In Europe you don't need to be sneaky. Just ask farmers if you can pitch your tent. You'll probably get showers, coffee, etc. on a very regular basis, at least I did in '97. Almost three months of free camping, just by asking, in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, while in Slovakia and Czech you don't even need to worry because there are no real farms anywhere, just farming villages here and there. The toughest places were The Netherlands and Southern Germany, because the people were afraid of "east-block refugees."
As far as equipment goes, my wife and I used a MEC Tarn 2, summer bags (plus 5, weighed nothing), and did take a naphta stove in which we burned everything from white gas to super unleaded.
Good luck. And if it is any help at all, the French people were super: "camping au savage" was a phrase we used a lot and always got us a nice spot.