Wild camping is free and allowed on public land in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro (I am from Bosnia). Police may get curious about you if they see you and just come to check your papers, but they won't make problems.

Croatia has explicit forbid policy on wild camping and officials can be a real pain in the a**. Tourism is a major economics branch in Croatia and they feel like you robbed them if you do wild camping. Also, in the southern part, they are very afraid of bushfires started by irresponsible campers or backpackers, so open flame in a forest is strictly forbidden.

Having said all that, if you are citizen of western europe and behave nicely, police will be more lenient with you, because Croatia is trying to become part of EU, so they shut one eye for offences commited by tourists from EU :) .

If any of you travel to Bosnia or Serbia, feel free to contact me if you need any help. My email is:

I beeg to differ there are LOADS of free camp spaces, if camping wild, just ask a farmer if you can spend a night in a corner of his olive grove, never been refused yet, or just head for a forest and camp. as long as you dont light fires your OK, FIRES are a NO NO.unless there are specific fire pits, and never from may to september usually

Germany
 

I know that Germany has the most laws on the planet but I have found that the smaller the village the fewer police and enforcement. I spent a few years there in the military. I was flat broke 90% of the time an camping was one of the things we did for entertainment. If you just throw up a tent someplace that looks like no where you are sure to have someone hassle you. If you ride into a small village and ask a farmer to camp chances are pretty good that he will let you. Keep in mind that Germans are very proud people and saying that you thought he had an amazing view of the world from his beautiful farm and wondered if you might be able to enjoy the view for an evening goes a long way. If you pull up on a $20k bike with no muffler and say "Hey Gramps I wanna pitch a tent on your cow pile" You will most likely find that he has a 12 gauge and his first cousin is the Chief of Police. I think it is all about attitude. I wish I spoke more French because they same to be the same way at least all around the Strassbourg area. Thankfully most speak a bit of English or German.

does anyone know if Finland is Ok for free camping? especially in the north?

Hi Svestenik...what about the leftovers of the war in Bosnia, Croatia etc. I will be going through these countries on my way back from Turkey and wonder if it is safe to camp just anywhere in the wild (landmines etc). Cheers, Rob.

Y´all, here´s a stupid question:
Approaching the farmer to ask to stay on his ground for a night - o.k.
But what do you tell the farmer if he asks you where you transport your portable toilet on the bike? I´d imagine farmers hate folks relieving themselves (even using a shovel) on their ground, don´t they?

Another comment on free camping in Germany: Whilst it is illegal, there´s IMHO no substantial risk if you stay out of sight - there´s still lots of next-to-none populated area left in Germany and the cops have other things to do then to check for a couple of bikers who don´t throw litter around and don´t burn a hole in the ground with their instant bbq. In any case I would not expect to be fined (or just a nominal fine, if all goes wrong such as e.g. 20 Euros, not like half your salary in the Netherlands ;-) Pain in the back are probably the dog owners only. One can´t go anywhere in Germany without having a "Come doggy doggy sweet doggy doggy nice poop doggy doggy" drive up with his SUV and walk his dogs at 6 a.m..

Thanks, cheers
Chris

I think you can make a list of countries where free camping is allowed or not but...
...as long as you're not getting caught or seen it really doesn't matter
...as long as the police that checks you out is corrupted it really doesn't matter
...as long as you attract the wrong people it really doesn't matter

But a list is nice to give you some peace of mind...maybe.
If you have the guts do it and always clean up afterwards.

Canada
 

As you would expect Canada has so much land that it wouldn't be hard to camp on crown land without being notice. Two warnings, be aware of when hunting seasons are and never camp on native (North American Indian) land unless you have asked permission first.

Chile: We camped a lot there. Never asked if it was ok and not had any problem. The Route 5 north of Santiago all the way to Peru is pretty quiet so find a side road and a quite place and you are good.
We also camped in 2 organised camping.
1 luxurious one were we paid something like £40 for 2 people for 1 night.
1 basic one in a national reserve and no 1 person there. So we stayed the night and left and it was free. yeah!!!

Peru: Camped a few times and it was no problem either. Again, we did not ask. Just found a quiet spot and stayed.

Bolivia: A bit harder to find a quite spot so we struggled a little more to camp

Argentina: All the land seem to be cultivated. Think Europe. So with all the lands being private and fenced, we didn't manage to camp much. Was a bit frustrating.

:offtopic: Just had a very stupid or very bright idea:

Would you place some sort of pole with a white flag (maybe just a tee-shirt) attached to it to show that you are here "in peace"?

Could it be useful or over the top?

Anyone tried that before?

Sweden (I'm told by my mate who lives there) by law allows you to camp anywhere - something like not in somebodies driveway and something like 150 metres away from houses if possible etc

Sorry for late answer, but better late than never... Haven't seen the question.

Depends on the route you will be taking. There are still some rural and remote areas that have active minefields. Best if you ask locals at the location that you will be sleeping. Or, send me your e-mail, I can send you UN minefield map.

Austria
 

Hey, anyone know if your allowed to free camp in Austria?

Heading out there next month and was manly looking at staying on camp sites but handy to know if you can free camp when travelling around.

3 months free camping
 

Hi all. Wife and I just back after 3 months trip all around Europe (slovenia, croacia incl.) and camped for free every night. Never had a single problem. Find your spot when its getting dark and dont hang around when entering. Just enter woods, field, path quickly and pitch. As far away from cities, towns , villages....People... as possible, and dont get paranoia went it starts getting dark. loads of noises from all kinds off inofensive animals. Enjoy (PS we always have a baseball bat close by cause sometimes the noises stir your imagination no matter how you try to be a rationally thinking, experienced traveller.A dozen beers calm you down but ends up very expensive. cheers, Burro and Lola

I suppose free legal camping in n Ireland is very limited but if anybody wants free camping near Bangor n Ireland you can on my three acres..definitely no charge provided I can join at least one piss up