VAN LIFE FIELD GUIDE
Van Life in Europe: The Unwritten Rules
Every Campervan Owner Should Know
More vans on the road means more pressure on the spots we all love. This is not a legal guide. It is a practical, honest overview of what the community expects from everyone who shares the road.
Van life in Europe has exploded in the last few years. That is mostly a wonderful thing. But it also means that the wild spots, the coastal parking areas, the mountain laybys, and the quiet village squares are under more pressure than ever. Every summer, new restrictions appear in places that were once welcoming to campervans. Almost always, the reason is the same: a few people who did not respect the basics.
This article is not about legal regulations. It is about the unwritten rules, the things nobody teaches you when you buy your first van, but that the entire community expects you to know. If you follow them, you help keep the spots open for everyone. If you do not, you help close them.
In this guide:
- Understand the Difference: Free-Standing vs. Camping
- How to Behave on a Wild Spot
- Grey Water: What It Is and Where It Goes
- Black Water: The Non-Negotiable Rule
- The Beach Rule: Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It
- Noise, Generators, and Your Neighbours
- Fire: When in Doubt, Do Not
- Support the Places That Support You
- The Country-by-Country Reality
- Apps and Resources Worth Having
1. Understand the Difference: Free-Standing vs. Camping
In most European countries, there is a legal distinction between "free-standing" (parking your van overnight to rest) and "camping" (setting up awnings, tables, chairs, or levelling blocks outside your vehicle). This distinction matters because in many places, the first is tolerated while the second is explicitly illegal.
The general rule: if everything stays inside the van, you are parking. The moment a chair, a table, an awning, or a washing line appears outside, you are camping. In countries like Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, this is the line that separates a quiet overnight stay from a fine.
The principle: Be a parked vehicle, not an encampment. Arrive late, leave early, keep everything inside. The smaller your footprint, the less anyone notices, and the longer the spot stays open for the next person.
2. How to Behave on a Wild Spot
A wild spot is not a campsite. It is a place where someone before you parked quietly, respected the area, and left nothing behind. That is the only reason it still exists. The moment a spot gets abused, the local municipality puts up a barrier or a "no overnight parking" sign, and it is gone forever.
Arrive after sunset, leave before mid-morning. The goal is to sleep, not to set up a base camp. If you arrive at 3pm and spread out, you are visible for hours and you give locals a reason to complain.
One night maximum. Unless the spot is explicitly designated for multi-night stays, move on the next day. Occupying a beautiful spot for a week is one of the fastest ways to get it closed permanently.
Do not park directly in front of someone's house or business. It sounds obvious, but it happens constantly. If there are homes nearby, keep your distance. If a restaurant or bar overlooks the parking area, consider being a customer before being a camper.
If locals tell you to move, move. Do not argue, do not cite laws, do not explain your rights. Thank them, pack up, and go. You are a guest. Even if you believe you are legally allowed to be there, antagonising locals is how spots get banned.
Do not share wild spots on public social media. This is genuinely important. A quiet spot shared on Instagram or in a large Facebook group can go from peaceful to overcrowded in one season. Share spots privately with friends. Do not geotag them.
3. Grey Water: What It Is and Where It Goes
Grey water is the waste water from your sinks and shower. It contains soap residue, food particles, grease, and whatever else went down the drain. It is not clean water. It is not harmless. And in most of Europe, dumping it on the ground, into roadside drains, or into nature is illegal.
Where to empty grey water
Service areas (aires/Stellplatze/aree di sosta): Across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and most of Western Europe, there are networks of service points specifically designed for campervans and motorhomes. Most have a drive-over drain for grey water, a chemical toilet disposal point, and a fresh water tap. Many are free or charge a small fee (typically 2-5 euros). Apps like Park4Night, Caramaps, and Camping-App.eu list them.
Campsites: Even if you do not stay overnight, many campsites allow you to use their service facilities for a small fee. This is a good option when you are off-grid for several days and need to empty both grey and black water.
Fuel stations with motorhome facilities: Increasingly common in France and Germany, some large fuel stations have dedicated motorhome service points.
What you should never do
Never dump grey water onto the ground at a wild spot. Never open the valve in a parking area and drive off. Never pour it into roadside drains, as these often lead directly to rivers and the sea with no filtration. If you use biodegradable soap (and you should), it is still not acceptable to dump grey water in nature. Biodegradable means it breaks down eventually, not that it is safe for ecosystems in concentrated amounts.
Pro tip: Plan your route around service points. Start and end each leg of your trip at an aire or campsite where you can empty waste and fill fresh water. This removes all the stress and temptation to dump improperly. The infrastructure exists across most of Western Europe. Use it.
4. Black Water: The Non-Negotiable Rule
Black water is toilet waste. There is exactly one rule: it goes into a designated chemical disposal point (CDP) and nowhere else. Not into a roadside drain. Not into a hedge. Not into a river. Not onto the ground. Not anywhere that is not specifically designed for it.
Most campervans use a cassette toilet. The cassette slides out from the side of the van and you carry it to the disposal point. Every campsite in Europe has one. Most aires and Stellplatze have one. They are marked and easy to find.
If you have a portable toilet, the same rules apply. The chemical additives in portable and cassette toilets are not safe for the public sewage system either, so do not flush the contents down a normal household toilet.
⚠️ This is the hill the community dies on. Nothing destroys the reputation of van life faster than someone dumping toilet waste in a public place. It is the single most common reason municipalities ban overnight parking. If you see someone doing it, say something. Politely, but say something.
5. The Beach Rule: Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It
This is perhaps the most important unwritten rule in the van life community, and it applies everywhere, not just beaches.
When you leave a spot, take more than you brought. If there is plastic on the beach, pick it up. If there are cigarette butts in the parking area, collect them. If the previous occupant left a bag of rubbish next to a bin that was full, take it with you and dispose of it at the next opportunity.
This is not about being morally superior. It is about self-interest. Every piece of rubbish left behind by a campervan owner is evidence that campervans are a problem. Every clean spot is evidence that they are not. Local authorities make decisions based on what they see. What they see is up to us.
Carry a rubbish bag on every walk. Pick up what you find. It takes 30 seconds and it makes a real difference. Many experienced van lifers keep a dedicated "beach cleanup" bag in the van at all times.
The standard: If the spot looks better after you left than before you arrived, you did it right. This is the baseline, not the exception.
6. Noise, Generators, and Your Neighbours
Generators: Running a generator at a wild spot is one of the most antisocial things you can do. The noise carries far, especially at night and near water. If you need power off-grid, invest in solar panels and a proper battery setup. If you absolutely must run a generator, do it during the middle of the day, never in the evening or early morning, and never near other vans or homes.
Music: Nobody on a quiet beach or mountain parking wants to hear your music. Use headphones. If you are having a gathering with friends, keep the volume at conversation level and stop by 10pm.
Sliding doors at night: Even the sound of a sliding door opening and closing repeatedly can travel surprisingly far. Be aware of it.
Dogs: If you travel with a dog, keep it under control and clean up after it. Unattended barking at night is a fast track to a complaint.
The general principle is simple: if someone arrived at the spot before you, match their energy level. If the spot is quiet, keep it quiet. If you are the first one there, set the tone you would want to find.
7. Fire: When in Doubt, Do Not
Open fires are restricted or outright banned in most of Southern Europe during the summer months, and the fines can be severe (thousands of euros in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece). Even in Northern Europe, fire bans can be activated during dry spells at short notice.
A campfire on a beach might look great on Instagram, but if it is July in Portugal or Sardinia, it is potentially catastrophic. The Mediterranean region loses thousands of hectares of forest to wildfires every summer. Many are started by campfires.
Use a gas stove inside your van or in a sheltered area. If you want a fire and it is legally permitted, use a raised fire pit and never leave it unattended. Extinguish it completely before you sleep. Check local fire regulations every time you cross a regional or national border, as they can change by province.
8. Support the Places That Support You
One of the most effective things you can do as a van lifer is spend money locally. Buy bread from the village bakery, not the supermarket. Have a coffee at the harbour bar near where you parked. Buy produce from the farm stand. Fill up at the local fuel station.
This is not just good karma. It is strategic. When a local business owner sees campervan visitors as customers rather than freeloaders, they advocate for keeping parking open. When the baker sees you buying every morning, they have a financial reason to tell the mayor that vans are good for the village.
The opposite is also true. If vans park in the harbour, use the public toilets, leave rubbish, and buy nothing from local businesses, the village has zero incentive to tolerate them and every incentive to put up barriers.
The formula: Spend locally, leave no trace, be invisible at night, be a friendly customer during the day. Do this and you are welcome almost anywhere.
9. The Country-by-Country Reality
The legal situation for overnight van parking varies enormously across Europe. Here is a simplified, honest overview. This is not legal advice. It is what experienced van lifers report in practice.
| Country | Reality |
|---|---|
| Sweden, Norway, Finland | Everyman's Right allows overnight stays in nature. The most permissive countries in Europe. Stay 150m from houses, leave no trace, respect the land. |
| Scotland | Right to roam is enshrined in law. Wild camping is legal with responsible behaviour. Some areas (Loch Lomond) have seasonal bylaws. |
| France | Excellent aire network. Free-standing is tolerated in many rural areas. Banned on coastlines and in most tourist towns in summer. The aire system makes it easy to stay legal. |
| Germany | One-night "rest stops" are technically tolerated. Camping is illegal. Strong Stellplatz network. Fines range from 5 to 500 euros depending on severity and region. |
| Italy | Officially illegal almost everywhere. Widely tolerated in rural areas and the south. Strictly enforced on coastlines, in tourist towns, and near national parks. Fines up to 500 euros. |
| Spain | Generally prohibited. The Guardia Civil actively patrols popular areas. Rules vary by autonomous community. Some inland areas are relaxed, coastal areas are strictly enforced. |
| Portugal | Significant crackdown in recent years due to overuse. The Algarve coast is now heavily enforced. Inland and off-season is more relaxed. Use designated aires. |
| Netherlands, Belgium | Illegal and enforced. Both countries are densely populated with limited wild space. Use campsites and designated motorhome areas. |
| Switzerland, Austria | Strictly illegal with significant fines. Excellent campsite and Stellplatz infrastructure. Do not attempt wild camping here. |
| Greece | Officially banned, increasingly enforced since 2025. Historically tolerated on beaches and islands but this is changing fast. |
| Croatia, Slovenia | Illegal and enforced in tourist areas. Remote inland areas are more relaxed. Croatia's coast is heavily patrolled in summer. |
| Romania, Bulgaria | Officially prohibited but widely tolerated, especially in rural areas. Some of the most welcoming countries in Europe for van lifers. Be respectful and you will rarely have issues. |
| Poland | Since 2021, hundreds of forest "Nature Zones" have been opened for legal wild camping (up to 2 nights). A great model that other countries should follow. |
Regulations change frequently. Always check local rules before parking overnight, especially in coastal and tourist areas during peak season.
10. Apps and Resources Worth Having
Park4Night is the most widely used app for finding overnight spots, aires, and service points across Europe. User-reviewed, with photos and GPS coordinates. Free with a premium option. Essential.
Caramaps is particularly strong in France and Southern Europe. Focuses on aires, service points, and campsite facilities. Good for planning waste disposal stops.
iOverlander is a global platform popular with long-distance travellers. Strong in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and off-the-beaten-path destinations. User-contributed data on campsites, water sources, and service points.
Camping-App.eu has an extensive database of legal pitches across Europe with detailed facility information.
Green-Zones.eu provides information about environmental zones and stickers required for driving in certain European cities. Important if your van does not have the latest emissions standard, as many city centres now require a sticker to enter.
A final word: Van life in Europe is a privilege, not a right. The freedom to park on a cliff in Portugal, wake up to a Norwegian fjord, or fall asleep to waves on a Greek beach exists because generations of travellers before us respected the places they visited. Every spot that gets banned, every barrier that goes up, every "no motorhome" sign that appears is a direct consequence of someone who did not follow these basics. The good news is that the basics are simple: leave no trace, dispose of waste properly, be quiet, be invisible, spend locally, and pick up the plastic. That is the entire rulebook.
