Blog · Aires · Oct 16, 2026

Motorhome stopovers in Bavaria: what Franconia, the Danube and the Alps charge

Most town-run Stellplätze in Bavaria are free to park, with power and water on a coin meter. What catches people out is the calendar: festivals close sites, winter shuts the water off, and the Alps have almost no free stopovers. Prices from Bayreuth, Marktleuthen, Iphofen, Schwandorf, Passau, Wasserburg and Peiting.

FreeCampMaps Team Editorial team · 4 min read 18 sources cited

Most town-run Stellplätze in Bavaria let you park for free and charge for power and water at a coin meter, if they charge at all. What trips up a Bavarian route is not the price but the calendar: festivals close sites, winter shuts off the water, and the Alps have almost no free stopovers. Every detail below comes from the town’s own page, checked October 16, 2026.

A Stellplatz is a place a Gemeinde, the local municipality, has set aside for motorhomes to park overnight. There are 91 on the map in Bavaria, most of them in Franconia, the Oberpfalz and along the Danube.

Franconia and the Oberpfalz: free to park, coins for power

Here the free Stellplatz is the norm. Carry 1 euro coins.

Marktleuthen in the Fichtelgebirge, An den Egerauen: room for 10 motorhomes on the bank of the Eger, no fee, and the town says the power and the water and disposal are free too.
Bayreuth, Parkplatz Grünewaldstraße: free for up to 72 hours with a Parkscheibe (parking disc). Water 1 euro per 50 liters, 1 euro to empty a cassette, electricity 1 euro for 2 hours, 1 euro coins only.
Iphofen in Franconian wine country, at the Einersheimer Tor: about 9 pitches on grass, no parking fee, 3 days maximum. Water 1 euro per 100 liters, electricity 0.50 euros per kWh, disposal free.
Schwandorf, the Festplatz on the Naab: free, one week maximum, water and disposal free, electricity 0.50 euros per kWh.
Nuremberg has three free overnight spots: at the Wöhrder See, at the Volkspark Marienberg and at the Dutzendteich. None has services. Water and disposal are at the KNAUS Campingpark, Hans-Kalb-Straße 56.

Not all of it is free. Vohenstrauß in the Oberpfalz charges 10 euros a night on its 16 pitches, power and water included, paid at a terminal by card or phone. Showers and toilets cost 5 euros a day, plus a 50 euro deposit for the key.

The Danube and the Inn: short stays, few services

Passau, Winterhafen Racklau: about 30 spaces, free, but limited to 24 hours because of the flood risk. Trash bins, no water, no disposal. Buses 7, 8/9 and 11 stop 500 meters away at Stelzhammerstraße.

Plattling, at the Freibad (outdoor pool): the night is free, water 1 euro per 100 liters, open all year. Simbach am Inn charges 5 euros a day, electricity 1 euro per kWh, with room for vehicles over 8 meters. Wasserburg am Inn, at the Badria leisure pool: 12 pitches, free for up to three days, electricity 0.25 or 0.50 euros an hour, no water and no disposal. In Deggendorf, the free spaces in the Donaupark are closed for rebuilding.

Where there is no water, plan the service stop separately: the dump station finder shows where to empty gray and black water.

The Alps: almost no free stopovers

Two of the 91 are in the mountains. The Wellenfreibad car park in Peiting has 5 spaces, 3 nights maximum, motorhomes only (no travel trailers), no power and no disposal. The Feuriger Tatzlwurm above Oberaudorf is a Stellplatz without disposal next to an inn. In the mountains, budget for paid nights.

Then there is the Kurtaxe, which Bavarian law calls the Kurbeitrag. Under Article 7 of the state’s Kommunalabgabengesetz, recognized spa and resort towns may charge it to everyone staying there for rest or recreation who does not live there, which means per person, not per vehicle. None of the town pages above lists one. Oberaudorf, below the Tatzlwurm, calls itself a Luftkurort, one of the categories the law names, so ask at the inn whether it is due. Where it applies, the board at the entrance says so.

Festivals and frost

Many of these sites sit on the town Festplatz, the fairground, and the town wants it back:

Schwandorf closes the week before, the week of and the week after its Volksfest, usually late May or early June.
Weißenburg closes the Limesbad site for all of August for the Kirchweih, the parish fair.
Iphofen closes for its Kirchweih in late September.
Wasserburg is closed for the Frühlingsfest, roughly the two weeks before Pentecost plus the first week of the school holidays.

In winter, Krumbach in Swabia shuts off water and disposal, and Iphofen its water. Vohenstrauß turns the power off from November 1 to March 31 and drops the fee to 2 euros, and there is no fresh water in the winter months either. Schwandorf supplies water down to minus 5 Celsius. Weißenburg’s service station is out of action after accident damage, with a new one due in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Parking or camping: where Bavaria draws the line

The clearest statement comes from Munich. The city’s Kreisverwaltungsreferat put it in writing in 2018: a motorhome may park wherever a car may. Spending the night while traveling, to be fit to drive again, is permitted ordinary use of the street. Anything beyond that is special use and needs a permit. In practice: arrive late, sleep, leave in the morning, and put nothing outside. Outside Munich, the town’s own signs set the terms.

Some towns make the line visible. Weißenburg allows 6 hours with a parking disc at the Limesbad, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and if you want longer you get a temporary exemption from the tourist office at Martin-Luther-Platz 3. Rieneck calls its site a Kurzzeitstellplatz, a short-stay site: 24 hours maximum, no services.

The wider German picture is on the Germany page, and the state next door is covered in motorhome stopovers in Baden-Württemberg.

The posted sign and the Gemeinde’s current guidance beat any website, this one included. A site gets rebuilt, a festival moves, a fee appears. Read the board at the entrance.

Sources

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

Frequently asked

The questions people actually ask.

Are motorhome stopovers in Bavaria free?

The parking usually is, the services not always. Bayreuth's Parkplatz Grünewaldstraße is free for up to 72 hours with a parking disc, with water at 1 euro per 50 liters and electricity at 1 euro for 2 hours. Marktleuthen charges nothing at all, power and disposal included. Some towns do charge: Vohenstrauß asks 10 euros a night including power and water, Simbach am Inn 5 euros a day. All from the towns' own pages, checked October 16, 2026.

Are there free Stellplätze in the Bavarian Alps?

Hardly any. Of the 91 Bavarian Stellplätze on our map, two are in the mountains: the car park at the Wellenfreibad in Peiting (5 spaces, 3 nights maximum, no power, no disposal) and the Feuriger Tatzlwurm above Oberaudorf (no disposal). Budget for paid nights in the mountains and use the free sites on the way in and out.

Will I pay a Kurtaxe at a Bavarian Stellplatz?

Only in recognized spa and resort towns. Article 7 of the Bavarian Kommunalabgabengesetz lets a Gemeinde recognized as a Heilbad, Kneippkurort, heilklimatischer Kurort, Erholungsort or similar charge a Kurbeitrag (the Bavarian name for the Kurtaxe) to everyone staying there for rest or recreation who does not live there. It is charged per person. None of the town pages named here lists one, but Oberaudorf, below the Feuriger Tatzlwurm, is a Luftkurort, one of the categories the law names, so ask there. Where it applies, the board at the entrance says so.

Can I sleep in my motorhome in a regular car park in Bavaria?

For one night on the road, usually yes, as long as all you do is sleep. Munich's Kreisverwaltungsreferat, the city's public-order authority, wrote in a letter dated June 19, 2018 that resting or spending the night in a motorhome while traveling, to restore your fitness to drive, is permitted ordinary use of the street, and that anything beyond that is special use that needs a permit. So keep it to sleeping: no table, chairs or awning outside. Other towns post their own signs, and a sign that excludes motorhomes or overnight stays is the rule.

More · the blog

Keep reading.

All in the blog

Types of Aires in France: Aire de Stationnement, Aire de Services and Aire d'Accueil Explained Which French aires you can sleep at, which are only a service point, what "gratuite" actually covers, and how to read the sign at the entrance. With counts from nearly 3,000 French aires. What is a Stellplatz? Germany's motorhome stopovers explained A Stellplatz is a place a German town has set aside for motorhomes to park overnight. It is not a campsite, it is often free to park, and the services cost extra. What they charge, what the Kurtaxe is, and how to read the board at the entrance. Motorhome stopovers in Baden-Württemberg: what the Bodensee, Black Forest and Neckar charge Most town-run Stellplätze in Baden-Württemberg are free to park, with power and water on a coin meter. The Bodensee is a paid night, and Black Forest resort towns add a Kurtaxe per person. Prices from Überlingen, Hausach, Calw, Balingen, Aalen, Ehingen and Heilbronn.