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Sleeping in your car or camper in the UK and Europe. Is it allowed ? Sleeping in your car or camper in the UK and Europe. Is it allowed ?
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Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else This is an opportunity to ask any question, and post any notice you wish that doesn't fit into one of the other sections.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 26 Oct 2008
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Why not ?
When I lived in rural Blighty I used to fetch the cows in for milking in the morning and occasionally came across a car parked in a gateway with a slumbering occupant .They weren't doing any harm - so why worry ?

Sometimes I think the Brits are obsessed by rules, regulations and laws .
Just park out of the way and snore to your heart's content and bugger to anybody who says otherwise !
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  #2  
Old 27 Oct 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodger View Post
Why not ?
When I lived in rural Blighty I used to fetch the cows in for milking in the morning and occasionally came across a car parked in a gateway with a slumbering occupant .They weren't doing any harm - so why worry ?

Sometimes I think the Brits are obsessed by rules, regulations and laws .
Just park out of the way and snore to your heart's content and bugger to anybody who says otherwise !
Why not exactly !!!

Thats my problem, everything seems to be illegal here now. Even if it wasnt, no doubt I would be offending somebodys religion or public rights if i parked up for a snooze in a beat up camper..
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  #3  
Old 27 Oct 2008
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If you say

"I was too tired to drive on" what can they do ? Make you have a crash?!

Provided you are not close to a place to stay they should leave you alone.
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  #4  
Old 27 Oct 2008
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I found parking late and flopping straight down, after I'd eaten and sorted my stuff out somewhere else, makes for a quiet night.

Service stations are good for the three esses, so worth the detour.

Ordinary car parks are ok, but many don't allow camper vans - and if they're within a few minutes from towns, especially the edges of coastal towns, they are often meeting places for young people during the evening and early hours.

My favourite place for motorised vagrancy is France, because of all the Air du Repose and Lidls.

Good luck with it.
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  #5  
Old 27 Oct 2008
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Don't try it in service stations on the motorway, there's a maximum time you're allowed there before having to pay a parking fee.
I slept around in the UK for years, and in campers and cars, just give a bit of thought to picking your spot and drop off.
It's not illegal unless you're breaking some parking law somewhere.
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  #6  
Old 27 Oct 2008
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To be fair councils have to restrict "overnight parking" otherwise they end up with 10 Gypsy caravans in a carpark and it takes them 28 days to evict them. This is probably why we don't have the right to roam in England. Scotland is a lot easier to wildcamp.
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  #7  
Old 29 Oct 2008
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Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor View Post
To be fair councils have to restrict "overnight parking" otherwise they end up with 10 Gypsy caravans in a carpark and it takes them 28 days to evict them. This is probably why we don't have the right to roam in England. Scotland is a lot easier to wildcamp.
Funny enough, I got the odd suspicious look in my own very limited travels - driving an old Lada and being a scruffy bastard possibly doesn't help - but (and I don't mind admitting) I did feel a sting of resentment at the thought of being 'judged' - and that was just me on a trip. Actually got pulled in Belgium as they were having a clampdown on people smuggling. At least, that's what they told me.

Just my thoughts.
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Old 27 Oct 2008
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I spent 7 months last year travelling around Europe in a campervan and the only time we moved on after parking up was when some idiot was doing donuts in the parking area we chose.

France has it really sorted with a lot of Aires de repose, with water, power and often toilets or chemical toilet dumps. Wild camping is easy, just choose a quiet spot, off main roads, away from nightclubs and pubs, and dont block someone's million $ views.

The UK is the hardest in Europe to park up without a sign prohibiting everything except breathing, without having completed an environmental impact statement, health and safety study and got approval from the relevant departments from the Parish Council, County Council, Westminster and Brussels - probably the UN and Washington now as well!!
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Old 27 Oct 2008
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France...
Ouai, most places you're OK, there's a few places where you'll find a no overnight stays sign, or no campervans after a certain time, but that's usually either beaches or town squares. Lots of town/villages will have a municipal campground too, and they're only a couple of euros for a hook-up if you want it.
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  #10  
Old 28 Oct 2008
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Originally Posted by onlyMark View Post
Don't try it in service stations on the motorway, there's a maximum time you're allowed there before having to pay a parking fee...
Could always gas the parking attendant.

Just a thought.
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