General Overlanding info on Europe

  • HTML tutorial

SixOverland

Rank VI
Member
Investor

Steward I

4,823
Riverside, CA, USA
First Name
Grant
Last Name
Peters
Member #

18302

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WD6IQX
Service Branch
Army [ABN] 01-05
No plans yet, but we’re curious about Overlanding/Camping/Boondocking in Europe. I know there are many mountain tracks and backroads, but how easy is it to set up camp? Is it required to stay in a campground? Does anyone have personal experience on this and could provide country specific guidance? Basically, how do Europeans experience their Overland Lifestyle?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MazeVX

leeloo

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,778
Luxembourg
First Name
Mihai
Last Name
Doros
Member #

19403

There is no EU wide rule, but a small breakdown is found here. Thee are 27 countries only in the Eu, but than you have many more in Europe and near by regions like the Balkans, Est etc..

Germany is completely dead for overlanding, because both wild camping and off roading are completly forbidden. Yet somehow, when you travel around Europe you find plenty of germans doing it .. :)
Switzerland has extremely high fines for wild camping.

Most Est european countries are ok, also the Balkans, both with wild camping and offroading.

In some countries where wild camping is discouraged there are some ways arround it.
For example in Belgium is not allowed, but if you are fishing, you are allowed to have a shelter, so if you camp near a lake, river and you have a fishing rod in the water - than you are good.
IN France, it depends, basically each bloody village has their own rules, for sure camping on beaches is not allowed, the rest in general is ok... if it is just for 1 night
So it is very complicated, but to break it down, most of Nord and Est Europe are ok , some of the south as well, the rest you really need to pay attention or just go to campsites.
Me personally I prefer more freedom, and less people, so in Germany I stop just for a night maybe at a campsite, since it is too large to go around, on my way to other countries more friendly with overlanders.
Some of the West Europe countries like Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France are so packed with people that basically there are no more really remote areas left...
So many European overlanders, who prefer remote areas, for longer trips, they go either towards Africa ( a few hours ferry trip from Spain to Morroco ) or towards Est, in the Balkans .. towards Turkey, Asia.. where ever...
You can even reach Africa almost completely by Land with detour trough Turkey and Iran and trough the Middle east.. :)
So plenty of places to go if you have time and money.. :)
 

El-Dracho

Ambassador, Europe
Moderator
Member
Supporter
Investor

Inventor I

13,232
Lampertheim, Germany
First Name
Bjoern
Last Name
Eldracher
Member #

20111

Ham/GMRS Callsign
DO3BE
Mihai has already answered in detail. Thanks for that. Yes, Europe is a patchwork as far as the regulations on wild camping are concerned and there are different regulations in the individual countries. By the way, in Germany alone, we have different regulations in different regions, for example, in the so-called Forest Act, so the usage, e.g. for recreational use of the forest are regulated differently in one country alone.

I would not say, that Germany is completely dead for Overlanding. There are plenty of small nice little roads you can take, even some unpaved roads. They are easy to find, take a good map with a scale of 1:200,00 and you will see all these litttle winding roads beside the main roads. Also some tour operators offer nice and interesting short and day trips through wood and fields.

Despite wildcamping is clearly fobidden in many european countrie (see Mihais reply) there are plenty of really nice campsites. Small or bigger, with nearly no facilities in nature up to luxury sites, there is everything for every taste!

Of course I do wildcamping outdoors and have traveled to many countries where this is not possible in any other way because there are no campsites, but I honestly don't see any reason why I shouldn't head for a great campsite after a nice day outdoors if possible.

Are you going to ship your rig over @SixOverland ? Happy to help if you have any questions with regard to this.

Let us know when you are coming to Europe and I guess every OB member here is happy to help or is happy to show you a few beautiful places!
 

SixOverland

Rank VI
Member
Investor

Steward I

4,823
Riverside, CA, USA
First Name
Grant
Last Name
Peters
Member #

18302

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WD6IQX
Service Branch
Army [ABN] 01-05
Right now this is long term planning and fact finding. If it happens, we’d have vehicle shipping assistance. The trailer would be a different story and might require help. No plans today... just seeing what it’s like in case it ever becomes a reality.

Thanks for the info. All of it truly helps and will assist in making decisions when/if the time comes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: El-Dracho

leeloo

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,778
Luxembourg
First Name
Mihai
Last Name
Doros
Member #

19403

If you make a decision at some point and start planning a trip, you should take a look on wikiloc, it is very popular in Europe.
example of trail in the Pyrinees mountains in Spain.
About 1200 km, and from those 800 km of it off road. I did it a few years ago, with some variations ( I went for the Atlantic coast not south towards Zaragoza ) Took me about 2 weeks . Very beautiful.


For Europe, what I usually do is set a target area, and than look first on this side to check what trails are in that area and how many days I should reserve for it.. etc..
I planned a lot of nice trips with this tool...
 

Ralph

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

1,845
Szczecin, Westpomerania (PL)
First Name
Ralph
Last Name
Batkowski
Member #

22487

I can only refill the previous info - East Europe is getting also more and more closed. But for sure You are free to stay overnight almost everywhere if will be calm and quiet. Most restricted are Czechs and Hungary - most open Romania, Ukraine...
In PL must be carefull driving in the woods - most of it is in gov hands and is strictly prohibitet to use vehicles there. Still if You go to local forest quards' office, be nice , show them on map where U wanna go is very real that U get permition. The hunting can be planned (is very popular here) and they tell U if its save or not.
Staying in wild just be carefull of huge, open fires. This makes problem everywhere.
Best is to contact local off-road clubs - the community is huuuuge - they know for sure where to go to stay out of trouble.

If You want to stay absent for civilisation for weeks I can recommend Ukraine - save and vast!
 
  • Like
Reactions: El-Dracho