Elsan Points In Hampshire

We track several chemical disposal points across Hampshire, and every one is paid or tied to a site stay rather than free (a portion paid, a portion free). In the UK these are usually called CDPs, Elsan points, or motorhome service points, and most are attached to caravan sites rather than standalone facilities. You will find them at Caravan and Motorhome Club sites like Winchester Morn Hill, at several Forestry England campsites in the New Forest, and at private touring parks. Plan to empty your cassette or tanks as part of a pitch booking rather than expecting a free roadside stop.

A chemical disposal point, or CDP, is the UK equivalent of what North American RVers call a dump station. Also known as an Elsan point after the well-known chemical toilet brand, it is where you empty a toilet cassette or, at a motorhome service point, your grey and black waste tanks. Many British caravans and motorhomes use portable cassette toilets rather than large fixed black tanks, so a lot of CDPs are simple cassette-emptying stations. Larger motorhome service points also offer grey waste drainage and fresh water, which is what you want if you run a bigger fixed-tank rig.

The New Forest has several Forestry England campsites with waste facilities, though they vary a lot. Setthorns is the only year-round Forestry England site and has chemical emptying facilities and water, with some pitches offering electric hook-up. Hollands Wood near Brockenhurst and Roundhill offer camping but more basic facilities, so check before you rely on them. The Caravan and Motorhome Club New Forest Centenary site at Bransgore is open to non-members and has proper facilities. Remember that wild camping and overnight parking are strictly prohibited everywhere inside the New Forest National Park, so you must use a proper site.

Sometimes, but not always, and you should expect to pay. Many Caravan and Motorhome Club sites and Forestry England campsites will let non-members use the CDP or motorhome service point for a fee, but this is at the discretion of each site and is not guaranteed, especially in peak season when pitches are full. The reliable approach is to plan your emptying around nights you are actually booked in. Apps like Park4Night list some publicly accessible service points, and BritStops membership opens up pub and farm stopovers, some of which offer basic facilities to members staying overnight.

No, not in the way many overseas visitors expect. Wild camping in a motorhome or caravan is not legal in England without the landowner permission, and Hampshire is no exception. Overnight parking in lay-bys outside the New Forest is sometimes tolerated for a single night if done discreetly, with no awnings, chairs, or cooking outside, but it carries a real risk of being moved on. Inside the New Forest National Park it is strictly prohibited everywhere. Some council car parks specifically ban sleeping in vehicles overnight. For a legal stopover, use a caravan site, a Certificated Location, or a BritStops host.

Hampshire is well connected. The M3 runs from London down to Southampton, the M27 links Southampton to Portsmouth across the south, and the A3 brings you from London to Portsmouth. The A31 crosses the New Forest toward Dorset, the A34 heads north to Oxford, and the A303 runs west toward Stonehenge. These are all fine for motorhomes, but note the M27 has a 50mph limit and lane reductions through late 2026 for the junction 10 works. Motorhomes over 3.05 tonnes are limited to 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways and motorways.

A couple worth planning for. The Itchen Bridge in Southampton charges a toll of roughly 25 pounds for motorhomes, so route around it if you can. Height barriers exist at some car parks in Portsmouth and Southampton, so look for the designated motorhome-friendly ones. In Portsmouth, The Hard, St Georges Square, Museum Road, the Seafront, the D-Day car park, and Clarence Street have no height barriers. From April 2026, New Forest car parks on Crown Estate land start charging from 1.50 pounds per hour, with fines for parking on verges and in gateways, so never park on the open forest edge.

Diesel and petrol are widely available across Hampshire, with a BP station near M27 junctions 3 to 4 and Winchester Services on the M3 north of junction 9 offering 24/7 fuel and EV charging. Supermarket fuel at Sainsburys, Tesco, and Asda in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, and Basingstoke is usually cheapest. For LPG refills, check filllpg.co.uk to find the nearest autogas pump before you travel, as not every forecourt carries it. Marquis Leisure in Hampshire is a good bet for motorhome servicing and repairs, so call ahead if you need work done during your trip.

Plenty for a varied trip. The New Forest National Park is the headline, with free-roaming ponies, ancient woodland, and ten Forestry England campsites. Winchester Cathedral has the longest nave in Europe and the grave of Jane Austen, whose last home at Chawton is also open to visit. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard holds HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, and the Mary Rose, with motorhome-friendly parking at The Hard. Add the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, the South Downs National Park for walking, Marwell Zoo near Winchester, and the Spinnaker Tower for Solent views, and you have easily a week of touring.

Late spring to early autumn, roughly May to September, gives the most comfortable touring weather and all sites open. July is warmest with sunsets after 9pm in June, so evenings are long and pleasant. September and early October are our favourites, offering warm days, thinner crowds, and glorious autumn colour in the New Forest that peaks in late October. Winter is quiet but cold, with most Forestry England sites closed and only Setthorns open year-round, plus short days and forest fog. Spring brings bluebells and drier weather in March, though winds stay cool and changeable.

For most rigs, no. A standard UK driving licence covers motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass. If you passed your test before 1 January 1997 you can drive motorhomes up to 7.5 tonnes on your existing entitlement. Those who passed after that date need a C1 licence category for anything over 3.5 tonnes, so check your rig weight against your licence before you travel. No special permits are required for motorhome travel in Hampshire itself, though remember the speed limits are lower for heavier vehicles: 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways and motorways.

Genuinely free and legal spots are scarce, which surprises a lot of visitors. The New Forest National Park bans all overnight parking, and most council car parks either prohibit sleeping in vehicles or will from April 2026 when Crown Estate forest parking starts charging. Your best route to low-cost stays is BritStops membership, which lets you park free overnight at participating pubs, farm shops, and vineyards across Hampshire, usually in exchange for buying a meal or some produce. Certificated Locations through the Caravan and Motorhome Club also offer small, cheap, peaceful sites, which beat risking a lay-by move-on.

Fresh water taps are available at Morn Hill Caravan and Motorhome Club site near Winchester, at the Forestry England campsites in the New Forest, and at most touring caravan parks across the county. There are no reliable public roadside water points, so top up your onboard tank whenever you are on a site with a motorhome service point. If you are heading into the New Forest interior, fill up first, because facilities and fuel both get sparse once you leave the A31 and A337 corridors. Setthorns has water year-round, which is useful in the colder months when other sites close.

We track {{stationCount}} chemical disposal points across Hampshire, and every one is paid or tied to a site stay rather than free ({{paidPct}} paid, {{freePct}} free). In the UK these are usually called CDPs, Elsan points, or motorhome service points, and most are attached to caravan sites rather than standalone facilities. You will find them at Caravan and Motorhome Club sites like Winchester Morn Hill, at several Forestry England campsites in the New Forest, and at private touring parks. Plan to empty your cassette or tanks as part of a pitch booking rather than expecting a free roadside stop.

A chemical disposal point, or CDP, is the UK equivalent of what North American RVers call a dump station. Also known as an Elsan point after the well-known chemical toilet brand, it is where you empty a toilet cassette or, at a motorhome service point, your grey and black waste tanks. Many British caravans and motorhomes use portable cassette toilets rather than large fixed black tanks, so a lot of CDPs are simple cassette-emptying stations. Larger motorhome service points also offer grey waste drainage and fresh water, which is what you want if you run a bigger fixed-tank rig.

The New Forest has several Forestry England campsites with waste facilities, though they vary a lot. Setthorns is the only year-round Forestry England site and has chemical emptying facilities and water, with some pitches offering electric hook-up. Hollands Wood near Brockenhurst and Roundhill offer camping but more basic facilities, so check before you rely on them. The Caravan and Motorhome Club New Forest Centenary site at Bransgore is open to non-members and has proper facilities. Remember that wild camping and overnight parking are strictly prohibited everywhere inside the New Forest National Park, so you must use a proper site.

Sometimes, but not always, and you should expect to pay. Many Caravan and Motorhome Club sites and Forestry England campsites will let non-members use the CDP or motorhome service point for a fee, but this is at the discretion of each site and is not guaranteed, especially in peak season when pitches are full. The reliable approach is to plan your emptying around nights you are actually booked in. Apps like Park4Night list some publicly accessible service points, and BritStops membership opens up pub and farm stopovers, some of which offer basic facilities to members staying overnight.

No, not in the way many overseas visitors expect. Wild camping in a motorhome or caravan is not legal in England without the landowner permission, and Hampshire is no exception. Overnight parking in lay-bys outside the New Forest is sometimes tolerated for a single night if done discreetly, with no awnings, chairs, or cooking outside, but it carries a real risk of being moved on. Inside the New Forest National Park it is strictly prohibited everywhere. Some council car parks specifically ban sleeping in vehicles overnight. For a legal stopover, use a caravan site, a Certificated Location, or a BritStops host.

Hampshire is well connected. The M3 runs from London down to Southampton, the M27 links Southampton to Portsmouth across the south, and the A3 brings you from London to Portsmouth. The A31 crosses the New Forest toward Dorset, the A34 heads north to Oxford, and the A303 runs west toward Stonehenge. These are all fine for motorhomes, but note the M27 has a 50mph limit and lane reductions through late 2026 for the junction 10 works. Motorhomes over 3.05 tonnes are limited to 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways and motorways.

A couple worth planning for. The Itchen Bridge in Southampton charges a toll of roughly 25 pounds for motorhomes, so route around it if you can. Height barriers exist at some car parks in Portsmouth and Southampton, so look for the designated motorhome-friendly ones. In Portsmouth, The Hard, St Georges Square, Museum Road, the Seafront, the D-Day car park, and Clarence Street have no height barriers. From April 2026, New Forest car parks on Crown Estate land start charging from 1.50 pounds per hour, with fines for parking on verges and in gateways, so never park on the open forest edge.

Diesel and petrol are widely available across Hampshire, with a BP station near M27 junctions 3 to 4 and Winchester Services on the M3 north of junction 9 offering 24/7 fuel and EV charging. Supermarket fuel at Sainsburys, Tesco, and Asda in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, and Basingstoke is usually cheapest. For LPG refills, check filllpg.co.uk to find the nearest autogas pump before you travel, as not every forecourt carries it. Marquis Leisure in Hampshire is a good bet for motorhome servicing and repairs, so call ahead if you need work done during your trip.

Plenty for a varied trip. The New Forest National Park is the headline, with free-roaming ponies, ancient woodland, and ten Forestry England campsites. Winchester Cathedral has the longest nave in Europe and the grave of Jane Austen, whose last home at Chawton is also open to visit. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard holds HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, and the Mary Rose, with motorhome-friendly parking at The Hard. Add the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, the South Downs National Park for walking, Marwell Zoo near Winchester, and the Spinnaker Tower for Solent views, and you have easily a week of touring.

Late spring to early autumn, roughly May to September, gives the most comfortable touring weather and all sites open. July is warmest with sunsets after 9pm in June, so evenings are long and pleasant. September and early October are our favourites, offering warm days, thinner crowds, and glorious autumn colour in the New Forest that peaks in late October. Winter is quiet but cold, with most Forestry England sites closed and only Setthorns open year-round, plus short days and forest fog. Spring brings bluebells and drier weather in March, though winds stay cool and changeable.

For most rigs, no. A standard UK driving licence covers motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass. If you passed your test before 1 January 1997 you can drive motorhomes up to 7.5 tonnes on your existing entitlement. Those who passed after that date need a C1 licence category for anything over 3.5 tonnes, so check your rig weight against your licence before you travel. No special permits are required for motorhome travel in Hampshire itself, though remember the speed limits are lower for heavier vehicles: 50mph on single carriageways and 60mph on dual carriageways and motorways.

Genuinely free and legal spots are scarce, which surprises a lot of visitors. The New Forest National Park bans all overnight parking, and most council car parks either prohibit sleeping in vehicles or will from April 2026 when Crown Estate forest parking starts charging. Your best route to low-cost stays is BritStops membership, which lets you park free overnight at participating pubs, farm shops, and vineyards across Hampshire, usually in exchange for buying a meal or some produce. Certificated Locations through the Caravan and Motorhome Club also offer small, cheap, peaceful sites, which beat risking a lay-by move-on.

Fresh water taps are available at Morn Hill Caravan and Motorhome Club site near Winchester, at the Forestry England campsites in the New Forest, and at most touring caravan parks across the county. There are no reliable public roadside water points, so top up your onboard tank whenever you are on a site with a motorhome service point. If you are heading into the New Forest interior, fill up first, because facilities and fuel both get sparse once you leave the A31 and A337 corridors. Setthorns has water year-round, which is useful in the colder months when other sites close.