Germany has a dense network of campsites and dedicated motorhome stopovers, often with paid electricity, water and waste disposal.
Camper Rules Assistant
Build a country route and get compact allowed/do-not-assume/check cards for overnight rules, LEZ, tolls, documents and winter requirements.
Germany
Germany is friendly to motorhome touring when you use signed Stellplaetze, campsites and normal legal parking. Wild camping is broadly restricted, and city access can depend on environmental stickers.
Treat an overnight roadside stop as parking, not camping: keep awnings, chairs, steps and leveling gear inside the vehicle footprint unless a site explicitly allows them.
Private leisure motorhomes are normally outside Germany's truck toll system, but heavy or goods-use vehicles need a closer check before travel. Many German low-emission zones require a valid environmental sticker, and foreign vehicles may need to apply before entering.
Switzerland
Switzerland rewards careful motorhome planning: overnight rules are local, motorway vignettes apply below the heavy-vehicle threshold, heavy campervans pay PSVA, and mountain weather can reshape a route.
Use Switzerland's campsite and motorhome-site network for water, waste, electricity and legal overnight planning.
There is no single national permission to sleep anywhere in a motorhome; cantons, municipalities, protected areas and landowners set the practical limits.
Vehicles and trailers up to 3.5 tonnes generally need a motorway vignette, while heavy campervans and motorhomes over 3.5 tonnes pay the lump-sum heavy vehicle charge. Switzerland does not use one national LEZ sticker for tourists, but Geneva can activate Stick'AIR differentiated traffic during pollution peaks.
Overnight and wild camping
Germany
Treat an overnight roadside stop as parking, not camping: keep awnings, chairs, steps and leveling gear inside the vehicle footprint unless a site explicitly allows them.
- Wild camping away from designated areas is generally prohibited; use campsites, motorhome stopovers or signed trekking/camping areas.
- Local signs and municipal rules matter, especially near lakes, forests, nature reserves and tourist towns.
Switzerland
There is no single national permission to sleep anywhere in a motorhome; cantons, municipalities, protected areas and landowners set the practical limits.
- Use campsites, motorhome stopovers or signed parking where overnight stays are explicitly allowed.
- Avoid camping behaviour on ordinary parking spaces, especially in villages, mountain valleys, lakesides and nature reserves.