Openvan Travel

OpenVan.camp Public API

Free, no-auth API for vanlife data: fuel prices, route fuel cost, toll roads, holidays and peak traffic days, travel hazards, power plugs, customs rules, currency rates, food cost index, weather suitability scores, visa and vehicle-import rules, vanlife events, news stories, and license plates of the world — all in one place, no registration required.

Base URL: https://openvan.camp
Auth: None required
CORS: Enabled
License: data is CC BY 4.0; code in this repository (SDK, MCP server, examples) is MIT Attribution required: show Data: <a href="https://openvan.camp/">OpenVan.camp</a> wherever you display the data — see Attribution

JavaScript/TypeScript SDK: @openvancamp/sdk — npm install @openvancamp/sdk. Zero-config, typed, Node.js / browser / edge. SDK docs →

Python SDK: openvan — pip install openvan. No dependencies, Python 3.9+, works with pandas. Python docs →

Daily CSV snapshots: openvancamp/openvan-travel-data — fuel prices, exchange rates, food cost index and weather scores as CSV/JSON, one commit a day, with history.

MCP Server (for AI agents): mcp-server/ — 29 read-only tools with interactive cards in Claude and ChatGPT (incl. plan_road_trip — a whole-trip roadbook), hosted at https://mcp.openvan.camp/mcp, or locally npx -y @openvancamp/mcp-server for Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf. Install docs → · AI agents guide →

Gemini CLI extension: install this repository with gemini extensions install https://github.com/openvancamp/openvan-camp-public-api. The root gemini-extension.json connects Gemini CLI directly to the hosted OpenVan.camp MCP server; no API key is required.

In your AI assistant, no code: Claude connector · ChatGPT app · Telegram bot @OpenVanCampBot — the same data as interactive cards in the chat. How to connect →

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What is authoritative

Resource	Purpose
This README	Quick overview and code examples
/docs	Interactive documentation with "Try it out"
/docs.openapi	Full OpenAPI 3.0 contract (always up to date)
/docs.postman	Postman collection

The OpenAPI spec at /docs.openapi is generated from the live codebase and is the authoritative contract. Numbers in this README (country counts, story totals) are approximate and updated periodically — check /api/fuel/prices meta or /api/stories pagination for current totals.

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Endpoints

Endpoint	Description	Coverage
GET /api/fuel/prices	Retail fuel prices (gasoline, diesel, LPG, E85)	160+ countries
POST /api/route-cost	Fuel cost for a route of 2–10 waypoints, per-country prices	—
POST /api/roadbook/from-places	Whole-trip roadbook from 2–10 place names: day-by-day plan, budget, per-country entry and vehicle rules; returns a shareable page	—
GET /api/roadbook/{code}/status	Build status of a roadbook (poll until ready)	—
GET /api/tolls/countries	Toll roads by country: payment system, per-km rates by vehicle class, vignettes	84 countries
GET /api/tolls/route	Toll cost for a route of 2–10 place names (car, van, heavy), EUR range	—
GET /api/holidays/countries/{code}?from=&to=	Public holidays, school holidays (regional) and peak traffic days	212 countries
GET /api/hazards/countries/{code}	UK FCDO travel advice level and current GDACS natural disasters	—
GET /api/hazards/fires?bbox=	NASA FIRMS active fires of the last 48 hours in a bounding box (up to 10°×10°)	worldwide
GET /api/electricity/countries/{code}	Plug types, mains voltage and frequency, campsite hook-up (CEE17)	229 countries
GET /api/customs/countries/{code}?from=	Customs rules on entry by car: food, cash, alcohol, tobacco, fuel canister	—
GET /api/currency/rates	Exchange rates relative to EUR	150+ currencies
GET /api/vanbasket/countries	Food price index relative to world average (100 = world avg)	90+ countries
GET /api/vanbasket/compare?from=DE&to=TR	Compare food costs between two countries	—
GET /api/vanbasket/countries/{code}	Single country + historical snapshots	—
GET /api/vansky/weather	Vanlife weather suitability scores (0–100) with 7-day forecast	160+ countries
GET /api/vansky/weather/{code}	One country, with marine and solar data	—
GET /api/vansky/weather/{code}/{city}	One city: score today and for the coming 7 days	—
GET /api/visa/check?passport=RU&destination=TR	Entry rules: entry mode, length of stay, how days are counted, vehicle import	199 destinations
GET /api/visa/route?t=RU,GE,TR&p=RU	Visa rules for a whole route, up to 10 passports	—
GET /api/visa/passport/{code}	All destinations for one passport	—
GET /api/visa/vehicle/{place}	Temporary vehicle import rules for a country	—
GET /api/events	Vanlife events: expos, festivals, meetups, road trips	1,100+ events
GET /api/event/{slug}	Full event details with geo coordinates	—
GET /api/event/{slug}/articles	Source articles linked to an event	—
GET /api/stories	News stories aggregated from 200+ publishers	31,000+ stories
GET /api/story/{slug}	Full story with all source articles and direct links	—
GET /api/news/search?q=...	Semantic search over stories	—
GET /api/plates	License plates of the world: formats, region codes, example plates	199 countries
GET /api/plates/{code}/types	Plate types of a country (private, taxi, motorcycle, diplomatic…); empty where not broken down	—
GET /api/plates/{code}/plate.svg	Ready plate image (also .png) — drop into <img src>	—

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Quick Start

# Fuel prices
curl https://openvan.camp/api/fuel/prices

# Currency rates (EUR-based)
curl https://openvan.camp/api/currency/rates

# Food price index
curl https://openvan.camp/api/vanbasket/countries

# Upcoming vanlife events in Germany
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/events?country=DE&status=upcoming&locale=en"

# Latest vanlife news stories in English
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/stories?locale=en"

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Fuel Prices — /api/fuel/prices

Weekly retail prices from 45+ official government sources.
Cache TTL: 6 hours. Please poll no faster than every 10 minutes.

curl https://openvan.camp/api/fuel/prices

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "DE": {
      "country_code": "DE",
      "country_name": "Germany",
      "region": "europe",
      "currency": "EUR",
      "local_currency": "EUR",
      "unit": "liter",
      "prices": {
        "gasoline": 1.79,
        "diesel": 1.69,
        "lpg": 0.89,
        "e85": null,
        "premium": null
      },
      "price_changes": { "gasoline": -0.02, "diesel": 0.01, "lpg": 0.0 },
      "fetched_at": "2026-04-05T10:00:00+00:00",
      "sources": ["EU Weekly Oil Bulletin", "Fuelo.net"],
      "sources_count": 2,
      "is_excluded": false
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "total_countries": 121,
    "updated_at": "2026-04-05 10:00:00",
    "cache_ttl_hours": 6
  }
}

Notes:

• unit is "liter" for most countries, "gallon" for US and Ecuador
• is_excluded: true means the country has heavy fuel subsidies (prices don't reflect market rates)
• price_changes = delta vs last week's prices

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Currency Rates — /api/currency/rates

EUR-based exchange rates from multiple open-source providers with automatic fallback.
Cache TTL: 25 hours. Refreshed daily at 07:00 UTC.

curl https://openvan.camp/api/currency/rates

{
  "success": true,
  "rates": {
    "EUR": 1,
    "USD": 1.08,
    "GBP": 0.85,
    "TRY": 38.5,
    "GEL": 2.95,
    "KZT": 510,
    "RUB": 98.5
  },
  "cached": true,
  "updated_at": "2026-04-08T07:00:00+00:00"
}

Convert to any currency:

const priceInUSD = (priceEUR / rates.EUR) * rates.USD;
const priceInTRY = (priceEUR / rates.EUR) * rates.TRY;

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VanBasket Food Price Index — /api/vanbasket/*

Relative cost of a food basket compared to world average (World = 100).
Based on World Bank ICP 2021 data, adjusted with IMF CPI.
Data source: CC BY 4.0

# All countries
curl https://openvan.camp/api/vanbasket/countries

# Compare two countries
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/vanbasket/compare?from=DE&to=TR"

# Single country with historical snapshots
curl https://openvan.camp/api/vanbasket/countries/DE

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "CH": { "country_code": "CH", "country_name": "Switzerland", "vanbasket_index": 162.3, "pct_vs_world": 62.3 },
    "DE": { "country_code": "DE", "country_name": "Germany",     "vanbasket_index": 118.7, "pct_vs_world": 18.7 },
    "TR": { "country_code": "TR", "country_name": "Turkey",      "vanbasket_index":  82.4, "pct_vs_world": -17.6 },
    "GE": { "country_code": "GE", "country_name": "Georgia",     "vanbasket_index":  64.1, "pct_vs_world": -35.9 }
  },
  "meta": {
    "total_countries": 92,
    "world_avg": 100,
    "base_year": 2021,
    "source": "World Bank ICP 2021",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0"
  }
}

Compare response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "from": { "country_code": "DE", "country_name": "Germany", "vanbasket_index": 118.7 },
    "to":   { "country_code": "TR", "country_name": "Turkey",  "vanbasket_index":  82.4 },
    "diff_percent": -30.6,
    "budget_100": 69,
    "cheaper": true
  }
}

budget_100: if you spend €100 on food in the from country, you'd spend €69 in the to country.

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Events — /api/events

Vanlife events: exhibitions, festivals, meetups, road trips. Updated in real time.

Query params:

Param	Values	Default
locale	en ru de fr es pt tr	en
status	upcoming ongoing past all	upcoming
type	expo festival forum meetup roadtrip	—
country	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	—
search	text	—
page	integer	1
limit	integer (max 100)	30

# Upcoming events in Germany
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/events?country=DE&status=upcoming&locale=en"

# Event details
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/event/fit-camper-2026?locale=en"

# Source articles linked to an event
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/event/fit-camper-2026/articles?locale=en"

{
  "events": [
    {
      "id": 493,
      "slug": "fit-camper-2026",
      "event_name": "Fit Your Camper",
      "event_type": "expo",
      "event_type_label": "Exhibition",
      "start_date": "2026-04-09",
      "end_date": "2026-04-12",
      "city": "Bologna",
      "country_code": "IT",
      "country": { "code": "it", "name": "Italy", "flag_emoji": "🇮🇹" },
      "venue_name": "BolognaFiere",
      "status": "upcoming",
      "articles_count": 7,
      "url": "https://openvan.camp/en/event/fit-camper-2026"
    }
  ],
  "pagination": { "total": 48, "page": 1, "limit": 30, "pages": 2 }
}

Notes:

• Unknown or missing locale silently falls back to en
• /api/event/{slug}/articles returns source articles filtered by locale; if none match, all articles are returned (may be in the original publisher language)

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Stories / News — /api/stories

Vanlife news stories aggregated from 200+ publishers and translated into 7 languages. Each story clusters multiple source articles covering the same topic.

Query params:

Param	Values	Default
locale	en ru de fr es pt tr	en
category	category slug (e.g. camping, travel, gear, incident)	—
country	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2	—
search	text	—
page	integer	1
limit	integer (max 50)	20

# Latest stories in English
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/stories?locale=en"

# German vanlife news in Germany
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/stories?locale=de&country=DE"

# Full story with all source links
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/story/free-overnight-parking-netherlands?locale=en"

{
  "slug": "free-overnight-parking-netherlands",
  "title": "Free Overnight Parking for Motorhomes in the Netherlands",
  "summary": "The Dutch motorhome community is pushing for more designated free overnight spots...",
  "image_url": "https://...",
  "category": { "slug": "travel", "name": "Travel" },
  "countries": [{ "code": "nl", "name": "Netherlands", "flag_emoji": "🇳🇱" }],
  "first_published_at": "2026-04-01T10:00:00+00:00",
  "last_updated_at": "2026-04-03T08:00:00+00:00",
  "articles_count": 5,
  "url": "https://openvan.camp/en/news/travel/free-overnight-parking-netherlands",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Gratis overnachten in je camper: de beste plekken",
      "original_url": "https://www.campermagazine.nl/overnachten/gratis-plaatsen",
      "source_name": "CamperMagazine.nl",
      "published_at": "2026-04-01T10:00:00+00:00",
      "language": "nl",
      "image_url": "https://..."
    }
  ]
}

Notes:

• title and summary are translated to the requested locale
• sources[].language is always the original publisher language, regardless of locale
• sources[].original_url is the direct link to the publisher article

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License Plates — /api/plates/*

License plates of the world: plate formats, every region code grouped by region (with ISO 3166-2 units), validation, and the plate itself as an image. Images are drawn by the same engine as openvan.camp/en/license-plates — the plate typeface is inside as vector outlines, so there are no fonts to install.

The simplest integration is a plain image:

<img src="https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/plate.svg?number=A123BC&region=77" alt="A123BC 77">

• plate.png?width=800 — PNG, 200–2000 px wide, transparent background
• Look-alike Latin letters are normalized (A123BC → А123ВС on Russian plates)
• A number outside the country format returns 422; add custom=1 to draw any text (e.g. a name)
• Images are served Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable; image URLs returned by the API carry v=<engine version>, so an engine update arrives under a new URL

curl https://openvan.camp/api/plates                                        # countries
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru?locale=en"                         # format, regions, codes, engine
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/validate?number=A123BC&region=799" # valid? which region?
curl https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/random                              # random plate + image URLs

Plate types — special plates have their own colour and number format. GET /api/plates/{code}/types lists them (on Russian plates: private, diplomatic red, police blue, military black, taxi_bus yellow, motorcycle, trailer, tractor, export_transit), each with an example number. Pass type to the image, /random and /validate; the response says which type was used:

curl "https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/random?type=police"                # a valid blue police plate + image URLs
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/validate?number=У7962&region=790&type=police"

<img src="https://openvan.camp/api/plates/ru/plate.svg?number=190Т307&region=23&type=diplomatic" alt="190 Т 307 23">

To draw plates in the browser yourself (e.g. an interactive generator), load the scripts listed in data.engine.scripts of /api/plates/{code} in order and call Plates.render(code, number, region) → {svg} (an SVG element) or {error}.

Images and the engine are available for countries whose plate typeface may be redistributed (glyphs_license: free or sharealike); for the rest the data endpoints still work. Rate limit: 60 requests/minute for images and /random, 120 for the rest.

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Roadbook — /api/roadbook/from-places

A whole trip plan — the same roadbook people build in the wizard: route, driving days and overnights, budget (fuel, tolls, vignettes, ferries), and for every country on the way the entry and vehicle rules for the given passports and plates, holidays, safety and power. Identical requests return the same roadbook.

# 1. Create (all inputs are optional)
curl -X POST "https://openvan.camp/api/roadbook/from-places?source=your-app" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"places":["Munich","Venice"],"locale":"en","inputs":{"travelers":["DE"],"cons":10,"fuel":"diesel"}}'
# → {"code":"wqhk8","url":"/en/roadbook/wqhk8-munich-venice","status":"pending","points":[...]}

# 2. Poll until "ready" (long routes take up to a minute), then open https://openvan.camp + url
curl https://openvan.camp/api/roadbook/wqhk8/status

10 roadbooks per minute per IP. The MCP tool plan_road_trip does all of this and returns the plan itself.

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Holidays, Hazards, Power Plugs, Customs

Trip-planning data for a country you are about to drive into. Every list endpoint has a /countries index; pass locale for translated names.

# Public, school (with ISO 3166-2 regions) and peak traffic days; kind=public|school|traffic
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/holidays/countries/FR?from=2026-10-01&to=2026-11-15"

# FCDO travel advice level + current GDACS disasters (flood, earthquake, cyclone, wildfire…)
curl https://openvan.camp/api/hazards/countries/TR

# NASA FIRMS fire detections of the last 48 h; bbox = minLon,minLat,maxLon,maxLat, up to 10°×10°
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/hazards/fires?bbox=-1,38,1,40"

# Plug types, voltage, frequency, campsite hook-up connector
curl https://openvan.camp/api/electricity/countries/GB

# Customs rules on entry by car, optionally from a given country; each rule quotes the official source
curl "https://openvan.camp/api/customs/countries/NO?from=DE"

• A country without holiday or customs data returns an error that says so — it does not mean "no holidays" or "nothing is restricted"
• Hazards describe the situation now, not a forecast; fire data for a new area may return "being loaded, retry in a minute" on the first request

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Response Format

All JSON endpoints follow a consistent envelope:

{ "success": true, "data": { ... }, "meta": { ... }, "_attribution": { ... } }

Every response includes an _attribution object:

"_attribution": {
  "data_source": "openvan.camp",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "required": true,
  "attribution_url": "https://openvan.camp/",
  "attribution_html": "Data: <a href=\"https://openvan.camp/\">OpenVan.camp</a> (CC BY 4.0)",
  "instructions": "Attribution is required by the CC BY 4.0 license. ..."
}

Errors:

{ "success": false, "error": "Description of the error." }

If you call without Accept: application/json, some error responses may return HTML. Always send the header:

Accept: application/json

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Rate Limiting

120 requests per minute per IP. Please be responsible:

• Cache fuel prices for at least 6 hours
• Cache currency rates for at least 1 hour
• Cache stories/events for at least 15 minutes

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Attribution

Attribution is required by the CC BY 4.0 license. Wherever you show the data — website, app, bot, dashboard, article — place a visible link next to it:

Data: <a href="https://openvan.camp/">OpenVan.camp</a> (CC BY 4.0)

The same snippet comes in every response as _attribution.attribution_html, and in the X-Attribution-Required response header.

Building with an AI coding agent? Tell it to keep this link in the UI it generates — or just let it read _attribution.instructions from any response.

Identify your integration

Pass ?source=yoursite.com with any request — no registration needed. Your value is echoed back as _attribution.your_source so you can verify it's working:

curl "https://openvan.camp/api/fuel/prices?source=myapp.com"

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { "..." },
  "meta": { "..." },
  "_attribution": {
    "data_source": "openvan.camp",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0",
    "required": true,
    "attribution_url": "https://openvan.camp/",
    "attribution_html": "Data: <a href=\"https://openvan.camp/\">OpenVan.camp</a> (CC BY 4.0)",
    "instructions": "Attribution is required by the CC BY 4.0 license. ...",
    "your_source": "myapp.com"
  }
}

This helps us understand how the data is being used and acknowledge active projects.

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Built with OpenVan

Public projects using the API:

Project	What it does	Uses
cyfuel	Fuel-price map that ranks an "efficient fill": tank cost plus the fuel burned driving there (cyfuel.cybush.uk)	fuel prices
DriveLog	Driving and fuel log web app	fuel prices
E-Logistic	Logistics platform with EU diesel prices by country	fuel prices

Built something with the data? Open a pull request adding it to this table, or tell us in Discussions.

Badge for your README:

[![Data: OpenVan.camp](https://img.shields.io/badge/data-OpenVan.camp-467187)](https://openvan.camp/)

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JavaScript / TypeScript SDK

npm install @openvancamp/sdk
# or: pnpm add @openvancamp/sdk

import { OpenVan } from "@openvancamp/sdk";

const ov = new OpenVan();

// Cheapest diesel in Europe (top 5, EUR-normalized)
const top5 = await ov.fuel.cheapest("diesel", 5);
top5.forEach(c => console.log(c.country_name, c.prices.diesel, c.currency));

// Is Portugal cheaper than Germany for van living?
const comp = await ov.basket.compare("DE", "PT");
console.log(`Portugal is ${Math.abs(comp.diff_percent)}% cheaper`);

// Vanlife weather suitability — top 10 countries right now
const weather = await ov.weather.top({ limit: 10 });

ESM-native, fully typed (TypeScript included), works in Node.js ≥ 18, browser, Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun. No API key.

npm: @openvancamp/sdk · Full SDK docs →

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Resources

• Interactive docs: openvan.camp/docs
• OpenAPI 3.0 spec: https://openvan.camp/docs.openapi
• Postman collection: https://openvan.camp/docs.postman
• JavaScript SDK: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@openvancamp/sdk
• Python SDK: python-sdk/ — pip install openvan
• Daily CSV snapshots with history: openvancamp/openvan-travel-data
• Claude, ChatGPT and Telegram: openvan.camp/en/assistant
• Developer page: openvan.camp/en/developers
• For AI agents (MCP, llms.txt): openvan.camp/ai

The same data on the site

Fuel prices by country · Passport & visa checker · Roadbook trip planner · VanSky weather · Food cost index · Vanlife events · Vanlife news