I almost always stay in laybys, carparks, side of the road etc.
Dispite what some will say, its fine and isnt illegal in any way.
In a car park, if it says something like 'no parking between 8pm and 8am'.
That is legally enforcable.
However if a sign says something like 'no overnight sleeping' it is not enforcable because there is no legal definition of 'overnight'.
The signs must say what vehicles and state a times between that they are not allowed to park.
But I tend to stick to the rule of, if there is any sign trying to stop it, I dont stay. Even if I know its not a legal sign because Im not out to annoy anyone.

As for in the side if the road or a layby.
Providing you dont get tables and chairs out etc, you are parking and not camping, so anywhere you can legally park, you can sleep.
We tend to pull up late, close the curtains and just go to sleep.
I often park in industrial estates but make sure you stay on the public road bit and are prepared to move off when people start showing up for work.

Many places I use often have the police drive by at some point, they have a look, prob do a PNC check on the motorhome to check its insured etc, they never disturb us and often wave or smile back to me.

I only stay in one place for one night, so I dont bother any one and I am always happy to move on if asked, with this attitude we havent had a problem ever in 36 years of doing it.
Its great to have the freedom to go where and when you want with no planning, which for me is the point of a motorhome.

As for Orpington. I dont know it sorry.
Canterbury park and ride overnight area is nice and was £3.50 a night last time we used it.

Hello Jane, we stay at Kelsey's farm at Bexley just outside of Swanley, when we visit our son in Chiselhurst.

http://www.campingatwoolletthallfarm.co.uk/Site%20Facilities.htm

Hope this helps

Spinner

I agree with Tom1 ... I parked up in a couple of laybys on my last trip ... first solo trip ... I was woken up by the police in the first one ... they were checking they said ... but they were very nice and just told me to keep the doors locked ... so as long as you don't overstay your welcome ... you can really park anyway

Do a dry run and try it for a night ...

Woken up by the police Katmax. You must look dodgy!

I have never been disturbed, even when parked in Tenby on a road that had double yellows but the bit I was on had just been repaired, so there were lines either side of me but not on the bit I was parked on!
The police stopped near us but never knocked the door.

Mind you that night I was pooped and had to stop or it may have gone very wrong! So it was a case of, there will do!

I almost always stay in laybys, carparks, side of the road etc.
Dispite what some will say, its fine and isnt illegal in any way.
In a car park, if it says something like 'no parking between 8pm and 8am'.
That is legally enforcable.
However if a sign says something like 'no overnight sleeping' it is not enforcable because there is no legal definition of 'overnight'.
The signs must say what vehicles and state a times between that they are not allowed to park.
But I tend to stick to the rule of, if there is any sign trying to stop it, I dont stay. Even if I know its not a legal sign because Im not out to annoy anyone.

As for in the side if the road or a layby.
Providing you dont get tables and chairs out etc, you are parking and not camping, so anywhere you can legally park, you can sleep.
We tend to pull up late, close the curtains and just go to sleep.
I often park in industrial estates but make sure you stay on the public road bit and are prepared to move off when people start showing up for work.

Many places I use often have the police drive by at some point, they have a look, prob do a PNC check on the motorhome to check its insured etc, they never disturb us and often wave or smile back to me.

I only stay in one place for one night, so I dont bother any one and I am always happy to move on if asked, with this attitude we havent had a problem ever in 36 years of doing it.
Its great to have the freedom to go where and when you want with no planning, which for me is the point of a motorhome.

As for Orpington. I dont know it sorry.
Canterbury park and ride overnight area is nice and was £3.50 a night last time we used it.

I think Tom has just about summed it up. We do all as he says and have never been bothered by anyone. Same applies all over Europe, though at least some countries do have aires etc for us, which does help

aah! - 2nd thought - sports stadiums can be useful - always have a car park and not near houses to bother anyone,

Woken up by the police Katmax. You must look dodgy!

As they could not see me until they woke me up I will pass on that Tom1 ... more like they saw the stickers on the van and thought Yes we have some hippies and drugs ... how disappointing to just find an OAP and her dog
They had run a check on the van because they had my name ... they were very nice and a little bit concerned about me being in a layby on my own ... I assured them my bite was worse than my bark and they seemed OK with that

I think its all about attitude really, don't act like its your right to stay anywhere (even though it is!)
Never leave a mess outside, either why you are there or after you leave and just be respectful in general, never stay more than a night in one spot (unless you ask or have permission) and you wont get any problem.
I often stay in a layby just outside a place we are going to, then drive to the place in the morning, rather than turn up the night before.
And you always have a trump card of 'I was so tired it was dangerous to drive on', which for me is often true anyway.

But above all, don't be frightened to ask people if you can stay, I have stayed in supermarket car parks after filling up with fuel (Tesco's are particularly friendly) and even a subway sandwich shop car park simply because I asked if there was any chance because I was tired or visiting something local the next day.
You will be surprised how positive some people will be. Ok some may not but if don't ask, you don't know!

Unless your a hippy like Katmax!

In Europe its less problematic, in fact in Spain you have a right to PARK anywhere that it is not prohibited or stupid to do so. The key word is PARK, that means no tables and chairs outside or awnings extended etc. because that is classed as camping which is not permitted. The camping behavior rule also applies to leveling ramps or hanging stuff out to dry.

But there are plenty of Áreas de Servicio with more opening all the time, so you should never be stuck for somewhere to park up for the night. In the UK I have used the CM Pub Stopovers listed on this site and I found them to be great. I also use the motorhome stopovers from this site, when I am at home or further afield.

I also have an App on my tablet from NKC the Dutch camping club which can be used offline and gives the choice of finding somewhere nearby from your GPS location of you can type in a location and it will give all the sites in or around that location. The App is free or there is the option to buy the full version for €6 per year which I find well worth it because it lists all the sites they have on their files. Plus its less bulky than books and doesn't go dog eared with use. I just recharge the tablet as needed

For information the app is available from playstore as All Motorhome Parkings or http://www.campercontact.com

Thanks to everyone- that was really helpful

In Europe its less problematic, in fact in Spain you have a right to PARK anywhere that it is not prohibited or stupid to do so. The key word is PARK, that means no tables and chairs outside or awnings extended etc. because that is classed as camping which is not permitted. The camping behavior rule also applies to leveling ramps or hanging stuff

Thats exactly how it is here in the UK. Not problematic at all.

I also have an App on my tablet from NKC the Dutch camping club which can be used offline and gives the choice of finding somewhere nearby from your GPS location of you can type in a location and it will give all the sites in or around that location. The App is free or there is the option to buy the full version for €6 per year which I find well worth it because it lists all the sites they have on their files. Plus its less bulky than books and doesn't go dog eared with use. I just recharge the tablet as needed

NEILMAC ... an App would be good ... are they expensive to run/make or whatever you call getting one up and running

NEILMAC ... an App would be good ... are they expensive to run/make or whatever you call getting one up and running

Yes, an app would be hugely expensive and also to keep it running. As mentioned there are some apps around if that's what folks want

As far as CM goes my thinking is that there is less and less need for offline access to stopovers as mobile networks improve in performance and price and give roaming coverage abroad within an existing service plan.

However.....

The mapping on CM is undergoing huge improvements as part of the ongoing re-write that I'm hard at work with at the moment...

In this respect EVERY stopover has (or will have when I've finished) a map that can be zoomed in and out to show (and link to) nearby stopovers, or those further away come to that. It's possible to get directions and show on GoogleMaps in a new window - there are loads of options (as examples check out a few stopovers in any area of France to see how it all works)

Also for proper offline use I'm preparing downloadable ebooks for each region/county and probably country. These can be used on tablets, Kindles smartphones - anything that can display an ebook. So watch this space!