France - Wild Camping and Aires? (1 Viewer)

[Teasy2007]

The best thing I have seen for Aires is this CD
http://www.campingcar-infos.com/index1.htm
They do take PayPal and the new 2008 version is out in the middle of this month. It also has down-loadable pushpins for TomTom and Microsoft Autoroute.

Failing that, there is this website - Eurocampingcars
http://eurocampingcar.com/index2.php3?lg=uk&cat_id=0
Again, this is a bit sparse on detail and there a few Aires missing.

QUOTE]

Hi, could you tell me how to access the pushpins for Microsoft Autoroute? My French is hopeless and I cant find the part I need to download.

Ginny

 

[rafiki]

Are there books/CDs/web pages that give similar wild camping information for Spain, Belgium, Holland and Germany?

 

[Gonewiththewind]

Can anyone please give us some advice re wild camping and aires in France. We have just bought a motorhome and hope to spend the spring in France and all points south!.

We have heard some conflicting information about Aires, some people think they are great whilst others wont use them, and we are unsure what to do.

Also, what is the best/cheapest/most flexible way of crossing the channel? We want to specify the day we leave, but come back when we feel like it - ie 2 or 3 months later. Has anyone any information on which ferry company would be the most flexible, or do we have to book two separate tickets.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Ginny and Mike

Ignore everything that every one says. Go with an open mind, but with security always on your mind.
Relax and enjoy.
I have just returned 1 week traveling down through France to Spain, and a week coming back up. MHO is France is the best. the most relaxed regards free camping. the best for Aires (virtually every village ).
A simple thing for me was at the end of the day I would search my sat nav for Parking places, You generally find they have a corner set aside for Motor homes.

Go on and enjoy yourself.

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[theresa]

wild camping in france

just a word of advice . we have wild camped in france for many years,, with no problems. we now spend our winters in spain and stop off on motor way aires NEVER AGAIN we stoped on a lovely motorway aires near narbonne 2 other vans and a caravan . woke at 3am to find a man in the van we lost all our money passports every thing. normaly we hide things away in the van BUT the one time we tought oh it will never hapen to us it did. like a fool i put all our goodies in one easy place for the nice man to take. and what of the frence police well they do not work at night in Narbonne so we had to wait untill 8am for them to turn up to the station then it was a shrug of the shoulders and oh it happens every night there. so from now on its camp sites only for us

 

[Galway]

We been to France for the last 2 months.

We spend most of our times on Aires. {NEVER ON A MOTORWAY} At least 5km away.

We have travelled all over France in the last 9 years and have never met anyone who had any trouble.

I feel so sorry for people who has been broken into,I think I would never feel secure again.

Always make sure you have a good look around and be aware of your surrounding.
If you think you are not happy, move on.

 

[verity23]

France Passion

We used "France Passion" look it up on net, its brilliant and safe.

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[2escapees]

Hi

We live in France and use Aires all the time.

For Ferries it is worth looking at Link Removed

Bon voyage

 

[vaughan]

At the moment Seafrance are the cheapest if you have a tall MH. Suggest you buy a 1 way ticket and book return on the internet. You can pick up free wifi outside most McDonalds in France. Don't forget your travel insurance. The EHIC only covers up to 75% of medical costs in France and will not repatriate you. Use Link Removed for multi-trip insurance for individual trips of less than 30 days.
I use Travsure for trips up to 60 days.
Vaughan

 

[Dagwood]

Hi,
We've lived here for 25yrs and agree with most of the above.
Don't use the motorway aires and avoid the big towns and cities (use campsites there). Maybe the South of the country is less safe also (Provence, Languedoc-Rousillon).
We use aires in country villages, supermarket car parks and village squares for the most part and have never had any suggestion of a problem.
Enjoy the trip.

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[Galway]

French Passion.
We were members 1 year and found it very hard to fine there camping spots.

Looked this year along the roads as we toured France and I can honestly say we seen none of there signs.

 

[Tony Lee]

rafiki - Brian,
Aires we used often had no toilets or other facilities so I imagine this is why they are restricted to "proper" motorhomes with water supply and toilets on board.

 

[Belgian]

French Passion.
We were members 1 year and found it very hard to fine there camping spots.

Looked this year along the roads as we toured France and I can honestly say we seen none of there signs.

That's the way France Passion works: you'll NEVER find a FP sign along the road.
You have to look at the adress in the booklet which comes with your subscribtion. Only members should be able to locate a FP host.

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[Galway]

Years ago French passion signs were all over the place.

They must have changed there policy.

When ever we used them we were always on our own.

 

[koffee]

I agree with JDS on that one. We live in France and have used Le Guide Officiel that is mentioned - it's clear and concise.

Sue

 

[Francine]

Hi Ginny and Mike, Glad to know you have a motorhome. Hope you both enjoy it to it's maximum.
Nothing at all against Sites and Aires. Many reasons why people do and do not use Aires and Sites, some have young families, some find it expensive for what they get and some for other reasons.
I personally do not use Sites or Aires. I love parking directly on beaches or deep in a forest or anywhere where I can sightsee on foot. I also admit, it is a vast saving on cost, seeing that I am fully independent with my 3 leisure batteries, solar panels and generator. As I said, each one to their own.
If sites are your choice, go for it and enjoy life on the road. You are a motorhomer, one of us, that's all that matters

Just acquired our very old RMB
Going off down to visit relatives in Spain and then France 4 weeks over Christmas.
Hoping for a couple of stops for relaxation (over 4 or 5days) and have been looking at Valencia area. would prefer as you describe being " fully independent" on the beach- are there places you know I can check out?

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[retread24800]

Nearly free camping in France

Aires have a bad press in the UK. There are :-

Aires de Stationment or parking places on Motorways these I would avoid like the plague, Noisy, full of 'Frigo's' and not very clean.

Aires de service pour Camping cars......Different thing, this is a place with a 'Borne de service' useful to empty your tanks and possibly fill up with fresh water and maybe a hook-up (usually at an extra charge).

Aires de Service avec Parking. Top dollar better than a camp site for overnighting.and the list I use even gives an indication of the surroundings....Quiet, Noisy. What it was when last reported.

I find campsites with my Garmin, glick on 'where to' then 'near' find a place(where I am now?.) then either 'poi's' - 'Lodgings'-'campsite' and there you are.

To find Aires de Service with or without Parking, I have an additional list of Aires pour camping Cars loaded. I got it from :- http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?topic_id=30654 the last update was yesterday I notice!!!

In which case after deciding what area I want to stop I then go to 'extras' and then 'custom poi's'

If I was using a guide then France Passion would be my favourite, once youve signed up the campings are free!!!!

Motor caravanning over here is fun and relatively inexpensive but different c'est la vie!!!:thumb:


Now I can't spell in English or French!!!

 

[Mandaxxx]

The Vicarious book 'All the Aires' prob won't give you ALL the Aires but does have a lot of useful info, we team it with the official French one as it's not that difficult to understand.
We've been to france for the main hol every year for about 6 yrs now always use the Aires, don't think I would be happy with the M/way Aires-they seem to be more picnic sites than anything.
We have never had any trouble, they're easy to use and easy to find-a blue square sign with a white pic of a MH with wavy lines coming out the bottom of it usually denotes a Bourne for the dumping of waste & taking on of water.
Book your Ferry and go there are loads of Aires along the coasts specially down from Calais-visit Le Touquet Paris Plage Aire, if full go to Plage 2 just down the road, better if really hot as it will give you shade.
Have fun.:thumb::thumb:

 

[scotjimland]

, don't think I would be happy with the M/way Aires-they seem to be more picnic sites than anything.


We have never had any trouble, they're easy to use and easy to find-a blue square sign with a white pic of a MH with wavy lines coming out the bottom of it usually denotes a Bourne for the dumping of waste & taking on of water.
:

Very wise ... neither would we use a picknik aire to overnight .. whether in this country or abroad ..

For beginners , just to clarify, the word AIRE in French simply means an AREA or PLACE .. it does not refer specifically to a motorhome or camping car facility unless it has a prefix and or sign.

Regarding crime, we have been very fortunate, in three years of full time using mainly French Camping Car Aires we have only had two instances of theft .. both times we lost a bike .. so not bad .. by contrast .. In the UK we had a window smashed while 'free camping' at Aldeburgh .. that ended our days of 'free camping' in the UK

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[Chas17]

Apologies if this site is already well known but I just came across it when searching for something else and thought it looked pretty useful

http://airecampingcar.com

 

[wivvy's dad]

Does anyone know of an Aire add-on for Nokia maps?

I've given up on Garmin, as my new Nokia phone is far better equipped with maps, even worldwide and FREE.
But POI's don't appear to come with the maps, and you can't navigate to a place using co-ordinates.

Any ideas folks?

 

[magicsurfbus]

New Online Guide to selected Aires, including Mobile

Hi

We've been using Aires for a few years, and I've recently created a free access online guide to selected Aires in France, between Calais and the Spanish border. The plan is to expand it as we travel more widely and we re-visit previous destinations, with Brittany coming soon.

The guide offers panoramic images, GPS co-ordinates, detailed reviews, hints and tips, and free SatNav POI files in various formats. There's also a mobile phone version if you're touring and need to find a spot to stay along the Cote d'Atlantique - see below.

(PS: wivvy's dad - if you have an Aire POI file from your old system you may be able to convert it to Nokia format for free at poieditor.com - a priceless resource).

PC/Laptop users should go to Link Removed
Mobile users should try
Hope it helps - all feedback welcome, either via this forum or via the e-mail address on the website.

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[scotjimland]

Hope it helps - all feedback welcome, either via this forum or via the e-mail address on the website.

the link goes to a site with an on line store .. have you read the trader rules ?

 

[magicsurfbus]

..have you read the trader rules ?

Yes thanks ScotJimland, and after personally double-checking with site admin, the website has been deemed non-commercial, because the page you chose to mention (I didn't) is neither high profile, nor at the core of the site's function - it's completely optional.

So, if I might be permitted to re-post the original links they are as follows:

PC/Laptop users should go to Link Removed

Mobile users should try Link Removed

All feedback is welcome, preferably via this forum, or via the e-mail address on the website.

 

[scotjimland]

Yes thanks ScotJimland, and after personally double-checking with site admin, the website has been deemed non-commercial, because the page you chose to mention (I didn't) is neither high profile, nor at the core of the site's function - it's completely optional.

Hi

We get a lot of traders joining without declaring their status.. especially in their first post, so when your link went to a site with a shop in the header it was reasonable to say you were a trader.

We don't have moderators, members moderate them selves and report back to admin if a we are unhappy or have suspicions about a post , it's up to Jim or Bryan (admin) to decide ..

welcome to the forum

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[wivvy's dad]

Yes thanks ScotJimland, and after personally double-checking with site admin, the website has been deemed non-commercial, because the page you chose to mention (I didn't) is neither high profile, nor at the core of the site's function - it's completely optional.

So, if I might be permitted to re-post the original links they are as follows:

PC/Laptop users should go to Link Removed

Mobile users should try Link Removed

All feedback is welcome, preferably via this forum, or via the e-mail address on the website.

Most helpful and informative - now I know what to avoid.....

 

[magicsurfbus]

ScotJimLand: No problem here sir. Self-moderating forums are fine by me - I run a non-motorhome forum elsewhere, and that uses the same system.

Glad to be aboard.

 

[Chasingthesun]

Hi Teasy
We have only been twice ,both this year but have used a few aires,dont use the motorway aires there are plenty in the villages,as Don says get yourself an aires book ,we went for a week in sept to the Champagne region and used the vicarious book alongside a french book and stopped on aires every night all free and one in Joinville on the canal with free electric
Rob
Link Removed

Hi.
REBBYVID.
THANKS VERY MUCH FOR THE USEFULL LINKS.
CHEERS JOHN....

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