Sleeping outside campsites is banned in Austria – and often enforced. That goes for a bivouac without a tent too. In forests, national parks and Alpine valleys you can’t even lie down in a sleeping bag. The only exception is an emergency night out in bad weather – and even that has to be genuinely unplanned. Fines tend to be steep.

Neither a bivouac nor a tent is legal – unless you’re at a permitted site. Some federal states and nature parks turn a blind eye if you sleep alone under the stars and vanish without a trace in the morning. But elsewhere all it takes is for someone to spot you – and you’re in trouble. Officially, best not to try it.

Switzerland is kind to mountain folk – as long as you behave. A bivouac above the treeline is mostly allowed. Camping and longer stays aren’t. If you “bed down” high in the mountains – discreetly, without a tent, and you’re gone by dawn – nobody will say a word. Freedom here rests on trust and responsibility.

The rules vary from region to region, but in general: no tent, no fire pit, no camp by the lake. In national parks even a bivouac is illegal. Even so, people do bivouac in practice – mainly high in the mountains, where nobody sees you and you leave nothing behind. If you’re alone, with just a sleeping bag, and leave before the world wakes up, you’re usually left in peace.

A bivouac (sleeping bag only – no tent, no fire) is legal in most places, provided you stay just one night, high in the mountains, between 19:00 and 9:00. In the French Alps you’ll also often find designated bivouac spots near huts. The key is simple – be discreet, quiet and clean, and gone at daybreak.

Sleeping outside huts or campsites is banned – and checks are frequent. You can’t unroll a tent or even a sleeping bag by a stream or in the forest. If they find you, don’t expect mercy – Slovenians take protecting their mountains seriously. If you want peace of mind, arrange a bed in a hut.

Scandinavia has a legal right to roam and to spend the night in nature. So you can sleep under the stars – with a tarp or even a tent – as long as you’re off private land, stay no more than two nights in the same spot and don’t harm nature or people. A fire? With common sense and not in the dry season. You’re trusted here – provided you behave so that nobody even needs to keep an eye on you.

In national forests and on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) you can legally sleep out even away from campgrounds, as long as you follow a few simple rules: max. 14 days in one place, at least 60 m from water and no trace. In national parks you need a permit and you may only sleep in designated zones. On long-distance trails (the Pacific Crest Trail) sleeping out is the norm. And if you behave with respect, America will leave you be.

Nobody makes much fuss here – sleeping out is common, legal and natural. The mountains to the east mostly don’t do campsites, warnings or bans. As long as you don’t ruin a pasture or bother the locals, you can happily bed down by a lake or on a mountain pass. No need to hide – but you do need to be polite and humble. Because you’re a guest.