VAN-COMPARATOR Guide
Following the Tour de France by motorhome: closed passes, the publicity caravan and roadside camping
How far ahead you need to park on a mountain pass, how the publicity caravan works, and where you can legally stop without getting fined: the guide to watching the Tour de France from your van.
Every summer, as the peloton grinds up the legendary passes of the Alps or the Pyrenees, thousands of motorhomes are already parked up from the day before, folding chairs out and a banner taped to the windscreen. Watching the Tour de France from a van is one of the oldest rituals of the French public — and it's also one of the most poorly planned road trips out there, since the rules are nothing like ordinary holiday parking. Here's how to do it properly, without getting turned away the night before the stage.
How far ahead do you need to arrive?
On flat stages, arriving the evening before is usually enough to find a decent roadside spot. On the big mountain stages — the Tourmalet, the Galibier, Alpe d'Huez — the best spots (wide bends, shade, a clear view) go 24 to 48 hours before the riders come through, and the road is usually closed to all traffic from the morning before on the final kilometres to the summit. In practice: if you're not parked before the closure, you won't be driving up at all — which is why it pays to plan the route a good week ahead and accept losing a day of sightseeing to secure a spot.
The publicity caravan: the real highlight for many fans
Long before anyone spots a jersey, the crowd sees the publicity caravan go by: a parade of flower-decked, sponsor-branded floats that has been handing out samples, caps and trinkets since it was created in 1930. It runs roughly 1.5 to 2 hours ahead of the peloton depending on the stage — a timing worth checking the day before on the official Tour app or website, since it shifts daily with the length of the route. For many families who've been camped out since the day before, this half-hour parade matters just as much as the riders themselves: keep some space clear at the roadside and watch the children, since items are sometimes tossed from moving floats.
Where to park without getting fined
A pass closed for the Tour is not a wild-camping free-for-all: the same rules that apply the rest of the year still hold, and our wild camping rules in Europe guide remains the reference. In practice, organisers and town halls tolerate parking on the wide verges and hiking car parks flagged by the gendarmerie on stage days, but ban anything that blocks the race convoy or the security vehicles. The motorhome stopovers in the stage-host villages (Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Bourg-d'Oisans, Briançon...) fill up two days ahead during the Tour — better to book in advance or aim for a stopover 15-20 minutes from the route and walk or cycle down to the roadside on the day itself, since motor traffic is cut off on the final kilometres anyway.
Which vehicle and which route
A compact campervan or a converted van under 6 metres (€75 to €160 a day) squeezes in and parks far more easily than a large A-class on mountain roads already packed with spectators on foot and on bikes — see our which RV for which trip guide. For the Pyrenean stages, Toulouse remains the best gateway, as covered in our Pyrenees from Toulouse guide; for the Alps, Grenoble and Annecy open straight onto the Galibier, the Izoard and the Vercors, covered in our Great Alpine Route itinerary. Check availability early: vans for Tour week in these cities are often booked out by spring, since demand concentrates on just a few specific days.
What the Tour actually brings to the host villages
The image of a motorhome camped out on a mountain pass is not just folklore — it has a measurable economic impact. A 2023 study published in the Journal of Regional Science by researchers Teemu Makkonen and Timo Mitze, which analysed ten years of monthly tourism data across French départements, found that hosting a stage start or finish generates a measurable rise in tourist numbers in the host region, with effects that sometimes spill over into neighbouring départements (Google Scholar page). That helps explain why small mountain towns compete every year to host a stage finish, despite the logistical cost involved.
The habits that avoid unpleasant surprises
- Shop the day before: stage-village shops get swamped and access roads are cut on the day itself, sometimes from 6am.
- Bring shade and water: July stages often run in heavy heat, and you'll be waiting for hours at the roadside with no way to move the vehicle.
- Keep the motorhome locked even a few metres away: the crowds also draw pickpockets, as at any large public event.
- Pack everything up after the riders pass: chairs, coolers and rubbish — volunteers and town halls appreciate a clean roadside, and it's also what keeps you welcome the following year.
The rest of the trip is planned like any mountain road trip: keep an eye on the weather and use engine braking on the descents with our mountain driving guide, and compare Yescapa, Goboony, Roadsurfer and Indie Campers offers on Van-Comparator before booking — in these high-demand weeks, the price gap between platforms can easily cover an extra night's stopover fee.
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