VAN-COMPARATOR Guide
Parking overnight, done right: the etiquette of vanlife
Parking is not camping: the unwritten rules that keep vans welcome — discretion, cleanliness, respect for residents — and the written ones you need to know.
Every town that installs a height barrier does so for a reason, and that reason always has a face: the van that deployed table, awning and speaker on the viewpoint car park. Overnight etiquette is not decorative politeness — it is what keeps the spots open for everyone.
The distinction everything rests on: parking is not camping
In France and much of Europe, a motorhome parked like a vehicle (wheels on the roadway, nothing outside) falls under ordinary traffic rules; it is camping the moment anything spills out — levelling ramps, awning, furniture, laundry. Parking is broadly allowed unless a local bylaw says otherwise; camping outside campsites is widely restricted. All etiquette flows from this: a night on a free spot is lived indoors. For the country-by-country detail, see the wild camping rules for Europe.
The five unwritten rules
- Arrive late, leave early: a free spot is not a residence. One night, not three.
- Nothing outside: no chairs, no awning, no washing line. The silhouette of a parked vehicle, nothing more.
- Total silence from 10 pm to 8 am: no generator, engine off, doors closed gently.
- Never crowd: three vans on a village car park already reads as an encampment to residents. Spot full? Move to the next one.
- Leave it cleaner than you found it — including other people’s litter. It is the argument that disarms town councils.
Waste water: not negotiable
Grey water and the toilet cassette are emptied only at the service points of dedicated stopovers or campsites — never into a drain, a ditch or public toilets. One wild dump gets spotted, and a whole town closes its car parks. Community apps list thousands of service points: there is no excuse.
The gesture that changes everything
Say hello. To the resident walking their dog, to the farmer whose field you skirt, to the baker you buy bread from. Vanlife stays welcome where van travellers are identifiable human beings — not silhouettes behind tinted glass. It costs nothing, and it is worth more than every app combined.