You can sleep in a van in France wherever parking is allowed for any other light vehicle, day or night, as long as the parking is not dangerous, obstructive or abusive under the French Highway Code. Parking becomes abusive after seven days in the same spot on the public road, or sooner if a local order says so. Mayors can restrict motorhome parking, but a blanket ban across a whole commune goes too far. Once you leave the road and set up on land, the camping rules in the French planning code take over.
1. On the public road, you can sleep in a van like any car parks: seven days at most, and within the signs and local orders.
2. Off the road, camping needs the agreement of whoever has the use of the land, and four kinds of place are off limits.
3. The core zones of national parks have their own orders, worth reading before you go.
Parking up to sleep in a van: the Highway Code rule
The French state has taken the same line for years. In a written ministerial answer published in the Journal officiel on 25 December 2007, the Transport Ministry stated that motorhomes are no different from other light vehicles, and cannot be denied the right to park as long as stopping there is not dangerous, obstructive or abusive. An answer from the French Senate published in August 2025 restates the principle and points to articles R417-9 to R417-13 of the Highway Code.
The time limit comes from article R417-12 of the French Highway Code: parking counts as abusive after seven days in the same place on the public road, or a shorter period set by local order, and carries a second-class fine. To sleep in a van without ambiguity, keep everything within your parking space: chairs and table inside, awning rolled up.
What a French mayor can and cannot ban
A mayor’s powers over parking come from articles L2213-2 and L2213-4 of the French local authorities code, which allow closing certain roads for public peace, air quality or the protection of sites. Those powers have limits: an answer published in the Journal officiel on 8 December 2015 says a ban of excessive scope, such as one covering the entire commune, falls outside that framework, citing case law from administrative appeal courts in Nantes in 2010 and Bordeaux in 2000. The 2025 Senate answer confirms any ban must be proportionate and based on established facts.
In practice, a no-entry sign or a height barrier reflects an order you have to respect on the night. If you think a ban is too broad, the place to challenge it is the town hall or the administrative court, afterwards.
Sleeping in a van off the road: the camping rules
Once you leave the public road for a plot, a private track or a field, the French planning code applies. Its article R111-32 sets the principle: camping is freely allowed away from roads, with the agreement of whoever has the use of the land. Article R111-33 then bans camping on your own, unless an exemption applies, on the seashore and listed sites, in classified sites, around historic monuments, and within 200 metres of a drinking water catchment. Article R111-34 adds a local layer: the local plan or a mayoral order can ban camping outside designated sites, posted at the town hall and signed at the access points.
National parks: where to sleep in a van legally
To sleep in a van in a national park core zone, each park follows its own order. In the Cévennes, the order of 21 March 2016 bans camping in a tent, a vehicle or any mobile shelter in the core of the park, but allows motorhomes to park overnight in dedicated car parks, one night at a time. That rule does not carry over to other parks automatically: read the relevant order before you go.
On signs, C23 shows the conditions for motorhome access in a commune, CE4b marks designated campsites, and CE24 marks service areas equipped with waste disposal points, where you fill up with water between nights. For the electrical side, our guide to how much solar power your van needs helps you work out how many nights you can string together off grid. A van approved as a motor caravan falls under the same parking logic as a motorhome, and our article on VASP registration in France explains how to get it recognised.
Where to sleep in a van, place by place
| Where you are | The rule that applies |
|---|---|
| Parking space in a town or village | Highway Code: allowed wherever a car may park, seven days at most, local orders respected |
| Private land, track or field | Planning code: agreement of whoever uses the land, outside the four banned zones |
| National park core zone | The park’s own order, to read before you go (dedicated car parks only in the Cévennes) |
| Service area or designated site | The area’s own rules, signed with CE24 or CE4b |
To sleep in a van in France with a clear conscience, start by working out what kind of place you are parked in, then find the text that covers it: the Highway Code on the public road, the planning code off it, and the park order in a protected area.