Camping in Europe: Campsites, Aires and Motorhome Areas

Last checked November 2026.

Camping in Europe is easy. There are lots of campsites, which vary in cost and quality, and most countries in western Europe also have motorhome areas, where a campervan or motorhome can stay a night or two for little or nothing. Free camping is still possible in places, but much less than it was: Portugal bans overnight stays on most of its coast outside campsites and motorhome areas, most Spanish regions ban wild camping, and many French and Italian resorts keep motorhomes out at night. Each country has its own rules, and the country pages below have the detail.

Campsites

There are lots of campsites throughout Europe. On the coast and in the popular inland areas of France, Spain and Portugal, Darren found at least one campsite in almost every little town or resort, and where there were lots of campsites in an area, most closed outside the season and one stayed open all year round. Prices vary greatly. Council-run campsites, such as the campings municipaux of France and the parques de campismo municipais of Portugal, are usually the cheapest.

Check the opening dates before you travel. On Spain’s north coast many campsites close from autumn to Easter, while on the Mediterranean and in the south of Spain many stay open all year and are busy in winter. In France seasonal campsites start closing in mid-September, and many on the coast close from October to April. In Britain many close from October or November to March. If you plan to stay put somewhere warm from January to March, book ahead; see Winter in Europe.

Have your passport ready when you check in: campsites in Spain and Italy have to record guests’ passport details, and most in Portugal ask for your passport or ID. See the guide to campsites.

Motorhome areas

Motorhome areas are car parks or small sites set aside for campervans and motorhomes. Most have water and somewhere to empty your tanks, many have a time limit, and some are just a service point with no parking for the night. They go by different names:

Country	What they’re called	What to expect
France	Aires de camping-car (aires)	Run by councils, farms and private companies. Most allow parking for the night and many have electricity. Usually €6 to €15 a night, a few still free, with a limit of 24 to 72 hours. Camping-Car Park runs more than 800. See camping in France
Spain	Áreas de autocaravanas (also áreas de servicio, de pernocta or de acogida)	Service points, council motorhome car parks (often 48 or 72 hours, some free) and registered motorhome areas run as businesses. See camping in Spain
Portugal	Áreas de serviço para autocaravanas (ASAs)	Free or cheap council areas and private motorhome parks with electricity and showers. Most have water, waste disposal and a time limit. See camping in Portugal
Italy	Aree di sosta (aree attrezzate) and camper service points	Set up by towns or run privately. Each region sets its own time limits and charges; in Trentino, for example, the limit is 48 hours. See camping in Italy
Germany	Wohnmobilstellplätze (Stellplätze)	Motorhome pitches outside campsites, some with no facilities at all
Britain	Overnight car parks and stopovers	Some councils sell overnight tickets for self-contained motorhomes in a few named car parks, such as Cornwall’s eleven, Gwynedd’s Arosfan sites and the Highland Council’s 12. Forestry and Land Scotland’s Stay the Night scheme uses about 45 forest car parks. See Britain

Many areas are only for self-contained vans, with their own toilet and water: Camping-Car Park in France may turn away a converted van that isn’t registered as a motorhome, and the Scottish schemes are for self-contained vehicles only. Apps and directories list the areas; check recent reviews, as places open and close.

You can also stay a night with a host. France Passion is a guide to about 2,200 farms, vineyards and producers in France that let self-contained motorhomes stay for 24 hours, free and with no obligation to buy, and the Brit Stops scheme lists over 1,200 pubs, farm shops, vineyards and attractions in the UK and Ireland, for a yearly membership.

Discount cards

Discount cards can help out of season. ACSI’s CampingCard gives fixed low-season prices at more than 3,000 campsites in 23 countries. In Britain, members of the Caravan and Motorhome Club or the Camping and Caravanning Club can also use the club’s small certificated sites, which take up to five vans and are often on farms. A good campsite guidebook or app can save a lot of time and money.

Free camping in Europe

Free camping is still possible in many places, but the rules have tightened, especially on the coast and in summer. In most countries sleeping in a legally parked van counts as parking, but chairs, a table or an awning outside, or emptying waste on the ground, counts as camping, which is generally only allowed on campsites and in authorised areas. On top of that, towns, regions and national parks can ban motorhomes overnight in particular places. See wild camping and free camping.

Country by country

Britain: there’s no right to wild camp in a vehicle anywhere, Scotland included, and many councils ban sleeping in their car parks. Campsites, the clubs’ small sites and paid overnight car parks are the main options. See Britain, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.
France: a van can park wherever a car can, and sleeping inside counts as parking, but many coastal resorts ban motorhomes by local order, so in summer near the sea you’ll mostly use the aires and campsites. See camping in France.
Spain: the traffic rules let a van park where a car can, as long as nothing is put out or drained, but the regions control camping, and many coastal towns and natural parks have their own bans. See camping in Spain.
Portugal: since 2021 you can only stay overnight on a campsite or in an authorised area on most of the coast, and the police check. See camping in Portugal.
Italy: parking where parking is allowed isn’t camping, but many tourist areas ban free camping, and the camera-controlled limited traffic zones in the old town centres fine vans that drive in. See camping in Italy.
Germany: the city of Munich says a motorhome can park wherever a car can, and both Munich and the state government of Baden-Württemberg say you can stay one night in a public car park to be fit to drive again, unless signs say otherwise; Munich says anything more needs a permit. At motorway service areas, the Bundestag’s petitions committee said in 2025, you can stay the night where motorhomes are allowed to park, as long as you don’t settle in to camp.
Sweden: driving off the road, including onto beaches and meadows, is illegal and isn’t covered by the right of public access, and even a landowner can’t give you permission to park off-road. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency says rest stops usually allow up to 24 hours on weekdays and longer at weekends, and asks you to check with the landowner before you stop near anyone’s home.
Cyprus: camping in the forests and on the protected beaches is illegal, and in the south the island’s few campsites are in the Paphos district. See Cyprus.
Bulgaria: since October 2026, parking a campervan or motorhome on open land along the coast outside an approved place can be fined. See Bulgaria.

There are older pages on Belgium, Greece, Ireland and Morocco.

Darren’s trips

Summary of Darren’s 2006 tour of Europe, including a favourite campsite
Costs of my trip (2007), with every campsite from nine months in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal
Darren’s 2011 spring and summer trip through Europe

More on Europe

Sources: France’s Code de la route; Camping-Car Park; France Passion; Spain’s Reglamento General de Circulación and regional camping decrees; INE campsite survey; Portugal’s Lei n.º 66/2021; Italy’s Codice della Strada and the Province of Trento; Baden-Württemberg Ministry for Regional Development and Housing (June 2023); City of Munich (2018); German Bundestag Petitions Committee (September 2025); Swedish Environmental Protection Agency; Cyprus Forest Law 2012 and Foreshore Protection Law; Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast Spatial Development Act; Highland Council; Forestry and Land Scotland; Natural England and the Camping and Caravanning Club on certificated sites; Brit Stops; ACSI; checked November 2026. Know of a change? Tell us in the comments below.