Originally Posted by
Leo L.
Only in Scandinavia there is an old tradition when it comes to roaming and camping, everything is free unless its definitely forbidden.
In all other EU countries that I know of, its just the opposite, everything is forbidden unless its definitely allowed.
There are many lists like the one you've linked, and most look nice and comprehensive, but fail miserabley when it comes to specific details.
I may give you the example of my state (Austria):
(wild) camping is forbidden, unless you've got a dedicated "yes" from the landowner. Every slice of land is owned by somebody, so there is zero chance to camp wild legally without permission.
Then we have a specific set of laws that regulate the touristic usage of forests and mountains, which has one basic rule: Roaming (by foot) is free in all forested and Alpine areas, unless there is some very specific limitation for hunting or regrowth etc.
This free-to-roam in forests does definitely exclude overnighting. No matter if you just sleep under the open sky or in a tent, overnighting in the forest is off-limits. (you may legally walk circles around a tree the whole night, though).
And then we have 9 countries here which make the state of Austria, which all have different regulations how camping will be handeled in the Alpine areas above treeline. In my country and the 3 around us, its legal to camp above tree line. In the next 2 towards west, where the really high mountains loom, its forbidden.
This all said, the practical side is, that hardly anybody goes out for overnighters here, so most likely nobody has a clue what the legal situation is, and nobody would care and harm you anyway.
Biggest "danger" are the hunters, who typically rent a whole hunting area (like, a whole valley and the mountains around), and most likely will kick you out the hardest way possible.
And then there are local places here and there, where wild camping is tolerated by the owner and the authorities. Hard to know about these places without the specific knowhow.
I really don't know about how this is handeled in the SE part of the EU.
We have wild-camped in all southern EU, mostly at the beach, where its said to be legal (because a wide stripe along the coast is state property and is free to access), but then one day the Police came and kicked out everybody. This hassle was started by the restaurants and rent-room-places in the nearby village, because they wanted to improve the business.
Just to add:
In no way I want to fend anyone off from hiking in EU.
Just in the opposite, I envy Americans for the easy and legal way to roam and camp, and would very much love to have something similar here.
What I personally do is stealthing so nobody ever knows where I spent my night.