Wild camping is one of those things that many people want to do, but are scared of trying as they’re not sure of what to expect.
It doesn’t help that the internet is bare (for once!) of information on the matter. There don’t seem to be any good guides or tips anywhere – probably because it’s not ‘technically’ legal.
Having wild-camped with my sister and friend for the first time in France for 2 weeks this summer (’09), I’m fairly clued up as to the “dos” and “don’ts”, and also a lot less scared as to what might happen!
Below is a recap of our experiences. You’ll find info on the good and bad places to wild-camp in France. I’m sure this info is valid for any European country: Spain, Germany, Italy – you name it!
A recap of our experiences;
Camping Spots
The Good
- Picnic (or Pique-nique in French) spots
- Lakes & Other geographical features
- Forests & Forest Track
- Farmers!
These are generally quite easy to find, and often offer great camping spots with benches for cooking / eating and sometimes toilets! Every time we followed a picnic sign, we ended up in a secluded spot, quiet after 20h00.
Tying in with the idea of picnic spots, these areas generally have a fair number of picnic spots close by. If not, they can still be good options. Lakes and other large geographical features tend to be away from built up areas and offer spectacular places to camp for the night.
Don't worry about the signs
Another good one here, as there’s shelter and they’re often pretty close to life so you’re not stuck out in the middle of nowhere. You do need to look out for signs of activity though! A busy forest being cut for logging is not good (see below!)
We only ever did this once and it turned out well. If you’re ever stuck, just go knock on someone’s door (hopefully you can speak the language!) and ask if you can camp or if they know of anywhere to go. We did this one night and were directed to a nunnery – the best camping spot we found!
Camping at the nunnery
The Bad
- Tracks or People’s driveways
- Anywhere showing recent signs of activity
Yes, as stupid as it might sound, this did happen. You’d probably think “who in their right mind would camp next to someone’s house, on their land?” and the answer would be YOU; if light was fading, you were hungry and just wanted somewhere to sleep.
We came across these spots a few times. Vineyards, forests with logging going on are all not good! This is really only relevant for places you *shouldn’t* really be. Picnic spots show signs of activity, but are generally accepted for camping.
This brings up the important point that you shouldn’t leave it too late to start looking for camping spots. We did several times, and it mostly meant an uncomfortable night’s sleep (although it did pay off once, leading us to the nunnery!)
Transport
Now we did all of this with a trusty Peugeot 306, and it would have been hell without it.
I guess you could do it on foot, but it would make life a lot more difficult – if you found yourself in a dodgy area with dusk approaching you’d be stuffed.
Accommodation & Cooking
We invested in Quechua (from Decathlon) pop-up tents which, after 2 weeks of setting up camp at dusk and leaving at dawn were a godsend (literally take 10 seconds to put and AND down!). I’d recommend these tents to anybody who’s camping anywhere; they’re cheap and extremely cheerful.
We also bought a portable gas stove – not one of the cheap screw-on tops for gas canisters, but the more sturdy black-box gas stoves for ~£12.99.
One of the Campingaz CP250 gas cartridges (long, tall and thin) would last about 3-4 hours of cooking, just over a week.
Incase you’re worried. These CP250 gas cartridges, as well as other CP206bp cartridges can be bought in France, and I guess most of Europe.
Facilities
Generally, we didn’t have many problems with being smelly or dirty – we’d stay in a campsite every few days to clean up, or go to a beach and wash. In France there’s almost always a shower at the beach.
Outcome
I’d recommend wild-camping to anyone. You won’t get pestered by the law enforcers as long as you’re tidy and quiet.
It’s a great experience, and best of all – it’s free!
Thanks for the post .There seems to be nothing online about free camping in France, at least with any detail. I am driving to Bordeaux in June 2011 with some mates and would really like to do some free camping amongst a few nights in some sweet camp-sites. anybody know any particular good areas around Bordeaux to ‘wild camp’?
Hi there Brett,
When we were camping in the South of France, I think the main places we stayed were on or near vineyards (it could be a little risky, but is good fun!)
We also found some farms where we saw ‘campers welcome’ signs. These were good bets.
My best advice would be to just go out and look for an area. Unless you want to plan ahead, this should normally work out fine.
If you say where exactly you’re going I may know of a few places from our trip!
my wife and i are camping in the south of france in june/july 2011 and we were wondering were is the best places to camp,we have extensivly examined the internet and found nothing so any suggestions would be very helpful please.
Last night, 21st Jan 2011I decided to walk from Paris to London for Help for Heroes charity. I’ve done loads of walks before but never been in France with a bivvi/one man tent. Typed wild camping in France into Google and came across this. Thanks to all of you as I didn’t know where to start, at least now I know wild camping is illegal over the channel, oh well, never mind eh! ;o)
After a delayed Ferry crossing from England, we decided to head on down to Fontaineblaeu (south of Paris) while the roads were quiet. This left us with the awkward decision of where to sleep because our camp site was closed (4am). In the pitch darkness, we found what we thought was a secluded little area under some trees in what appeared to be a park/rest area.
Some of us put up a tent, and the rest used bivi bags.
Bad idea.
In the morning we were awoken by dogs sniffing and licking our faces. In the daylight it was obvious that we had inadvertently pitched up at the side of the local dog walking track. While packing up to head off to the pre-booked camp site, the Police rolled up and among the linguistic confusion, they pointed at a big sign that was next to the tent. The sign, which none of us had seen in the dark, depicted a tent with a red cross through it. One of the police men then used the word “Forbidden” with the accompanying hand gestures. Having understood their message, we promptly packed the rest of our things and left, ensuring we left no mess behind in the process.
It’s all part of the fun.
A couple of years ago I rode around europe with a couple of friends, as you can imagine eighteen days on a motorcycle; space was at a premium.
We did take two man tents but never used them! We are survival entusiasts and camped the whole holiday under tarps and had very comfortable nights sleep.
Its an incredable feeling as you are literally under the stars and begin to feel part of the surroundings.
We visited France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Luxemburg and back to France. The only interest the authorities gave was casual amusement and interest. In Luxembourg a traffic officer gave us official permission to park virtually anywhere as we were visiting her country, she just wanted us to make us very welcome.
The kit was a tarp 10′ * 12′, a sleeping bag, a survival bag, a kettle, cup and a three pan set from the carboot, a camping GAZ stove, a first aid kit and a torch. Oh and the tent I never used.
One night on the Germany Czech border we pitched up in torrential rain, still we had a good nights kip.
Very satisfying experience and when we tour europe which we have done on numerous occassions since we still leave the tents at home.
We have “Ditch-Pigged” throughout the year from February through to November.
Hope this helps
Shaun
Thanks for publishing this. We are off for 7 weeks to France & Italy with our car and tent and are intending to “wild camp”. Just the idea of really getting away from it all and just the two of us camping in a beautiful peaceful space in nature to me would be a dream come true. I hope it works out without too much hassle from the local law enforcement, official or unofficial (the later usually being the most upset with you). We’re set up for camping wild with a tent that’s quick to put up & down (though not as quick as yours!!), solar showers (even bought a shower you can plug into your car lighter socket which I can’t wait to try out), and most importantly a fold up shovel for those moments when there is no toilet so at least we can bury any evidence and not mess up any beautiful spots for anyone else! 2 days to go until the adventure commences!!
Thanks alot for this article, we are going to south west france this August 2010 and were looking for some wild camping. We both surf and i feel this would just add to the whole free concept of surfing.
I cant wait to try it out and i guess if we find a gem of a place we can just return each night and maybe even make a guide as to where we pitched up and post it on here.
thanks again.
Wow, that’s really cool. I love the idea of wild camping. Need to surely try it out. Thanks a bunch.
A room-mate urged me to check out this page, brill post, fascinating read… keep up the good work!