le camping sauvage (wild camping)

We have been camping in campsites when we can but sometimes there is not one on our way so we will set up in an out of the way spot. It's not encouraged in many countries but in practice some are easier to do this in than others. Scotland is one place where it is legal under their roaming laws. You can camp overnight on private property or public land if you are not disturbing anyone or disrupting their animals or crops, and you must respect people's space (not camp in their backyard) and leave the area tidy.

Our wild camping experiences on the continent so far have been a bit mixed - the worst was a mozzie-infested wood in Belgium, and we had another poor one in France which has been christened "bugs and slugs camp". As we left we had to pick hand sized big brown slug/leaches from our shoes, bags and bikes. However, since then we've had some nice ones in woodland areas and fields and have aquired mozzie coils that deter most creepy crawlies.

Camping prices have been very reasonable in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In Antwerp, we camped just outside the city for about 6.50 euro a night for both of us! A few others have been under 10 euro but on average I'd say we have paid 12 euro a night for the two of us. Often campsites in France have a swimming pool, restaurant etc so quite ritzy by our standards.

Below is a drawing of us sleeping in our tent in a wild wood in France. I must have been a bit over tired because I coudn't sleep and my imagination was running away with itself hearing the noises outside the tent. We had been talking about the wild pigs that live in france and I was picturing them snuffeling into our tent in the night.