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Sleeping in a motorhome in Italy

The three legal facts are distinct: parking, sleeping inside and camping. The mistake that costs money is assuming that the second follows from the first.

Sleep inside

Sleep inside
YES — No national limit. The sign and the comune's ordinanza govern.
  • BY EXPRESS PROVISION OF LAW, sosta is NOT campeggio (art. 185 c. 2 CdS)
  • CHOCKS constitute campeggio (art. 185 c. 2.a)
Codice della Strada art. 185 c. 2; 7 c. 13-bis · verified on 2026-08-08
«La sosta delle auto-caravan, dove consentita, sulla sede stradale non costituisce campeggio, attendamento e simili se l'autoveicolo non poggia sul suolo salvo che con le ruote, non emette deflussi propri, salvo quelli del propulsore meccanico, e non occupa comunque la sede stradale in misura eccedente l'ingombro proprio dell'autoveicolo medesimo.»
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Park

Park
YES, WITH LIMITS — No national time limit. The motorhome is subject to the same rules as other vehicles (art. 185 c.1 CdS): wherever a passenger car may park, it may park. Durations and zones are set by the comune by ordinanza del sindaco (art. 7 c.1 lett. a, d, e, f).
  • The boundary between parking and sleeping overnight is written into the law: art. 185 c.2 CdS. The sosta is NOT campeggio only if (1) the vehicle rests on the ground on nothing but its wheels —stabiliser jacks lowered = campeggio—, (2) it emits no discharges of its own other than those of the engine, and (3) it does not occupy the roadway beyond its own volume —awning, table, chairs, chocks = campeggio—. Sleeping inside without deploying anything does NOT break the sosta. Art. 185 c.3: in pay car parks motorhomes pay a tariff increased by 50% compared with passenger cars. Art. 7 c.1 lett. h: the comune may create equipped areas reserved for the sosta and parking of motorhomes. Restrictions based on height, weight or length: there is no national rule; they come from the ordinanza del sindaco under art. 7 c.1 lett. a (which refers to art. 6 cc. 1, 2 and 4) and from the corresponding sign; and art. 7 c.1 lett. b allows the circulation of categories of vehicles to be restricted. Art. 185 cc. 4-5: forbidden to discharge organic waste and fresh or waste water on public roads and areas outside the emptying facilities.
  • in PAY car parks motorhomes are charged a tariff 50 % higher than passenger cars (art. 185 c. 3 CdS)
Decreto legislativo 30 aprile 1992, n. 285 — Nuovo codice della strada art. 185 c. 3 · verified on 2026-08-09
«Nel caso di sosta o parcheggio a pagamento, alle auto-caravan si applicano tariffe maggiorate del 50% rispetto a quelle praticate per le autovetture in analoghi parcheggi della zona.»
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Camp

Camp
NO
  • the only European law that defines the line with verifiable PHYSICAL criteria, citable by article and comma
  • LEVELLING THE VEHICLE in order to sleep comfortably is, literally, the factual element of the offence
  • breaking «salvo che con le ruote» with levelling chocks already crosses the line
Codice della Strada art. 185 c. 2.a y c. 6 · verified on 2026-08-08
«È vietato lo scarico dei residui organici e delle acque chiare e luride su strade ed aree pubbliche al di fuori di appositi impianti di smaltimento igienico-sanitario.»
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Regions

Abruzzo305 municipalitiesBasilicata131 municipalitiesCalabria352 municipalitiesCampania550 municipalitiesEmilia-Romagna330 municipalitiesFriuli-Venezia Giulia215 municipalitiesLazio378 municipalitiesLiguria234 municipalitiesLombardia1.503 municipalitiesMarche225 municipalitiesMolise136 municipalitiesPiemonte1.180 municipalitiesPuglia257 municipalitiesSardegna377 municipalitiesSicilia366 municipalitiesToscana273 municipalitiesTrentino-Alto Adige282 municipalitiesUmbria92 municipalitiesValle d'Aosta74 municipalitiesVeneto563 municipalitiesNo region assigned77 municipalities
The signage on site and the local authority prevail. This reproduces the written rule as at the date indicated: it is not legal advice or an authorisation.