FREE UK Pub Stopovers for Campervans: Why We Love Them 🚐🍻

Why we love pub stopovers, how we find them and the UK pubs we’ve personally stayed at in our campervan…

 

One of the things we love most about having a campervan is that you don’t always need a big trip planned to get away!

This weekend was the perfect example..

We finished work on Saturday, jumped in the van and drove for less than an hour to Hornsea 🚐🌊

That’s it.

No weeks of planning, no annual leave and no expensive hotel booking.

We found a pub that welcomes campervans, parked up for the night and headed inside for some food and drinks. We got to spend the evening exploring somewhere different, support a local pub with our money and then simply walk back to our own bed in the van.

Honestly, this is one of our favourite things about van life!

And it got us thinking about just how many pub stopovers we’ve used around the UK.

So we thought we’d put together a guide to free UK pub stopovers for campervans — why we love them, how we find them and some of the places we’ve personally stayed.

And, most importantly, how we can all make sure these brilliant places continue welcoming campervans for years to come.

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What is a pub stopover?

If you’re new to campervanning, a pub stopover is basically a pub that allows campervans or motorhomes to stay overnight in their car park.

Some charge a small fee, while many allow you to stay for free provided you support the pub by buying food or drinks.

And that’s exactly why we love them!🍺

You’re getting somewhere safe and convenient to spend the night, while the pub gets customers through the door.

It’s a pretty good arrangement for everyone!

Rather than simply finding somewhere to park up and spending nothing, we get to have a proper meal, enjoy a drink and explore the area — and the pub gets our business.

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How we find free campervan pub stops

Our go-to app for finding overnight stops is Park4Night

We use it all the time, both in the UK and when travelling around Europe.

You can find campsites, aires, motorhome parking and lots of pubs that welcome campervans.

One of the best things about Park4Night is being able to read reviews from other people who have actually stayed there.

You can often find out things like:

• Whether overnight parking is currently allowed
• What the parking area is like
• Whether larger vans can fit
• What the food is like
• Whether there are toilets or other facilities
• What other campervanners thought of their stay

We always check the most recent reviews before travelling and, if we’re unsure about anything, we’ll contact the pub directly.

Remember that arrangements can change, so don’t assume that somewhere listed online still allows overnight stays.

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Why we love pub stopovers for campervan life

For us, pub stopovers aren’t just about getting a free place to sleep.

They’re about the whole experience.

We can finish work, drive somewhere new, have some tea, enjoy a drink, explore the local area and then walk back to our van.

It’s also a great way of discovering places we might otherwise drive straight past.

And because we both work full time, we don’t always have loads of time for big trips.

A pub stopover means we can make the most of just one night away.

We’ve used them for spontaneous weekends, longer road trips, trips to Scotland and even nights out where hotels were ridiculously expensive.

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Some of our favourite UK pub stopovers

These are places we’ve personally stayed at in our own campervan, rather than a list we’ve pulled together from the internet.

Every pub has its own rules and arrangements, so always check before travelling.

 

🍻 The Victoria — Hornsea

We finished work on Saturday and drove for less than an hour to Hornsea.

We parked up, headed inside for some food and drinks and spent the evening exploring somewhere different.

Our overnight stay was free as long as we supported the pub with our custom.

It’s exactly the sort of trip that makes having a campervan so worthwhile.

We didn’t need to book a week away.

We didn’t need to take time off.

We just finished work and went!🚐

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🦌 The Kestrel — Harrogate

We’ve also stayed at The Kestrel near Harrogate and really enjoyed it.

It’s a handy stop if you’re exploring Harrogate and the surrounding Yorkshire countryside.

We love the simplicity of these places — have some food, enjoy a drink, then your own bed is literally waiting outside.

No driving afterwards.

No taxi.

No expensive hotel.

Just walk back to the van!

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⛰️ The Station Inn — Ribblehead

This one is all about the location!

The Station Inn at Ribblehead is surrounded by the incredible scenery of the Yorkshire Dales.

And waking up in the van with Ribblehead Viaduct nearby is pretty special.

It’s one of those places where you open the van door in the morning, make a coffee and immediately think:

“Yep. This is why we bought a campervan.”

It’s also a brilliant base if you want to explore the Dales on foot.

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🌳 The Unicorn — Gunthorpe

We’ve stayed at The Unicorn in Gunthorpe too.

It’s a lovely riverside stop and somewhere you can make a proper evening of.

Have some food, enjoy a drink and then head out for a walk along the River Trent before settling down for the night.

We really like pub stops where there’s something to explore nearby rather than simply parking up and leaving again the next morning.

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🍺 The Pheasant Inn — near Carlisle

If you’re heading north towards Scotland, remember this one🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The Pheasant Inn near Carlisle is a really handy place to break up the journey.

We’ve stayed here, enjoyed some great food and had what Tom describes as a great pint of Guinness 😂

It’s exactly what we’d look for when travelling a long distance.

Rather than driving for hours and hours, we can stop, have a proper meal, enjoy a drink and get a good night’s sleep before continuing our journey the next day.

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🎸 The Red Lion — Oxford

This one probably deserves a special mention because it saved us a whole load of money.

Last year we went to a gig in Oxford and started looking at hotels..

The prices were… not great

So instead, we checked Park4Night and found The Red Lion

We stayed in the campervan, had food and drinks at the pub and avoided the cost of a hotel altogether.

And it’s not just handy for Oxford

We’ve seen people use the pub as a base and get public transport into London too!

How handy is that?!

It’s a perfect example of how useful having a campervan can be when visiting expensive cities.

We still went to our gig

We still had dinner and drinks

We still had somewhere comfortable to sleep

We just did it from our van instead of paying for an expensive hotel room

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🍕 Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn — near Scarborough

This one gets bonus points🍕

Because they had takeaway pizzas!

Need we say any more?

We’ve stayed at Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn near Scarborough and it’s another great option if you’re exploring the Yorkshire coast.

There’s something very satisfying about getting a pizza and taking it back to your own little home on wheels

Pub stop + pizza + campervan = happy CoyCruisin 😊

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🏔️ The White Horse — near Keswick

Great in winter, with the cosy fire 🔥

The Lake District is one of our favourite areas to explore in the van, and pub stopovers make spontaneous trips so much easier

Spend the day exploring, head back for some food and drinks and then your bed is already waiting for you

No campsite to find

No packing up

No worrying about driving after dinner

Just climb into bed and wake up in the Lakes!

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Pub stopovers can save you money too 💷

One of our favourite things about pub stopovers is that they can make trips that would otherwise be really expensive much more affordable.

Our Oxford gig is the perfect example!

Hotel prices were high, but we already had a perfectly good bedroom sitting outside!

So instead of spending a fortune on accommodation, we spent our money in the pub.

That’s something we really like about the pub stopover idea

We’re not trying to get something for nothing.

We’re supporting the business.

We have some food

We have a few drinks😅

And in return, we’re able to stay overnight.

It means everyone benefits!

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Responsible campervanning is SO important 🚐

This is probably the most important part of this whole topic

We absolutely love pub stopovers and we want them to continue being available to campervanners

But that depends on us looking after the places that welcome us.

If a pub allows you to stay overnight, they’re doing us a favour and creating a brilliant opportunity for the van life community

So let’s make sure we’re good guests!

🍻 Spend money in the pub

If overnight parking is free with food or drinks, actually go inside and support the business

Have dinner

Have a drink(s)🍻

Or grab breakfast before you leave

 

📞 Check before you arrive

Use Park4Night to find places, but always check the latest information.

If you’re unsure whether overnight parking is still allowed, contact the pub

 

🚐 Don’t treat it like a campsite

A pub car park isn’t automatically your campsite 🏕️

Unless you’ve been given permission, don’t put out your awning, tables, chairs and outdoor kitchen

Keep your setup contained to the van

🗑️ Leave absolutely no trace

Take your rubbish with you

Don’t empty waste where you shouldn’t

Don’t make excessive noise

And leave the parking area exactly as you found it.

❤️ Be respectful

Remember that you’re staying at someone’s business

There may be other customers, local residents and other campers around you.

Being considerate means pubs are more likely to continue welcoming us.

The future of pub stopovers depends on responsible campervanning

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Why supporting these pubs matters

We think pub stopovers are a brilliant example of how campervanning can work alongside local businesses

The pub gets customers

We get somewhere to stay🏡

We discover a new area

And everyone gets something from it!🥰

There are so many pubs around the UK that could potentially benefit from welcoming campervanners, especially in areas where people are travelling through

And we’d much rather spend our money in a local pub than hand it all over to a huge hotel chain

So if you’ve got a favourite pub that welcomes campervans, tell us about it!

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Where should we go next? 👀

This is where we need your help.

We’ve stayed at quite a few pub stopovers now, but we know there are loads more brilliant ones around the UK.

We’ve found them in Yorkshire, the Lake District, Scotland, Oxfordshire, Nottinghamshire and beyond.

Now we’re looking for our next ones

We’re particularly interested in recommendations for:

📍 Anywhere with amazing food!

📍 Anywhere with an incredible view!

📍 Or simply a really good pub!

If you’ve got a pub stopover you think we need to try, let us know!

We’ll keep sharing the places we've been to and love as we visit them 

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Our CoyCruisin pub stopover bucket list 🍻

For now, these are the places we’ve personally stayed:

The Victoria — Hornsea

The Kestrel — Harrogate

The Station Inn — Ribblehead

The Unicorn — Gunthorpe

The Pheasant Inn — near Carlisle

The Red Lion — Oxford

Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn — near Scarborough

The White Horse — near Keswick

And we’re hoping that list gets a LOT longer.

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The CoyCruisin verdict ❤️

This weekend’s little trip to Hornsea was a perfect reminder of why we love having a campervan.

We finished work

We drove for less than an hour

We found somewhere new

We had some good food 

We enjoyed a few drinks

We spent money in a local pub

And then we walked back to our own bed for the night

You don’t need two weeks off work or a 2,000-mile road trip to enjoy van life

Sometimes all you need is a full tank of diesel, a pub you’ve never visited and somewhere to park the van!

And if we can support local pubs and discover new places while we’re doing it?

Even better!

So here’s to more pub stopovers, more little UK adventures and hopefully finding some absolute hidden gems along the way!

If you know a great campervan-friendly pub stopover, send it our way — we’re always looking for somewhere new to try! 🚐🍻

We’ve personally stayed at all of the pubs mentioned in our 7meter van! Overnight parking arrangements can change, so always check the latest information with the pub or Park4Night before travelling!

we look forward to some great reccomendations!🙌🏽

📍 The Kestrel - Harrogate