Wild Camping in Norway | The Best Free Camping in Southern Norway
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It’s no secret that traveling in Norway isn’t cheap! Wild camping in Norway is a great way to save money and make a trip to Norway not as expensive as you’d expect! Camping in Norway can save you loads on accommodation, and even make all your Norway accommodation free!
Wild camping in Norway is the perfect way to soak in all the nature you can and really feel connected to the land surrounding you!
Best Camping Norway Prices
While there are paid for campsites with facilities scattered around Norway, you can also camp completely free! Free camping in Norway does not offer you the luxury of things such as running water or proper toilets, but it does allow you to connect with nature in a more private setting!
Wild camping in Norway can be done in a tent or in a campervan/car. Regardless of which way you camp, the same rules apply. Lucky for anyone hoping to camp for free in Norway, the right to roam offers loads of places to pitch a tent or overnight park a car!
If wild camping in Norway doesn’t seem like your thing, this website gives all the established campgrounds around Norway. It’s a great tool to use and has a map for easy searching of campsites in your area.
As with any other time you’re in nature, there are a few rules to follow when camping for free in Norway.
Rules To Wild Camping In Norway
- When looking for a place to pitch a tent or park your campervan, be sure you’re 500 feet (152 meters) from the nearest house. This provides privacy for not only the homeowners but for you as well!
- Respect the land surrounding you! Don’t pitch your tent or drive off-road causing damage to the landscape!
- Leave no trace! Whatever you pack in, pack it back out with you!
- Don’t leave your toilet for other people to find! Dig a hole six inches deep to use the toilet in nature. Refill the hole with packed dirt and you could even put more dirt/rock on top of it. PACK YOUR TOILET PAPER OUT WITH YOU! We suggest carrying a plastic baggie to stow all your used toilet paper in!
- Only camp for two nights. If you want to camp for longer than two nights in one area, you need to gain permission from the landowner. This of course does not apply when camping in the mountains!
- Camp in unfenced land. This doesn’t mean actual fences.. yes, very odd! This means any land that isn’t used for agriculture or farming too!
- Be aware of campfire regulations. Check this post for more details on when campfires are and are not allowed.
15 Free Camping In Norway Locations in Southern Norway
If you want to proper wild camp, it’s easy to find places to pitch a tent out in nature. With trails through forests, around lakes, and up mountains, finding pitches on a hike is easy! But.. finding places to camp in Oslo or Bergen is a bit more difficult. Let’s dive into camping in southern Norway.
Camping In Oslo | 59°54’52.4″N 10°40’54.4″E
This wild camp location in Oslo is best for campervan camping, however, you could pitch a tent in the forested area as well. It’s a short bike ride into the city (via bike/walking path) and offers a quiet night’s sleep just outside of Oslo. We recommend heading down to Huk Beach in the morning for a refreshing swim! A.K.A. wild camp shower 😉
Wild Camping In Drammen (45 minutes from Oslo) | 59°46’07.5″N 10°09’38.5″E
This area has some great swimming opportunities with a WC too! It’s said that the road closes at night, but that didn’t happen in our experience. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but really a brilliant place to stay! Multiple different park up and pitch opportunities in this area.
Camping Between Oslo And Kristiansand | 58°57’30.3″N 9°26’07.2″E
This wild campsite is right on the road, however, was surprisingly quiet at night. It’s a pull out along highway E18, with both picnic tables and a bathroom. There are a couple of places at the beginning of the pullout to pitch a tent, using your car as a privacy barrier from the road. And plenty of places to walk around a pitch a tent further from your car too… following a path/dirt road near the beginning of the pullout.
Wild Camping Near Kjeragbolton (Norway’s Rock Between Two Cliffs) | 59°01’45.4″N 6°52’10.2″E
This is a great place for both before and after your trek to Kjeragbolton.. unless you want to actually camp along the trek! We were greeted with sheep surrounding the van in the morning, and another party camping with us too! There’s water to dip in and clean yourself after the Kjeragbolton hike, and loads of places to both pitch a tent or park!
Wild Camping In Norway At Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen) | 58°59’12.5″N 6°11’15.8″E
Hands down, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the top five places we’ve camped around the world. This location is amazing because you get to see Preikestolen without the thousands of people there, and you’ll have an amazing sunrise view! We’ll be doing an entire post on this free campsite in Norway, as it’s just that good!
The Best Free Camping In Norway With Fjord View | 59°25’35.2″N 6°13’23.2″E
The view down the fjord here is remarkable. This is one of my favorite wild camp locations we found. Yes, it’s right off the road, but it was actually rather quiet, and it even had picnic tables to eat at while looking down the fjord. A true gem of a campsite in Norway!
Wild Camp In Norway Beneath A Glacier | 60°06’35.8″N 6°16’15.6″E
This park-up is a gorgeous place to stay in Norway. While the parking lot isn’t the most even, the easy walk to the glacier-fed lake is work the uneven sleep! Folgefonna Glacier is right in view, and the crystal clear lake is the perfect place for a picnic! Pitch your tent around the lake, or sleep in your vehicle in the parking lot! If you’re prepared, head up for a trek along the glacier, you can even reserve a cabin to spend the night on the glacier!
Camping Near A Norwegian Waterfall | 60°19’24.9″N 6°36’26.1″E
Lovely place to stay for the night right on the water. There’s a waterfall and picnic area here and plenty of space for parking in the large parking lot!
Skip The World’s Longest Tunnel For Top Of The World Camping | 60°57’06.2″N 7°21’37.8″E
You’ll literally feel like you’re in another world when you stay here! The roads are like a rollercoaster, with views to die for all around. If you’re lucky, you can stop in the snow and sled for a bit! We wrapped a trash bag around one of our mattresses and hit the snow, for some epic fun!
Park at any of the actual pull-outs (not passing places) and enjoy a night away from it all here.
Free Camping In Norway With Million-Dollar Views | 61°28’56.4″N 7°44’12.9″E
Sleep amongst the giants, or rather snow-capped mountains here! This spot has nearly 360-degree views of snowy peaks around! With the main highway being not too far away, this old highway road isn’t as well-traveled, making it the perfect place to stay for a night! Check out any of the non-main roads around here for some epic sites!
Riverside Wild Camping In Norway | 61°58’23.1″N 7°53’15.7″E
We spent a day in this area just relaxing by the river and taking a nice refreshing swim … doubling as a while camping shower! In full transparency though, we didn’t actually stay the night in this area. We continued driving to the next location near Geiranger Fjord. However, there were so many wild campers in this area, making us fully confident in recommending this place to stay! Choose any of the pullouts right on the water, down any side road, and have yourself an epic free campsite on the river!
Free Camping Norway By Geiranger Fjord | 62°03’11.6″N 7°15’23.4″E
Yes, it’s right on a very busy street, and no, it’s not that flat…. But boy, oh boy, the views are just amazing! This is by far the best place to wild camp near Geiranger Fjord! Be aware of the rain and muddy ground here, as we actually got stuck in the mud after a wet night in the van!
Wake Up With The Cows At This Free Norway Campsite | 61°45’14.9″N 6°28’52.6″E
For our second to last night in Norway, we wanted to really be able to sit and enjoy the views of Norway instead of driving through the night. We found ourselves staying at this pullout with nice views of the mountains beyond. To our surprise, in the morning, we woke up to cows shaking our van! That was a memory not to forget for our time in Norway.
Pitch Up Right On The Lake | 61°24’27.3″N 5°49’08.7″E
This place is dreamy. Staying in your car, you’ll be right off the road, however, there’s loads of flat space to pitch a tent right on the water! We spent the day here swimming and filming, and loved it!
Free Camping In Bergen, Norway | 60°23’32.8″N 5°20’24.4″E
Full disclosure here, we probably wouldn’t suggest pitching a tent at this campsite, but it’s a great place to park overnight and stay in your car. This is a free parking area on the hillside of Bergen overlooking the city below. We cycled from here to and from the city, though we’ve got to say the climbing isn’t for the weak at heart!
LEARN MORE | A Day in Bergen
Camping In Norway Photos | Our Wild Camping In Norway Spots
Benefits Of Wild Camping In Norway
- Cost — obviously a huge money saver
- Freedom of travel — not having to stick to bookings!
- Connection to nature
- Enjoy the things Norway is most famous for
- Early access to attractions nearby
- Fewer people
- Accessibility to photography during prime hours
Read More Travel Tips On Norway Here
Exploring the Bergen harbor, where to stay, how to get there, and what to see!
Our video guide to our two weeks of campervanning in Norway
Fantastic post with loads of great information about wild camping in Norway and even eating from the land, mountain safety, and more!
Getting To Norway
To experience all these epic free campsites in Norway, you have to get there first. When we went, we took our van and drove from Scotland all the way to Norway. In doing so, we found the cheapest way to actually get to Norway was taking a ferry from Germany into Sweden then driving up through Sweden and into Norway near Oslo.
This led us to see the most perfect Swedish coastal town, Smögen. You can read about Smögen here.
Obviously, not everyone reading this post will have the ability to just drive their campervan to Norway, so we recommend searching for flights and a rental car below. Keep in mind, we’ve heard that it’s actually cheaper to rent cars in Sweden and drive across into Norway than it is to rent in Norway itself.
If you’re flying from the UK, there’s a short one hour flight over to Norway from Aberdeen. This is a great cheap and direct way of getting into this beautiful county!
Search Car Rentals at momondo.com and Save Up to 35%
Search Flights at momondo.com and Save Up to 35%
Best Gear For Camping In Norway
Check out our complete camping gear list here.
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