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The Crazy Travel

Is wild camping legal? The country-by-country guide (2026)

Where is wild camping legal? It depends on the country — and within the country, often on the region, the park or the town hall. The internet is full of forum answers mixing repealed laws with invented fines.

This guide does something else: every rule comes from the official source — the statute, the park decree, the gazette — carries a visible review date, and when something isn't clear we say so plainly: unconfirmed. And where we slept ourselves, the proof is on the map: the photos.

The world at a glance
France — allowed with conditionsSpain — varies by areaPortugal — allowed with conditionsItaly — varies by areaUnited Kingdom — varies by areaGermany — varies by areaNorway — allowed with conditionsSweden — allowed with conditionsGreece — bannedSwitzerland — varies by areaAustria — varies by areaCroatia — bannedIreland — allowed with conditionsNetherlands — varies by areaBelgium — varies by areaDenmark — allowed with conditionsFinland — allowed with conditionsSlovenia — varies by areaCzechia — allowed with conditionsSlovakia — allowed with conditionsPoland — allowed with conditionsHungary — allowed with conditionsRomania — varies by areaBulgaria — allowed with conditionsIceland — allowed with conditionsBosnia and Herzegovina — varies by areaAlbania — unconfirmedSerbia — allowed with conditionsTürkiye — varies by areaEstonia — allowed with conditionsLatvia — allowed with conditionsLithuania — allowed with conditionsNew Zealand — allowed with conditionsUnited States — allowed with conditionsAustralia — allowed with conditionsCanada — allowed with conditionsGeorgia — varies by areaArmenia — varies by areaKyrgyzstan — varies by areaKazakhstan — varies by areaUzbekistan — varies by areaTurkmenistan — unconfirmedJapan — varies by areaThailand — allowed with conditionsLaos — bannedIndonesia — allowed with conditionsMalaysia — allowed with conditionsChina — varies by areaIran — unconfirmedNorth Macedonia — varies by areaMoldova — varies by areaUkraine — varies by areaBelarus — varies by areaRussia — varies by areaVietnam — varies by areaCambodia — varies by areaMorocco — varies by areaMontenegro — varies by areaLuxembourg — varies by areaMalta — varies by areaCyprus — varies by areaAndorra — varies by areaMonaco — bannedSan Marino — allowed with conditionsLiechtenstein — varies by areaKosovo — allowed with conditionsGibraltar — allowed with conditionsFaroe Islands — allowed with conditionsIsle of Man — varies by areaJersey — varies by areaGuernsey — varies by areaSingapore — allowed with conditions
Every painted country links to its rules; the rest isn't reviewed yet.
Filter by status

72 countries

Western Europe· 12

Andorra

varies by areaChecked July 2026Andorra has an exception that matters if you’re crossing the Pyrenees: the official tourism page says free camping is prohibited below 2,000 m and is only permitted in the surroundings of a mountain refuge, at night, when that refuge is full. With the vehicle it’s blunt — a flat €600 for an occupied overnight stay in a motorhome or van outside the designated areas.4 verified rules

Belgium

varies by areaChecked July 2026One country, three regimes. Flanders runs on signposted bivouac zones (booking required), Wallonia prohibits overnighting in the forest outside its designated areas, and Brussels-Capital orders its public space with a 24-hour rule: lodging, sleeping or camping may not exceed twenty-four consecutive hours without authorisation. The short Belgian answer is still: which region are you in?23 verified rules

France

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Legal by default with the landholder's permission — but banned on the seashore, tightly limited in the national parks, and any town hall can ban it locally.25 verified rules

Gibraltar

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Gibraltar does something almost nobody does: it defines “camping” so as to expressly include sleeping in the open, with or without a sleeping bag. So there’s no gap here between tent and bivouac. On Crown land you need the previous written permission of the Minister for the environment — or the Ministry of Defence where it occupies — and on private land, the owner’s.3 verified rules

Italy

varies by areaChecked July 2026Italy has no national answer: regions and autonomous provinces rule — Sardinia bans it across its whole territory, the Dolomites nature parks too, and in many places the honest answer is 'unconfirmed': check the local rule.16 verified rules

Luxembourg

varies by areaChecked July 2026The official trail-shelter network Luxembourg seems to have doesn't exist: don't treat a shelter or a mapped route as an overnight site. What does exist are concrete campsites — Toodlermillen and its two-night Quick Stop, the Mullerthal list — and hard closures around the Upper-Sûre lake, where Zone I literally prohibits every activity.21 verified rules

Malta

varies by areaChecked July 2026We located no nationwide camping prohibition — the Maltese answer is built from local bye-laws, and they are very specific. Mellieħa designates three named zones; Ġnejna Bay prohibits it on the sand; Majjistral park reaches €50,000; and from 1 June to 30 September, leaving the caravan more than four hours in the same locality already counts as placing it.16 verified rules

Monaco

bannedChecked July 2026Monaco doesn't name camping: it regulates private occupation of the public domain. A tent occupying that way needs an individual municipal authorisation, normally requested a month ahead. And in public car parks, occupants may only remain for the time the parking operations require.2 verified rules

Netherlands

varies by areaChecked July 2026There's been no national camping law since 2008: each municipality's bylaws rule. And the famous 'paalkamperen' — pole camping in public forests — is dead: Staatsbosbeheer dismantled all 17 of its sites in 2020, however much the internet keeps recommending it.10 verified rules

Portugal

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Restrictive on paper: camping outside a campsite needs a municipal licence plus the owner's permission, parks run on their own plans — and motorhomes get their own national rule: 48 hours per municipality, outside protected areas.20 verified rules

San Marino

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The 2021 hiking-network law prohibits by default both camping and — in that word — bivouacking along its trails, with a €100–1,000 fine, save for necessity or emergency or where a use regulation opens a route. The positive door is authorised rural tourism.3 verified rules

Spain

varies by areaChecked July 2026All seventeen communities, one by one. There is no single rule and most ban camping outside campsites — but Murcia permits it at small scale, Castilla-La Mancha leaves the bivouac outside its limits, and half of Spain has a brand-new decree from between 2022 and 2026. The coast stays off-limits under state law.57 verified rules

Central Europe· 8

Austria

varies by areaChecked July 2026The forest is federal and there the rule is the same for everyone: the owner's permission. Outside the forest each Land decides. Vienna bans the sleeping bag in those words; Upper Austria runs a stopwatch, because camping starts at 90 minutes, and lets the landowner's tolerance beat the municipal ordinance; Carinthia allows the alpine bivouac, but for emergencies, not plans.30 verified rules

Czechia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026A designated-places system: tents only where the forest or park marks them. The Czech quirk is official and delicious: sleeping 'pod širákem' — under the open sky, no tent, no tarp — doesn't count as camping in protected areas, per the ministry's own interpretation.7 verified rules

Germany

varies by areaChecked July 2026Federal law lets you enter countryside and forest, not sleep in them: tents are each Land's business — and all sixteen are now in. Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein gift the non-motorised traveller one night; Thuringia kills the bivouac excuse in writing; the rest want the owner's permission. And there are named regimes, from Saxony's Boofen to the Black Forest trekking camps.45 verified rules

Hungary

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The cleanest rule in Central Europe: in Hungarian forest you may stay — tent included — up to 24 hours without asking anyone; beyond that you need the forest manager's consent. And it holds in protected forest too, per the Bükk national park's own interpretation.6 verified rules

Liechtenstein

varies by areaChecked July 2026The civil-law right of entry to forests and pastures extends to the customary extent and says nothing about sleeping. What is written down are the closures: the Ruggeller Riet reserve, and winter rest zones with exact dates — 1 January to 31 March in some, 15 December to 15 April in others.3 verified rules

Poland

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The forest runs on designated places — but the State designated big: the 'Zanocuj w lesie' programme opens mapped zones of public forest where up to 9 people can sleep 2 nights free, no notice needed. In national parks each director decides; in the Tatras, bivouac banned, full stop.6 verified rules

Slovakia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Forest: tents only at marked places. Protected nature: five levels, and from 3 upwards camping, tenting and bivouacking are banned outside designated spots. In the whole High Tatras, the legal spot is exactly one.5 verified rules

Switzerland

varies by areaChecked July 2026There’s no Swiss camping law: there are twenty-six cantonal answers. In several cantons the answer is that there is no rule, and the municipality, the landholder and the protection status decide. Zug accepts up to four people with one tent outside very sensitive areas; Appenzell Innerrhoden distinguishes bivouac from camping in the Alpstein; Obwalden gifts one night by statute; and Geneva prohibits unless authorised.54 verified rules

Nordics & the Baltics· 9

Denmark

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The tent runs on a designated network — 275 state 'fri teltning' forests and free primitive sites — but the surprise is elsewhere: on State land you can sleep under the open sky or in a hammock almost anywhere, without asking anyone.9 verified rules

Estonia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The country of presumed permission: on unfenced, unmarked land outside a compact settlement, the law presumes the owner lets you be there — and that covers sleeping, but for one day only. Fenced, marked or inside a settlement, the presumption ends: express permission.11 verified rules

Faroe Islands

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026If you arrive from the north assuming an allemannsrett-style access right, forget it: there isn’t one. The 1989 order allows camping only where adequate sanitary facilities exist, and municipalities post notices at customary places that lack them. With a motorhome the official guidance is blunter still: designated campsites only, no roads, rest stops or viewpoints.3 verified rules

Finland

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Jokaisenoikeudet — everyman's right — lets you stay and overnight temporarily wherever you may walk, whoever owns the land. No fixed metres and no night count in any statute: the measure is don't disturb, don't damage, don't settle in.10 verified rules

Iceland

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Icelandic law distinguishes by equipment, not enthusiasm: the traditional tent keeps a real right — one night on uncultivated land, conditions attached — while campers, caravans and vans have needed an organised campsite or the owner's permission since the 2015 reform. And each park tightens on its own.12 verified rules

Latvia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026State forest is the key: public manager LVM says in writing that you may pitch your tent in its forests outside protected areas, both at its recreation sites and in whatever forest landscape you choose. Beyond that it tightens — private forest is unresolved, the dune belt requires a designated place, and Jūrmala bans tents on its beach.9 verified rules

Lithuania

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The strict Baltic, with a vocabulary of its own worth learning: in forest — whoever owns it — you overnight only at established recreation objects, and the key word is 'stovyklavietė' or 'kempingas'. A 'poilsiavietė' is for daytime rest only: no tent and no camper there. Fine of €20 to €50.10 verified rules

Norway

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Here the law starts the other way round: allemannsretten gives you the right to camp on uncultivated land — private included — 150 m from occupied houses and two nights per spot. Bans are the exception, not the rule.14 verified rules

Sweden

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Allemansrätten is even in the Constitution: a few tents, one or two nights, away from houses and harming nothing — no permission needed. The limits: the 'home peace zone', farmland, and whatever reserves and local orders say.14 verified rules

Britain & Ireland· 5

Guernsey

varies by areaChecked July 2026Guernsey’s mechanic is among the most concrete we’ve seen: motorhome capacity is limited to authorised campsites, and the campsite itself issues your permit in advance — with the ferry operator and the Guernsey Border Agency able to ask for it. On tents, the Tourist Law empowers the States to regulate or prohibit camping, but we located no current general Ordinance.3 verified rules

Ireland

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026There is no right of access to the Irish countryside: every acre belongs to someone and the night depends on permission. The surprise is in the parks: Wicklow and Connemara welcome wild camping under their code — and Killarney bans it outright.12 verified rules

Isle of Man

varies by areaChecked July 2026The island has its own legislation, not the UK’s, and its answer is built site by site. The positive route is Sulby Claddagh, with a published season — 24 April to 5 September 2026 — a permit and a pitch booking. On Department forestry land you need its consent. And at Ayres reserve the byelaw leaves a written-authority door that the administration declares shut: no permits are available.4 verified rules

Jersey

varies by areaChecked July 2026Jersey has the vehicle rule crystal clear and the tent rule unwritten. A visiting motorhome or caravan may be used as accommodation only at a designated, registered campsite, for no more than 31 days — and parking on private land with consent is expressly a different thing from overnighting there. On tents, the 2023 Order says nothing.3 verified rules

United Kingdom

varies by areaChecked July 2026Four nations, four laws: Scotland has a statutory right to camp (with conditions and common sense); England and Wales run on landowner permission — with Dartmoor as the big exception —; Northern Ireland, permission nearly always.16 verified rules

Balkans & the Aegean· 11

Albania

unconfirmedChecked July 2026Albania has an official campground category, a trail regulation and a park or two with marked places — but on camping on ordinary ground, the coast, the forest or the Albanian Alps, the law says nothing we could verify. Neither allowed nor banned: unwritten.9 verified rules

Bosnia and Herzegovina

varies by areaChecked July 2026One country with three camping laws and no state-level one: the Federation bans it outside campsites (50–500 KM), Brčko too and pricier (200–1,500 KM), and Republika Srpska confines it to 'organised camps'. The first thing to know in Bosnia is which entity you're standing in.12 verified rules

Croatia

bannedChecked July 2026A national ban with no one-night exception — and it reaches private land too: the owner's permission doesn't legalise it. The real fine is €190 to €1,320, not the inflated figures doing the rounds on forums.9 verified rules

Cyprus

varies by areaChecked July 2026Cyprus has a published forest campsite network — Polis, Stavros tis Psokas, Kampi tou Kalogyrou, Platania and Troodos — and it's worth using, because outside it the figures bite: lighting a fire contrary to the rules reaches €25,000. And one expensive confusion: a picnic site isn't a campsite because it has grills.20 verified rules

Greece

bannedChecked July 2026The 2025 law leaves little romance: tents banned on beaches, archaeological sites, public-forest edges and common-use spaces — €300 per person — and for the van, parking yes, setting up no. Outside those categories, the honest answer is 'depends on the parcel'.9 verified rules

Kosovo

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The only thing we could verify in Kosovo is the national-park regime, and there the rule is clear — camping only at places arranged for it, and overnight stays limited to provided and marked places. The park Directorate may authorise exceptions in special cases, with mountaineering and rescue as examples. About the rest of the country we claim nothing.3 verified rules

Montenegro

varies by areaChecked July 2026The national parks do have a written rule — and a €100–4,000 fine with a structure all its own. Outside them, Montenegrin law neither bans nor allows camping on ordinary ground: there is no provision to cite.8 verified rules

North Macedonia

varies by areaChecked July 2026The base rule is simple and holds nationwide: in any forest, the owner's or forest user's permission. After that the park governs, each with its own plan — Mavrovo prohibits camping inside the natural-heritage boundary; Galičica and Pelister allow it only in specific zones and only at an arranged or manager-designated place.21 verified rules

Serbia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The rule that actually applies to you sits in the forest law: pitching a tent or setting up camp in forest without the owner's or manager's permission is prohibited, fined 10,000 to 100,000 dinars. Outside forest and protected areas, Serbian law simply doesn't address the traveller who pitches a tent.10 verified rules

Slovenia

varies by areaChecked July 2026Slovenia's famous national ban is gone: since January 2026 the State offence requires disturbing someone, and camping passed to each municipality. The resort towns didn't dawdle: Kranjska Gora and Bled banned it at €500 — and in Triglav the park rules.11 verified rules

Türkiye

varies by areaChecked July 2026In State forest the rule is one of the clear and costly ones: spending the night outside places designated by the forest administration carries a 4,293 TL fine on the official 2026 table — tent, bag or van alike, since the law speaks of 'spending the night'. And if that forest also sits in a national park, the fine doubles.11 verified rules

Eastern Europe· 6

Belarus

varies by areaChecked July 2026Belarus's protected-areas law is among the most explicit we've read: it prohibits individual tents, tent camps, tourist sites, rest areas, parking and fires outside places designated by the management plan or the executive committee. In ordinary forest you may visit freely, but local bodies may close it — and on sleeping, the law says nothing.15 verified rules

Bulgaria

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026A cascading designated-places system: in national and nature parks, bivouac only where marked; in the reserves, everything banned; in ordinary forest, free access and silence about the night. Vitosha has its three named corridors and Rila says it plainly: marked places only.8 verified rules

Moldova

varies by areaChecked July 2026The Forest Code allows free entry to state forest and names recreation, but not the tent. Where the rules are clear is in protected areas: in scientific reserves every form of public recreation is prohibited, and in national parks the zone governs — zone A admits nothing, zone C does allow campgrounds and bivouac clearings to be placed.16 verified rules

Romania

varies by areaChecked July 2026Folklore says you camp anywhere in Romania; the law says otherwise: in any protected area — and the Carpathians are full of them — tents only at arranged places, with a national fine of 3,000 to 6,000 lei. In ordinary forest, free access on foot… and legal silence on the overnight.7 verified rules

Russia

varies by areaChecked July 2026The federal Forest Code recognises citizens' right to be in forests freely and without charge — the provision that makes Russia interesting, and which stops short of saying you may sleep. In national parks the rule is clear: organising a stand or rest place outside a specially provided place is prohibited, campfires included. We cover the federal level; the eighty-plus federal subjects we have not swept.17 verified rules

Ukraine

varies by areaChecked July 2026The Forest Code permits being freely in state and communal forests — and article 26 of the Constitution in principle extends that right to a lawfully present foreigner. From there to camping is a leap the law doesn't make. What is written down: natural reserves prohibit recreation, outsider passage and tourism; and during the fire-danger period there are no fires and no vehicle entry.16 verified rules

Caucasus & Central Asia· 6

Armenia

varies by areaChecked July 2026Armenia is under construction: the recast protected-areas law took effect on 24 July 2026 and its regulations haven't caught up. What's verifiable today is little and specific — Sevan prohibits camping in its reserve zones, the Forest Code opens the organised-camp route, and on the rest the law doesn't answer yet.15 verified rules

Georgia

varies by areaChecked July 2026The national parks are the useful part: Borjomi-Kharagauli, Tusheti and Kazbegi have written rules, registration and designated areas. Outside them the Forest Code lets you into the forest but says nothing about sleeping in it — and the border strip, which in Georgia is everywhere, needs a Border Police permit.15 verified rules

Kazakhstan

varies by areaChecked July 2026The Central Asian country that best publishes its procedures: the border-strip pass is requested online, takes ten working days and is free; Baikonur, by contrast, wants a foreigner's application 55 days in advance. In protected areas, an established place and your proof of payment. In state forest you may be present free and permitless — but that isn't the same as being allowed to sleep.18 verified rules

Kyrgyzstan

varies by areaChecked July 2026What decides the night here isn't camping law — it's the border. The border strip wants three working days' notice, and between the frontier and the checkpoint even stopping the vehicle is prohibited. Then come the jailoo, which have a plan and an owner, and the protected areas, which tie you to their routes. A Spanish passport, mind you, gives 60 days without registering.21 verified rules

Turkmenistan

unconfirmedChecked July 2026The guide's hardest page: in Turkmenistan we could verify only that recreational use is prohibited in strict-protection zones and that formally designated tent camps exist. The border regime sits in presidential acts we searched for and could not retrieve. On the rest, the law gives no answer we can stand behind.19 verified rules

Uzbekistan

varies by areaChecked July 2026One flat rule and a lot of silence. In a state reserve every activity except authorised research is prohibited — and camping is an activity, whatever gear you carry. Beyond that, visitable areas tie you to route, site and timing, the forest recognises only "general presence", and the three-day registration is an administrative layer that legalises no ground.15 verified rules

Asia· 10

Cambodia

varies by areaChecked July 2026The law changed: the 2023 Code on Environment and Natural Resources supersedes the 2008 protected-areas law, and it governs now. In a protected area’s core zone ordinary visitor access is prohibited, so camping falls with it; in the conservation zone you need the manager’s prior authorisation, and that access authorisation is not permission to sleep. Outside protected areas, the law doesn’t answer.12 verified rules

China

varies by areaChecked July 2026What decides it in China isn't camping law: it's that you're foreign. Sleep outside a hotel and you or your host must register with public security — and the national text doesn't explain how a tent in open country gets registered. On top: Tibet requires an organised group, border management zones require procedures, and high-fire-risk zones need county-level approval.17 verified rules

Indonesia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The SIMAKSI myth, dismantled: it isn’t the ordinary tourist’s permit but the one for research, film and expeditions. The baseline, in designated forest: camping needs the competent authority’s authorisation, with authorised natural-tourism campgrounds in protection and production forest. In Bali, lodging in a vehicle on provincial and national roads is prohibited.22 verified rules

Iran

unconfirmedChecked July 2026Eleven claims and all eleven unconfirmed. The operative Iranian texts weren't reachable: what we could open is an official intergovernmental index, not the instrument. We know there's a permission layer for entering and stopping in the four protected classes, and that it doesn't answer overnighting. We know an instrument exists on border areas prohibited for travel and residence by foreigners — identified by its Persian title in a non-official index, and for that reason not turned into a claim. On the rest, nothing we can stand behind.11 verified rules

Japan

varies by areaChecked July 2026Two official answers change the game. The Yodo River Office says that on ordinary riverbed under free use, camping needs neither permit nor filing — with clear exclusions. And the Road Bureau separates the fatigue nap at a michi-no-eki, which is fine, from using the car park as accommodation, which isn't. In natural parks, designated areas.21 verified rules

Laos

bannedChecked July 2026Laos is the only country in this guide where the answer changes because you're foreign, and it changes completely: foreigners must stay in accommodation stipulated by the authorities, which registers your document. An informal pitch on public land is not that. Lawful routes exist — contractual forest tourism, Nakai–Nam Theun's guided itineraries — but they're products, not wild camping.16 verified rules

Malaysia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Three legal systems in one country. On the Peninsula forestry law doesn’t apply until a State adopts it; the Federal Territories have their “Camp plot” row; and Sabah and Sarawak with statutes of their own — Kinabalu only in a set-apart area with a named officer’s permission, and Sarawak’s parks with a designated campsite, paid entry and a ticket.18 verified rules

Singapore

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The answer is short and clear: you camp with a permit and in a designated area, and the NParks permit is free. What you need to know if you’re arriving from abroad is that the general mainland route requires a Singapore residential address — the tourist’s door is Pulau Ubin, applied for two weeks ahead. Sentosa and the water catchments run separately.10 verified rules

Thailand

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026Thailand does have a camping network, with published prices: THB 30 per person per night on land, 80 on islands and marine sites, 300 and 600 for motorhomes. It all runs through the area a ranger designates, with a five-day limit per visit. Wildlife sanctuaries are another matter: permission to enter, and at night only if an officer authorises it.22 verified rules

Vietnam

varies by areaChecked July 2026Does Vietnam repeat the Laos rule — foreigners obliged to sleep only in registered accommodation? No. What exists is a declaration duty channelled through whoever manages the accommodation: at a tourist campsite it fits perfectly, and outside one the law doesn’t say it’s prohibited — it simply doesn’t describe how that night would be declared. In designated border areas, by contrast, a foreigner’s overnight stay is prohibited.13 verified rules

The Anglosphere· 4

Australia

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026A real federation: the Commonwealth barely governs and each state has its own act — all eight, from New South Wales to Western Australia. The best of it sits in South Australia: unalienated Crown land allows camping for up to 21 days. The Northern Territory publishes which rest stops take an overnight, Tasmania runs free designated campgrounds, and in the eastern parks 'camping' is still defined so broadly that a sleeping bag, a swag and the car are inside it.28 verified rules

Canada

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The jewel is in British Columbia: the Crown land use policy gives a general permission to camp up to 14 consecutive days at a site — with a reset rule worth understanding, because the counter doesn't go back to zero until you, your vehicle and your gear have been away for 72 hours. In the national parks, by contrast, you camp on a permit and that's that.10 verified rules

New Zealand

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026The country that put wild camping into an act with its name on it — and since 7 June 2026 the question isn't where but what you're in: on council land, without a self-containment certificate and its green card, the van doesn't camp. The tent does keep a default permission, with councils and DOC able to trim it area by area.15 verified rules

United States

allowed with conditionsChecked July 2026There is no single American 'public land' with one rule: there are three distinct federal systems — BLM, national forests and national parks — and each works differently. And the first thing to dismantle is the 14-day business: that isn't a federal rule, it's a pattern that varies from office to office. And beneath the federal level, each state runs its own ground: Oregon's state forests allow dispersed camping year-round with no fee or permit, Washington's DNR land allows it by rule, and rest areas change rules at every border — Nevada gives 18 hours per fortnight, Pennsylvania two hours and California eight.43 verified rules

Africa· 1

Morocco

varies by areaChecked July 2026The coast is the answer, and not the one you expect. Law 81-12 prohibits camping on the statutory littoral outside a designated area — 1,200 to 10,000 dirhams — and separately prohibits driving or parking any vehicle on beaches, dunes and along the seashore. In State forest, the 1917 Dahir reaches the tent within 100 metres. And in protected areas the permission exists but is for management, research or training: there is no visitor licence.20 verified rules

Changes

2026-08-01
Australia, complete, plus ten American states: South Australia's Crown land gives you 21 days, Oregon's state forests take free dispersed camping year-round, and Pennsylvania lets you sleep inside the vehicle at its rest areas — no tents.
2026-07-31
Morocco and Singapore close the guide. In Morocco the coast governs: camping on the statutory littoral outside a designated area is 1,200 to 10,000 dirhams, and driving or parking any vehicle on beaches and dunes is separately prohibited. In Singapore the camping permit is free — but the mainland route wants a residential address, so the tourist's door is Pulau Ubin.
2026-07-31
The small territories, with a surprise: Gibraltar defines “camping” so as to expressly include sleeping in the open, with or without a sleeping bag. The Faroes have no allemannsrett — you camp only where there are toilets. And Guernsey issues your motorhome permit at the campsite itself, to show on the ferry.
2026-07-31
Vietnam and Cambodia close the bike route. Vietnam turns out NOT to have the Laos rule — the declaration runs through the accommodation, not through a ban on sleeping out.
2026-07-31
Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, with a notice. We publish their camping law because the war will end and the law will still be there — Russia's Forest Code recognises the right to be in forests freely, and Belarus's protected-areas law is among the most explicit we've read. The war notice comes down when it's no longer needed.
Show the 11 earlier entries
2026-07-31
Europe, closed: North Macedonia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Malta, Cyprus, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein — plus Brussels-Capital, which completes Belgium. Malta turns out to be the guide's most figure-dense page (up to €50,000 at Majjistral), Cyprus publishes its forest campsite network, and Andorra accepts pitching beside a full refuge.
2026-07-31
Iran and Asia, and with them the whole route covered: Japan, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Iran. Japan says in writing that you may camp on the riverbed without a permit and that the fatigue nap at a michi-no-eki is fine; Thailand publishes its tariffs — THB 30 for a tent; and Laos is the guide's first country where being foreign changes the answer completely.
2026-07-31
The trip belt: Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan — the countries we crossed by bike. Here the night isn't decided by camping law but by the border: three working days' notice in Kyrgyzstan, ten for the Kazakh pass, and 55 days in advance for a Spaniard to enter Baikonur.
2026-07-31
The anglosphere: New Zealand, the United States, Australia and Canada. New Zealand's self-containment law since June 2026, the BLM 14-day myth dismantled, and British Columbia's policy that genuinely allows fourteen nights — with its 72-hour reset rule.
2026-07-31
Germany, Austria and Switzerland, complete: all sixteen German Länder, all nine Austrian ones and all twenty-six Swiss cantons, one by one. Thuringia states in writing that bivouacking is camping, Vienna bans the sleeping bag in those words, Upper Austria runs a stopwatch — camping starts at 90 minutes — and Zug accepts up to four people with one tent.
2026-07-31
Spain, complete: all seventeen communities, one by one. With a surprise — Murcia permits small-scale camping, and half of Spain has a brand-new decree from between 2022 and 2026.
2026-07-31
The Balkans and the Baltics: Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Türkiye, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — 80 new rules, including Bosnia's three laws, Estonia's presumed permission and the three Lithuanian words that save you the fine.
2026-07-30
Baltic to Aegean: Slovenia, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Iceland — 62 new rules, including Slovenia's brand-new 2026 law and Czechia's 'pod širákem' doctrine in writing.
2026-07-30
Eight more countries in one go: Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Finland — 88 new rules, myths included: Croatia's real fine and the Dutch pole camping that no longer exists.
2026-07-30
Eight countries in one go: Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Greece — 134 more rules.
2026-07-30
The guide launches with France: 25 rules verified against official sources.
Before you go

Sleeping for free was half the budget

€3.16 per person, per day. The trip's full accounts — and the playbook to do it yourself — are in the budget dossier.

See the numbers →

Sleep well — free if you can manage it, and with nobody left anything to register.