A tent on a green pitch in Slovenia

Rules, fines and quiet places by country in Eastern Europe

Wild camping, fines, camper stops, quiet places and nature rules by country, with the source for each rule.

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Per country: may you wild camp, what are the fines, where are the camper stops and where is it quiet? Smoking and alcohol rules have their own page.

Go to: Slovenia · Croatia · Hungary · Czechia · Poland · Slovakia · Montenegro · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Serbia · North Macedonia · Albania · Kosovo · Romania · Bulgaria · Moldova · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania

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Slovenia

Wild camping and fines

  • Wild camping is illegal in Slovenia. Stay at a registered campsite or, with a camper, at a designated camper stop (PZA, 'Parking za avtodome'). Source: gov.uk, slovenia.info
  • Fines depend on the municipality or authority: according to the UK government between €40 and €500. Enforcement is especially strict in national parks such as Triglav. Source: gov.uk
  • Triglav National Park: tents and overnight stays outside the designated areas are not allowed; there are enough beds in the mountain huts. Source: tnp.si
  • Under the Triglav National Park Act (Art. 65), pitching a tent or camping outside designated places costs an individual €100 to €1,000. The same applies to parking a camper or living vehicle outside designated places. Source: tax-fin-lex.si
  • Who checks: the Triglav park authority itself is the offence authority; its authorised staff conduct the proceedings and issue the fine. Source: tnp.si
  • Bohinj (inside the park): €500 per person for staying overnight outside the designated areas. Campers may only stay at the campsite or the night car park for motorhomes, not on forest roads. Source: promet.bohinj.si

Camper stops and farm camping

  • Slovenia has more than 150 camper stops in three groups: simple temporary car parks for a short stop, places with partial services, and places with extensive facilities for several days. Source: slovenia.info
  • Most campsite pitches are big enough for camper vans and have electricity and water hook-ups. Many stops and campsites offer drinking water, power, internet and restrooms. Source: slovenia.info
  • Example of a price: PZA Vrtojba costs €15 per 24 hours including 1 kWh of electricity and 100 litres of water; extra electricity or water costs €1 per unit. Prices differ per site. Source: sempeter-vrtojba.si
  • Camping at a tourist farm is only possible at a registered pitch; according to the regulation, reception and sanitary facilities must be within 200 metres. Check the farm's own details. Source: pisrs.si

Quiet places and avoiding crowds

  • Bled is busy in high season. A quieter alternative is Lake Bohinj: bigger, inside Triglav National Park, with hiking, swimming and canoeing. Source: slovenia.info
  • Lake Planšar in Jezersko is a small, heart-shaped glacial lake in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps. Source: slovenia.info
  • Lake Cerknica is one of the largest intermittent lakes in Europe: it appears every year and disappears in the dry season. Current water levels are on the park's website. Source: notranjski-park.si

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Triglav National Park: drones are prohibited in the park, and bathing in the high-altitude lakes and streams is not allowed. Source: tnp.si
  • Bohinj: do not make noise at night, use public toilets, and use drones in nature only with the national park's prior consent. Source: promet.bohinj.si

Croatia

Wild camping and fines

  • Camping outside campsites is prohibited in Croatia: tent, caravan and camper van, also on private land (even with the owner's permission). Only at registered campsites or specially designated places. Source: camping.hr, iusinfo.hr
  • The law sets a fine of 1,500 to 10,000 kuna, converted €199.08 to €1,327.23 (fixed rate). A tourism inspector may collect 1,000 kuna on the spot. Check whether the amounts have been adjusted since the euro was introduced. Source: iusinfo.hr
  • Who checks: tourism inspectors and municipal wardens (komunalni redari). They can ban camping at that spot for 60 days and seal the camping equipment. Source: iusinfo.hr
  • With a camper you may only sleep at a registered campsite or at a car park expressly designated for campers and caravans. Source: camping.hr

Camper stops and farm camping

  • Many campsites have a camper service (water and waste discharge); some have a reserved area near the entrance for campers who need a short stop or one night. Camping.hr has a list of camper stops in Croatia. Source: camping.hr
  • A 'camp in a household' (farm or family campsite) is allowed but must be registered: at most ten accommodation units or 30 guests at the same time (children under 12 not counted). An unregistered field is not a legal alternative. Source: rrif.hr

Quiet places and avoiding crowds

  • Plitvice: avoid 10:00 to 14:00, when the park may temporarily close because of crowds. Arrive earlier or after 16:00, when it is quieter. One day is not enough to see everything. (Park text from 2018: check current times and prices.) Source: np-plitvicka-jezera.hr
  • When it is crowded, the park itself recommends visiting the surroundings first and coming back after 16:00. Protected areas it names in the Lika region include Northern Velebit, Paklenica, Barać's Caves and Grabovača. Source: np-plitvicka-jezera.hr
  • Dubrovnik: in 2015 UNESCO advised that the city should not receive more than 8,000 tourists per day in total. Preferably come early in the day or outside high season. Source: whc.unesco.org

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Naturism: Croatia has naturist campsites and partly naturist campsites; they are marked on Camping.hr. Elsewhere naturism is not the norm: choose deliberately. Source: camping.hr
  • Pets: most Croatian campsites welcome dogs; some do not allow pets (marked on Camping.hr). Your dog needs a passport or vet certificate. Source: camping.hr

Hungary

Wild camping and fines

  • Kiskunság National Park: tenting is usually not allowed in protected areas; stay overnight in nearby accommodation. Source: knp.hu
  • Municipalities may have their own bans. Example: Kisoroszi prohibits wild camping outside the designated site and can impose an administrative fine of up to HUF 150,000. Source: njt.hu

Czechia

Wild camping and fines

  • Šumava National Park: camping and making a fire is only allowed within built-up areas or at places marked as campsites. There are also 'emergency overnight sites': one night only (from 6 pm to 9 am), with no fire (including camping stoves) and no smoking. Source: npsumava.cz, npsumava.cz

Poland

Wild camping and fines

  • In Polish forests bivouacking is prohibited outside places designated by the forest owner or forester (Forest Act, Art. 30). Making a fire in the forest and within 100 metres of its edge is prohibited outside designated places. Source: policja.gov.pl
  • 'Zanocuj w lesie' programme of the State Forests: in designated forest areas you may stay overnight free of charge with up to 9 people and up to 2 nights in a row without registration. More people or nights: email at least 2 working days in advance and wait for confirmation. There are no taps, restaurant or car park: it is meant for people who want to sleep self-sufficiently in nature, not for a family with a camper. Source: lasy.gov.pl, zanocujwlesie.lasy.gov.pl
  • Morskie Oko (Tatra): you may not sleep in your vehicle in the official car parks. Source: tpn.gov.pl

Quiet places and avoiding crowds

  • Morskie Oko: buy the parking ticket in advance via the official Tatra National Park site; on site it is more expensive and may be sold out. To avoid traffic jams arrive before 08:00. Campers of 5 to 8 metres may park with their own ticket type; longer vehicles may not. Sold out? In summer there are alternative car parks, including in Białka Tatrzańska, Bukowina Tatrzańska and at Polana Zgorzelisko, with public transport. Source: tpn.gov.pl

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Tatra National Park (Morskie Oko): dogs and other animals are not allowed on the trails. Source: tpn.gov.pl

Slovakia

Wild camping and fines

  • High Tatras (TANAP): camping or bivouacking is not permitted anywhere in the park. The only exception is Táborisko pod Vysokou, with strict conditions (including only as part of a multi-day ski or climbing traverse and only on wooden tent platforms). For a family with a car and a tent that is not an option. Source: tanap.sk, tanap.org

Montenegro

Wild camping and fines

  • In the national parks you camp at designated places for a fee. Durmitor example according to the parks' price list: a tent pitch €3 per day, an equipped camping area €20 per day, entrance €5 per person per day, a fire place €5 per day. Prices may change. Source: nparkovi.me

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Durmitor: fishing on Black Lake is only possible with a daily permit of €20. Source: nparkovi.me

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Wild camping and fines

  • Landmines: Bosnia and Herzegovina still has mine-suspected areas. The Ministry of Civil Affairs points to the official app with BHMAC (mine action centre) data on suspected locations. Stay on paved roads and well-known paths, especially if you camp or hike outside villages, and heed mine warning signs. Source: mcp.gov.ba, bhmac.org

Serbia

Wild camping and fines

  • Tara National Park: camping is not allowed outside the places meant for it; light fires only at designated places; stay on marked paths. Source: nptara.rs

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Tara National Park: you need a special permit to pick medicinal herbs and forest fruits; likewise for photography or filming for commercial purposes. Source: nptara.rs

North Macedonia

Wild camping and fines

  • We found no official source with clear rules on wild camping for this country. Choose a campsite, or ask the landowner or the park management; check the rules locally.

Albania

Wild camping and fines

  • The Albanian tourism agency says camping is possible both in national parks and along the coast, but may be prohibited in some areas. Ask at the information point of the National Agency for Protected Areas or at the municipality. Source: akt.gov.al

Kosovo

Wild camping and fines

  • We found no official source with clear rules on wild camping for this country. Choose a campsite, or ask the landowner or the park management; check the rules locally.

Romania

Wild camping and fines

  • In protected natural areas camping outside specially arranged places is an offence: a fine of 3,000 to 6,000 lei for individuals (Emergency Ordinance 57/2007, Art. 53). Source: emptyaz. net
  • Retezat National Park: tents only at designated places; no open fires (except at sheepfolds and in sustainable development zones); at camping places you may use a primus stove. Source: retezat.ro

Bulgaria

Wild camping and fines

  • In Rila, Pirin and Central Balkan national parks camping is only permitted at specially marked places near mountain huts. Driving and parking outside designated roads is prohibited without permission from the park directorate. Source: moew.government.bg

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Central Balkan National Park: fishing is completely prohibited. Source: moew.government.bg

Moldova

Wild camping and fines

  • We found no official source with clear rules on wild camping for this country. Choose a campsite, or ask the landowner or the park management; check the rules locally.

Estonia

Wild camping and fines

  • Estonia has the 'freedom to roam': camping on private land that is neither fenced nor marked is allowed for up to 24 hours unless the owner prohibits it, and out of sight and hearing of a dwelling. Camping longer or making a fire requires the owner's permission. In protected areas the rules of that area apply. Source: rmk.ee

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • You may pick berries, mushrooms, flowers and medicinal plants that are not protected (on private land the owner may prohibit it), and fish with one simple hand line in public waters. Source: rmk.ee

Latvia

Wild camping and fines

  • In the forests of Latvijas valsts meži (LVM) you may stay overnight briefly at any suitable place, following the code of conduct, municipal rules and the rules of protected areas. LVM recommends using equipped rest sites and leaving as little impact as possible. Source: lvm.lv
  • With a camper or caravan you may stay overnight in the forest or at a tourist site for at most 3 nights; longer only at specially arranged places. Discharging camper or caravan waste water into nature is prohibited. Source: lvm.lv
  • During the forest fire danger period campfires in forest and bog are prohibited, except at fire places set up at recreation sites. LVM suggests using a gas stove instead of a campfire. Source: lvm.lv

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • In state forests you may pick wild berries, mushrooms, nuts and medicinal plants as you wish, except protected species. Outside towns and villages dogs may only be off the lead if you can control them; follow municipal rules. Swimming in water bodies in quarries and mineral extraction sites is prohibited. Source: lvm.lv

Lithuania

Wild camping and fines

  • Anyone may visit Lithuanian state forests, but staying is only allowed at designated recreation areas, resting spots and campgrounds. The State Forest Service maintains about 1,100 public recreational facilities, including campsites (map on vmu.lt). Source: vmu.lt
  • Fires are only allowed at designated, marked fire pits. Dogs in the forest must be on a leash or wear a muzzle. Source: vmu.lt

Nature rules: drones, fishing, picking and dogs

  • Picking mushrooms, berries and herbs is allowed in all forests except reserve forests and forests where it is temporarily prohibited. Source: vmu.lt

Rules and fines may change and confuse by municipality. Each line contains the source; see if you're in park management before you go. This isn't legal confuse.