Car Park

Car parks are one of the most misunderstood overnight options for vanlifers — and one of the most variable.

The most obvious issue is height barriers. Most multi-storey car parks and many surface-level ones have barriers set at 2.0m, 2.1m, or 2.3m, which rules out most roof-raised campervans and any van with a high-top conversion. The posts here make a point of noting the barrier height, or confirming there isn’t one, so you’re not finding that out at 9pm with nowhere else to go.

The other thing that has changed significantly in recent years is ANPR cameras. Council-run car parks that used to be genuinely free overnight are increasingly fitted with cameras that enforce time limits — sometimes 24 hours, sometimes as short as two hours — and charge a penalty notice fee. Even where an ANPR system is in place, the time limits sometimes reset at midnight, meaning a late arrival and early departure works fine. That varies from council to council and even car park to car park, so the individual posts aim to give you the current reality rather than a generalisation.

What you actually need to know before committing to a car park overnight: is there a height barrier, is there ANPR, what hours does any restriction cover, are there toilets nearby, and is there any visible indication of whether overnight stays are tolerated or actively discouraged. These are the questions each post here tries to answer from a first-hand visit.