A night on the road
Sleeping in a camper in 🇬🇧 the United Kingdom
A tent has a public right to pitch (Scottish access rights). A pitch runs about €21 a night.
The same rules the planner warns with when it puts you to bed in the United Kingdom. Where a rule is what everyone does rather than what a statute says, this page says so.
In a tent
Scotland
There is a right to pitch · Scottish access rights
Scotland is the one part of the UK with a statutory right to wild camp. The Access Code asks for lightweight camping, small numbers, and no more than two or three nights in one place, well away from buildings and roads. Note: the Code states NO distance in metres — any "100 m from the road" figure you see quoted for Scotland is invented. The right covers you on foot; it does not cover a motor vehicle.
🔥 Use a stove where you can. Never light an open fire in dry spells, on peat, in woodland or near buildings.
The instrument: Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 Part 1 + Scottish Outdoor Access Code (made under s.10)
England and Wales
Allowed, with conditions
No general right to wild camp in England or Wales — the CROW Act's access land expressly excludes camping and fires, and pitching without permission is civil trespass. Dartmoor is the single exception, confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2025: a real statutory right, but bound by byelaws — at least 100 m from any road, no more than two consecutive nights, tents only.
🔥 No open fires on Dartmoor; a properly constructed camping stove is expressly allowed by byelaw 8.
The instrument: CROW Act 2000 Sch.2 (excludes camping); Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 s.10, upheld in Darwall v DNPA [2025] UKSC 20
Free and nearly free places to stay
Scotland
- ⛺ tentfree
Access rights make wild camping free and lawful almost everywhere on foot — the exception is the four Loch Lomond management zones from March to September, where a tent or sleeping in a vehicle needs a £4.50 permit.
Where to find them ↗
England and Wales
- 🚐 vehiclecheap
Certificated Locations: 2,000+ five-van sites from around £2.50 a night, members only. Note they do NOT take tents — for a tent in England or Wales the only public right is Dartmoor.
Where to find them ↗
What a night costs
- In the vehicle €0 · derived
- A campsite pitch €21 · derived
- A hostel bed €47 · 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 →
What it costs to drive there: tolls and fuel in the United Kingdom →