tess Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Being completely new to MotorHomeing can anyone fill me in on what i think they call Wild Camping i.e. parking overnight at the side of the road or layby, say for instance i was holidaying in the Snowdonia mountain range and i parked up in a layby, could i stay overnight??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I do a lot of off site camping - aka wild camping - but you will never catch me in a lay by! It seems to be very much a grey area and whilst there are many tales of attacks and robberies and people being moved on by over zealous police or council officials I have never had a problem in nearly 40 years. But then I try to be as discreet as possible and if I can park behind a tree or embankment or summat to be less intrusive I will. If you are desperate late at night industrial estates often have quiet corners that are well lit but be prepared for an early start when the workers and deliveries begin to arrive unless it is a weekend. Many pubs will allow you stay overnight if you eat and/or drink at their hostelry and there is a group you can join which I find handy. http://www.motorhomestopover.co.uk/ Type motorhome stopovers into google and all manner of useful info will emerge! National parks are a bit of a no no as there is a very good chance of being turfed off in the middle of the night - so I understand although as we don't use them for that I don't really know? Many of us have our favourite secluded places but we tend not to share them for fear of overuse killing them off. There are also the three main clubs who have a large network of limited facility sites known as certificated locations for the Caravan Club and certificated sites for the Camping and Caravan Club and Motor Caravan Club. In addition they all run temporary holiday sites and weekend meets which are generally friendly and cost effective placed to stay. You don't usually need to book with the latter two clubs which gives the opportunity to just turn up if the fancy takes you - or not if it is persistently precipitating. Plenty there to have a look at I think for the time being but whatever your question someone on here will probably know the answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tess Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 Thanks again Tracker, loads of info there for me to take in, cant wait to get started now. hopefully the weather will start to pick up a bit now, first chance and we are off. longing to go to Scotland again, went for the first time last year, hire a cottage but felt we could have done with more fredom to take in all the sites as i love doing landscape photography, hence we bought our first MH. Cheers again, Tess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontiki Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 You could always look on wildcamping.co.uk :-D :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raindrop Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Tess, Wild camping sounds idyllic with visions of lakeside views and not a not a murmur of sound except for the birds but I very much doubt the Park Rangers would be pleased to see anyone overnighting on their land or close to it without permission, plus there maybe local bylaws banning this, meaning you may be asked to move on in the middle of the night. Regarding lay byes in general, the choice is yours but you will find most M/H users avoid them. If every pedestrian and vehicle user was observant of cleanliness it would be fine but so many are not. M/H's in general are great big blobs of white paint and can be extremely annoying to many, considering others should be high on your list. You will no doubt hear from some M/H users who ONLY wild camp and will express their right to do so. They will possibly be the tidy one who do consider others. Most M/H users would never overnight outside of a recognised camp site and behind a secure gate. This has of course many advantages with toilets, power, hot water, and sometimes food, very often with super views too. When parked up at the general roadside you may become the target of some intoxicated revellers on their way home. I would suggest it’s definitely not a good idea to even think about it. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tess Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 Thanks for the feedback, there seems to be a lot of mixed feelings about this subject. i did quite fancy some overnite wildcamping because i am a landscape photographer and like to catch the first light in the morning, the idea of being there on site for those first rays of light without have to get up early to travel to the spot seemed very tempting. however i will now have to give this some more thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Can certainly reccomend wildcamping.co.uk for ythe wealth of information on its pages. For starters if its landscapes you're after try the Station Inn by the ribblehead via duct. Also Scotland has some fantastic area especially in the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w1ntersun Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi, Writing from Sunny Conil de la frontera Spain. This year signs have been put up banning all wild camping in the town and surrounding area. They will tow away offending vehicles. Also for the first time they are charging parking fees for cars on the sea front on market days. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Do a Google for wild camping Scotland, lots of info.Last year on the west coast i found many places to camp wild also there were places put aside by the local villages with a honesty box for donations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild rover Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi Tess, I'm an amateur photographer and , like you, am always looking for a place to camp overnight. We live near Swansea, and often drive over to west Wales to take photos. I've found lots of lovely spots where you can wild camp. Nobody has ever disturbed us. If we find a good restaurant in a scenic spot,we usually ask the owners if we can stay in their car park if we eat at the restaurant. We've never been refused. Another thing we do is to drive out into the countryside in our car to look for *secret* places to wild camp in. Hope this helps. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I have been to Scotland on several occasions and still have not seen it all. We are travelling up there this summer for our main 4 week summer holiday although I have booked on sites. From what I have read on this forum as well as numerous magazine articles, the Scottish people are very much more tolerant of 'free campers' than South of the border. The usual protocols are, do not camp outside someones drive or obtsruct their view of the landscape from their house. Ask owners of farms, pubs, businesses etc for permission to park up for a night or so and most important of all be sensitive to other's e.g. no loud music, smokey bbq's, disposal of waste water and rubblish etc. It is not so much the anti-motorhome brigade (although there are a few around) but the fear that the vehicles parking are 'travellers' so allaying those fears by talking to the locals, wherever possible that is, is probably the best option. Additionally, if you use the local pub or village store they will be appreciative of the business. In short, use lots of common sense and courteousy and i am sure you will have lots of 'free camping' experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champstar Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Scotland esp the highlands and west coast from trossachs upwards are the place for wild camping. But if you do please follow the wild campers moto "Leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but memories" This will stand you in good stead. Also remeber to be as unobtrusive as possible and avoid areas close to small towns and villages as often the local younger element like to play at weekends esp if alchol is envolved. We have had a couple of bad encounters but the wrong place at the wrong time springs to mind. Often the police will drive by but will not bother you if you dont look like you are causing a nuisance. The more secludued the area the better. If you require any more info on Scotland get in contact. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tess Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Thanks for all the info, everyone is so kind to share information its a great help and realy inspiring for us new to MH'ing. Thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffersonCampervan Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 This topic interests me - I had considered the UK as my next tour destination this summer. But from searching the various motorhome sites, my style of traveling appears to be discouraged. I like to be able to find a relatively secure, moderately priced location near the centre of a town or city, ideally withing walking distance (or at least a short transit ride) of the centre. IOW, a stellplatz or aire! I'll occasionally use a full camping if it is central (eg. Gaasper in Amsterdan or Bois du Boulogne in Paris). I've been on all the sites, read innumerable posts and have abandoned the idea in favour of France & Northen Spain for this year. It just doesn't seem doable in the UK, unless you want to stay at locations somewhat remote from towns. Being from North America, my interests lie more with history (we're comparatively light on that) and cities than with the countryside. Am I missing anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 w1ntersun - 2010-01-17 8:27 AM Hi, Writing from Sunny Conil de la frontera Spain. This year signs have been put up banning all wild camping in the town and surrounding area. They will tow away offending vehicles. Also for the first time they are charging parking fees for cars on the sea front on market days. Richard hi everyone we were touring in this area last winter and stayed on the parking area at conil for 3 days it was fairly obvious that all was not well there there were so many vans parked up nose to tail along the sea front even though there were signs stating 'no parking on the market area' on the days the market was held...there were still vans parking there !! and the owners were rather put-out when they were asked to move !! the town band were practicing from 7-10pm on the parking area and several m/homers were getting quite irate...saying that they were doing it on purpose!! people were parking up and getting sunloungers out on the pavement/promenade and were stripping off to swimwear !!! the m/homers took no notice of the disapproving looks of the local people who had to walk around them!! these large congregations of vans are bound to cause problems in small towns ......it was only a matter of time before matters came to this cheers berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raindrop Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Jefferson, Yes, the small size of the UK, the large numbers of traffic and people, the narrowness of the roads and the limited amount of open space much of which was taken over by wealthy landowners cenruries ago. The UK has developed from walkers, horses and the bicycle, not mechanised transport. We all suffer the same problems of parking whether in a small car or a large M/H. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 JeffersonCampervan - 2010-01-17 3:11 PM This topic interests me - I had considered the UK as my next tour destination this summer. But from searching the various motorhome sites, my style of traveling appears to be discouraged. I like to be able to find a relatively secure, moderately priced location near the centre of a town or city, ideally withing walking distance (or at least a short transit ride) of the centre. IOW, a stellplatz or aire! I'll occasionally use a full camping if it is central (eg. Gaasper in Amsterdan or Bois du Boulogne in Paris). I've been on all the sites, read innumerable posts and have abandoned the idea in favour of France & Northen Spain for this year. It just doesn't seem doable in the UK, unless you want to stay at locations somewhat remote from towns. Being from North America, my interests lie more with history (we're comparatively light on that) and cities than with the countryside. Am I missing anything? There are some campsites within or near to historic sites and cities. For instance, the Camping and Caravanning Club has a site at Oxford that is within easy walking distance of the city centre and colleges. It is also next to the Park and Ride . Likewise in Cambridge there is a Caravan Club site near the Park and Ride and also a Camping and Caravanning Club within easy cycling distance of the city centre and colleges. I believe there is a bus route very close to the site. In Bristol the Caravan Club site is almost next to Brunnel's SS Great Britain Ship, is on the waterfront from which you can get a waterbus/taxi or walk along the waterfront past the Industrial Museum into the city centre. For visits to London we use the Caravan Club Crystal Palace site. It is very close to a bus stop from which buses go to Oxford Circus, passing Lambeth Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, Horse Guards and trafalgar Square, taking about an hour, and running very frequently (sometimes as often as every 4 minutes). They also run less frequently but at least once an hour through the night. It is possible to buy a 'buscard' for one day (which lasts until abour 4.00 am the next day) for a very reasonable cost which allows free travel on all London buses, including the famous Routemasters which still operate on some services. The bus from Crystal Palace does stop outside of Brixton Underground Station and you can buy a combined ticket giving a day's unlimited travel on buses and underground trains. I have quoted these examples as being some of the most 'well-known' historical cities with good access from nearby campsites which I have used. There are many others. Oh yes - I must mention the Caravan Club site at Edinburgh with its own bus service to the city centre. If you haven't done so, do check out: www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk and www.caravanclub.co.uk I do hope you decide to include the UK on your schedule. If so, it may be worth joining one or both of the above clubs as you will not have to pay the expensive 'non-members' fee' each night if you are a member. As you are interested in history do check out the organisations 'English Heritage' and 'The National Trust'. Some of their properties and historic houses have campsites nearby or even in their grounds. If you decide to come to the UK and you think of any questions you wish to ask me send me a pm and I will reply. Best wishes on your travels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Another one to add to the list is Cardiff, a site right in the centre of the city within a park and walking distance to all the shops, places of interests etc. also worth noting that you should also look for sites near to public transport. Our current van is too large to take in to cities and towns and so we rely on walking, electric bikes or public transport and never had any problems in getting around both in UK or Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_C Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 JeffersonCampervan - 2010-01-17 3:11 PM This topic interests me - I had considered the UK as my next tour destination this summer. But from searching the various motorhome sites, my style of traveling appears to be discouraged. I like to be able to find a relatively secure, moderately priced location near the centre of a town or city, ideally withing walking distance (or at least a short transit ride) of the centre. IOW, a stellplatz or aire! Things are developing in the UK, but slowly. A few examples here: http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/ukaires.shtml Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi Tess, if you are looking to wild camp in Snowdonia a popular stop over is on the road between Betws-y-coed and Bethesda on a very large lay by right off the road at the side of lake Ogwen absolutely stunning and very good walking there as well. Another one where iMotorhomes often stay overnight is the bottom end of the large car park in Betws-y-coed out of season if you are discreet (always a necessity when wild camping) you often see motorhomes there, but you will need a ticket in the day. Another good place is Chester Roudee Car Park you can stay there on the side of the river overnight for £1.50p and it is locked at midnight we have always found that safe. Carol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickmenda Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 We just love wild camping on our Front Drive and did just that last week when our Central Heating packed up Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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