In short
In France you may sleep in a motorhome or campervan wherever parking is legal and not banned, as long as nothing is set out around it. A tent needs the landowner's consent and cannot go on the roadside. The core zones of the Pyrenees and Cévennes national parks are stricter. In Scotland, access rights cover a small tent for a night or two, but not sleeping in a vehicle. In England and Wales you need a campsite or the landowner's permission for both.
The short answer, by country
A quick guide for the places the 2027 race goes. The sections below give the detail and the official sources. Local bans can be stricter, so check the signs where you stop.
| Where | Stages | Tent | Van overnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Stages 4 to 21, Femmes Stages 4 to 9 | Only with the landowner's consent, off the road and its verges. Never on the coast, in protected sites or within 200 m of a drinking water source. | Yes, where parking is legal and not banned, with nothing set out around the van. |
| Pyrenees and Cévennes national parks, core zones | Stages 14, 18 and 19 | Pyrenees: a small tent from 7 pm to 9 am only, more than an hour's walk from a road or the edge of the core zone. Cévennes: only in some areas and at set times. | No overnight parking for motorhomes or vans in the core zones. |
| Scotland | Stage 1 | Yes, under access rights: a small tent, for two or three nights at most, well away from buildings and roads. | Not covered by access rights. Use a campsite or a place that welcomes vans. |
| England | Stages 1 and 2, Femmes Stages 1 to 3 | Only with the landowner's permission. Dartmoor, where the race does not go, is the one exception. | Only on a campsite or with the landowner's permission. In the Lake District, formal campsites only. |
| Wales | Stage 3 | Only with the landowner's permission. | Only on a campsite or with the landowner's permission. |
France: parking is allowed, camping is not
In France a motorhome or campervan counts as a vehicle, so you may park it, and sleep in it, wherever parking is legal. Towns can restrict motorhome parking, but the government has reminded them that such bans must be justified. Look for signs banning motorhomes or overnight stays, and for height barriers at car park entrances.
What turns parking into camping is what you put outside: chairs, a table, an awning, a washing line or levelling blocks. Keep everything inside the van, and the van inside a marked space.
Around a stage, the rules tighten. Towns and departments ban parking along the route for a day or two, and on the big climbs the department sets out its own motorhome parking and closes the road once it is full. Our road closures page has the details.
Tents in France
French law lets you camp outside a campsite with the consent of whoever uses the land, but not on the road itself, which includes its verges. So a tent on the grass beside a mountain road is not covered, however many people do it on race day. On a farm field, ask the farmer.
Camping outside a campsite is banned, unless a waiver is granted, on the seashore, in listed and protected sites, in protected heritage areas and around historic monuments, and within 200 m of a drinking water source. Towns can also ban it by local order, and many do near the route.
Fines and moving on
Gendarmes and town police can fine you for breaking a local ban and ask you to move on, at any hour. A van left where parking is banned can be fined and towed, and on race day that includes the roads that close for the race.
If someone asks you to leave, leave. On a Tour weekend there will be other fans looking for the same spot, and a legal one a few kilometres away.
National parks: the Pyrenees and the Cévennes
The core zone of the Pyrenees National Park covers the high mountains along the Spanish border, above valleys used by Stages 18 and 19. There, motorhomes may not park overnight and you may not camp. A small tent is allowed only between 7 pm and 9 am, more than an hour's walk from a road or from the edge of the core zone. Fires are banned, and so are dogs, even on a lead.
Stage 14 crosses the Cévennes on its way to Mende. In the core zone of the Cévennes National Park, sleeping in a vehicle is banned, vans and converted vans included. The only exceptions are the courtyard of a house, with the owner's consent, and a marked area of the Prat-Peyrot car park on Mont Aigoual, for one night. A small tent is allowed only in some areas and at set times. Outside the core zones, the normal French rules apply.
Scotland: Stage 1
Scotland's access rights include lightweight camping: a small tent, in small numbers, for no more than two or three nights in one place, well away from buildings and roads. Avoid fields with crops or animals.
Access rights do not cover motor vehicles, so sleeping in a campervan by the road is not a right. Use a campsite or a site that welcomes vans, and respect any parking rules a landowner sets. Do not light open fires when the weather is dry, or near woods, farmland or buildings.
England: Stages 1 and 2, Femmes Stages 1 to 3
There is no general right to wild camp in England. Dartmoor is the one exception, confirmed by the Supreme Court on 21 May 2025, and the race does not go there.
Stage 2 starts in Keswick and crosses the Lake District. The National Park Authority says wild camping there is technically not permitted without the landowner's permission. It is normally tolerated high on the fells, above the highest wall, away from towns and lakes, with no fires. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time, and the only legal places to stay in a campervan are formal campsites.
Femmes Stage 2 climbs Winnats Pass in the Peak District. The open access land there gives no right to camp, and the National Park Authority allows no wild camping on its own land. Stay at a campsite in the Hope Valley or around Castleton.
Wales: Stage 3
In Wales you need the landowner's permission to camp, in a tent or a van. Natural Resources Wales calls camping without it fly camping and warns that it raises the risk of wildfires. Stage 3 crosses the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, where the same rule applies.
The legal alternative: pop-up campsites and the lists on our stage pages
For big events, landowners can open temporary campsites. In England a field can be used as a campsite for up to 60 days a year, with up to 50 pitches for tents and campervans but not caravans, and it must have toilets and waste facilities. In the Welsh national parks the limit is 28 days a year, for tents only, and the site must be notified to the planning authority. Expect some near the UK stages; we add them to the stage pages when they are announced.
In France, use campsites, RV areas (aires) and the motorhome parking the department opens on the big climbs. Every stage page lists the campsites, RV areas and, in the UK, caravan parks within about 3 km of the route.
Leave no trace
Take all your rubbish with you, and empty toilet and grey water only at a service point or campsite. Do not light fires: they are banned in the national parks, and in July the hillsides are dry. In Scotland, go to the toilet at least 30 m from water.
On a climb, the fans who come next year depend on the landowners and towns who put up with this year's.
Update log
- 11 November 2026: page published. Rules checked against the official sources at the foot of the page on 11 November 2026.
Plan more of your trip
- UK Grand Départ
- Tour de France, Stage 1: Edinburgh → Carlisle
- Tour de France, Stage 2: Keswick → Liverpool
- Tour de France, Stage 3: Welshpool → Cardiff
- Tour de France Femmes, Stage 1: Leeds → Manchester
- Tour de France Femmes, Stage 2: Manchester → Sheffield
- Tour de France Femmes, Stage 3: London → The Mall
- Tour de France, Stage 14: Montpellier → Mende
- Tour de France, Stage 18: Pau → Col du Portet
- Tour de France, Stage 19: Hasparren → Laruns
- Winnats Pass: where to stay and watch
- Following the Tour by motorhome or campervan
- Motorhome aires and Camping-Car Park areas on the route
- Road closures and motorhome parking on the climbs
- The Pyrenees by motorhome, Stages 17 to 19
Questions about wild camping at the Tour
Is wild camping allowed at the Tour de France?
In France you may sleep in a self-contained van wherever parking is legal and not banned, with nothing set out around it, but a tent needs the landowner's consent and cannot go on the roadside. In Scotland a small tent is allowed under access rights. In England and Wales you need a campsite or the landowner's permission.
Can I sleep in my campervan by the road on a French climb?
Yes, if parking is legal there and no sign bans motorhomes or overnight stays, and you keep chairs, tables and awnings inside. Before a big mountain stage the department usually sets out motorhome parking and closes the road once it is full, so arrive early.
Can I pitch a tent on the roadside of a col?
No. French law allows camping outside campsites only off the road and its verges, with the consent of whoever uses the land. Ask a farmer for a field, or use a campsite in the valley.
Can I wild camp in Scotland for the Grand Départ?
With a small tent, yes, for two or three nights at most and well away from buildings and roads. Sleeping in a campervan is not covered by access rights, so use a campsite or a site that welcomes vans.
Can I sleep in my van in the Lake District before Stage 2?
Only on a formal campsite. The National Park Authority says no one has a right to pitch up for a night, and camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time. Book a campsite early.
Will there be pop-up campsites for the UK stages?
Probably. In England a field can be used as a campsite for up to 60 days a year without planning permission, with up to 50 pitches. We add the sites to the stage pages when they are announced.
Photo credits
- Corniche de Causse Mejean by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
· Sources: Légifrance, camping outside campsites (Code de l'urbanisme, R111-32 to R111-35), Assemblée nationale, written answer on motorhome parking (2014), Pyrenees National Park, rules, Cévennes National Park, vehicles and overnight parking, Scottish Outdoor Access Code, camping, Lake District National Park, wild camping, Lake District National Park, campervans, Peak District National Park, camping, UK Supreme Court, Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority (2025), Natural Resources Wales, summer 2025 visitor advice, legislation.gov.uk, temporary campsites in England (2023), Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, temporary campsites