19 articles
Campsites, wild camping and nights under the stars: where to sleep, with what kit and under which rules.
The tent is up, the kettle is on the stove at a sensible distance from the flysheet, and the light is fading over the clearing. An evening like that takes a little preparation, and this section covers everything that leads up to it. That means deciding where to sleep, whether on a campsite, a one-night wild camp or in a hammock slung between two trees, and finding out whether the spot allows it. Then comes the kit that keeps you warm and dry.
Wild camping and camping are not quite the same thing, and the difference matters once you read the rules. Depending on the country, the national park, the landowner or local byelaws, pitching a tent for a night can be allowed, allowed under conditions, tolerated or banned, and the answer is not the same in Scotland as in England and Wales. We quote the rules from the official texts, with the date we checked them, and we never present a tolerance as a right. The same care goes into campfires, whose rules vary with the season, the place and the landowner’s consent. Where a text is unclear, we tell you which authority to ask rather than guess for you.
On the kit side, we help you read what spec sheets really say. A tent is best judged by its packed weight, the one you will actually carry, not just the headline figure. Sleeping bag temperatures follow a standard worth understanding before you buy, a sleeping mat’s insulation can be compared through a dedicated rating, and a water filter should be chosen for what it actually removes. Stove safety has its place too, carbon monoxide included. When we compare models, it is spec sheet against spec sheet, with the standard and the sources alongside.
The guides are written as much for the family planning a first week on a campsite as for the wild camper stringing nights together. You will find simple skills, such as choosing a pitch sheltered from wind and run-off, keeping condensation down or leaving no trace, and the most common mistakes. Collectors of titanium pans will not be left out either. And when someone on the team has genuinely spent the night in the tent they describe, they write it up themselves.
CampingRules and regulations
Can you wild camp in the Spanish Pyrenees? There is no national answer: each autonomous community decides, then each protected area. Aragon bans free camping outside the forms its regulations allow, Navarre’s decree leaves walkers crossing on foot out of its scope, Ordesa sets altitude thresholds and Aigüestortes allows mountain huts only. Here is each rule, with its text and its date.
Arnaud Couderc··18 min
Dispersed camping in the USA on BLM land, national forests, refuges and state land: stay limits, distances, fire rules and official maps, agency by agency.
Arnaud Couderc··16 min
Length, wide straps, a 30° hang, the diagonal lie, tarp and underquilt: what the makers say about sleeping well in a hammock, and what parks allow.
Guillaume Hoarau··15 min
Wild camping and bivouacking in Italy: the texts of seven Alpine regions and provinces, national parks, the 2,500 m rule, bivacchi and the fines set out.
Arnaud Couderc··18 min
1,500, 3,000, 5,000 mm: what hydrostatic head measures, why the groundsheet needs more, and why a high figure doesn’t guarantee a dry tent.
Guillaume Hoarau··11 min
Dew point, breath, wet ground, long grass, still air: where the water in your tent comes from at dawn, how to reduce it and how to tell it from a leak.
Guillaume Hoarau··12 min
Backcountry permits, fees, booking windows and food storage rules in six US national parks: Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Rainier, Smokies.
Arnaud Couderc··8 min
How much food to take wild camping: about 4,500 kcal a day on a trek for 70 kg, or 1 kg of dry food. Freeze-dried meals, water, gas and a menu.
Julien de Jurquet··15 min
Wild camping in Austria: what the forest act and the nine state laws allow, the fines, nights in a campervan and when an emergency bivouac is legal.
Arnaud Couderc··17 min
The kit for a first wild camp, section by section, with the weights manufacturers list, what to borrow or hire, and a printable list to tick off.
Guillaume Hoarau··14 min
Grams of gas per litre by stove, wind and cold, butane or propane, weighing, valves, flying, recycling and carbon monoxide: a guide to stove gas canisters.
Guillaume Hoarau··16 min
Minimum or packaged weight, floor width, freestanding or not, flysheet, seasons, porch and standards: how to read the spec sheet of a wild camping tent.
Guillaume Hoarau··14 min
Wild camping in Germany: where one night in a tent is allowed, what the forest laws ban, the fines you risk and where you can sleep outdoors legally.
Arnaud Couderc··9 min
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