A night on the road
Sleeping in a camper in 🇫🇷 France
A night in the vehicle is generally accepted in France. A tent is allowed in places and with conditions. A pitch runs about €22 a night.
The same rules the planner warns with when it puts you to bed in France. Where a rule is what everyone does rather than what a statute says, this page says so.
In the vehicle
Generally accepted
France — one night at aires and most motorway rest areas is fine; no 'camping' (chairs, awning out). 5,000+ free/cheap aires via park4night.
In a tent
Allowed, with conditions
The most permissive of the core corridor: camping is freely practised with the landowner's consent, and a parked camper counts as parking rather than camping until you deploy an awning or table. Banned on the seashore, at listed sites and around historic monuments — and within 200 m of a drinking-water catchment, which is the one real camping distance published anywhere in this region. Mayors and prefects add local orders on top.
🔥 Summer bans are imposed département by département by prefectural order — we hold no citation for the underlying article, so check locally.
The instrument: Code de l'urbanisme R111-32 (freedom), R111-33 (prohibitions incl. the 200 m); Code de l'environnement R365-2
What a night costs
- In the vehicle €0 · derived
- A campsite pitch €22 · derived
- A hostel bed €50 · derived
Per night, for two. A figure marked derived is computed from the country's price level, not read off a price list — the plan says the same.
Plan the drive and we place the nights for you: the free lawful spots first where you sleep in the vehicle, a pitch where you asked for one, each priced the same honest way.
Looking for tonight rather than a trip? Find a place for the night near you →