschale Schwerverkehrsabgabe instead, worked out from weight and period, which is a real cost worth pricing before you plan a route across the country. Swiss tolls are also a different animal from the French and Italian per kilometre systems.

Then plan the nights properly. Campsites and the Stellplätze that Swiss communes and campsites run are the reliable answer, and asking the Gemeinde is quicker than reading three forums. For the rest of the trip, the planning hub collects what we have verified, and Austria next door answers the same question differently again.

Sources

When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.

Frequently asked

The questions people actually ask.

Is it legal to sleep in a motorhome in Switzerland?

There is no national answer. Federal road law regulates where you may park, not whether you may sleep: the Strassenverkehrsgesetz (SR 741.01) and the Verkehrsregelnverordnung (SR 741.11) never mention camping, motorhomes or overnight stays. Camping outside a campsite is regulated by the cantons and in practice by the communes, so the rule changes when you cross a cantonal border. Verified against both federal texts on fedlex.admin.ch on 24 August 2026.

Which cantons allow a one night stop?

Obwalden writes it into law. Its Gesetz über das Campieren (GDB 971.4, in force 1 March 2015) forbids camping outside authorized campsites in Art. 6, then allows a single overnight stay without any permit in Art. 8, provided no public or private interests are affected and at your own risk. Ticino is the opposite: its Legge sui campeggi (943.100) allows camping only in authorized areas, with an exception only for pitching a tent to bivouac in the mountains. Do not carry one canton's rule into the next.

Can I stay overnight at a Swiss motorway rest area?

Nothing in federal law says yes or no. The Nationalstrassenverordnung (SR 725.111) defines Raststätten as service areas with catering and accommodation businesses and Rastplätze as smaller rest areas where ASTRA licenses kiosks and charging points, and neither article covers sleeping. That leaves the posted sign and any marked parking limit as the rule, so read the entrance before you settle in and have a checked stop in reserve.

Where is camping banned across the whole country?

In the federal game reserves. Art. 5 para. 1 let. e of the Verordnung über die eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebiete (SR 922.31, status 1 February 2025) bans free pitching and camping in them outright, with official campsites excepted and cantons able to grant exceptions. The reserve boundaries are on the federal map viewer at map.geo.admin.ch.

Do I need a vignette, and does my caravan need its own?

Yes to both. The Nationalstrassenabgabe covers motor vehicles and trailers not subject to the heavy vehicle charge, so a towed caravan is charged separately. It costs 40 francs and runs from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following one. A motorhome pays the vignette up to 3.5 tonnes; above 3.5 tonnes it pays the pauschale Schwerverkehrsabgabe instead, calculated on weight and period. Verified on the BAZG pages on 24 August 2026.

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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. 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. 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.