Aires in France (1 Viewer)

[Gina M]

Afternoon everyone, hope you are all ok. Not been on here for a while due to other stuff getting in the way !! anyways we had our fantastic trip to France/Spain last year and loved all the free stopovers we came across. But I am baffled by the Aires in France, we loved them as a good stop off to walk the dog, make a cup of tea etc. but one night after a long drive we stopped off an Aire and decided to stay the night there, but a local informed us that we could not do that. I thought you could stay overnight in these places. I am sure there is thread on here about this already but I cannot find it !! Thanks in advance, Gina.

 

[The general]

Was it just a service point ?

 

[laneside]

Very unusual in our experience, most villages will let you park up for a night even if it is not an official aire, was the local a Brit. by any chance

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[Deleted member 29692]

It probably wasn't an aire that you found.

If it was just a service point or a parking area then overnighting might well not be permitted.

 

[Gina M]

No it was a local French gent who then directed us to a free stopover in a local village. The Aire had water, showers/toilets, picnic area and a parking area for lorries but we didn't want to park next to the lorries because of the noise.

 

[KeithChesterfield]

Do you remember the name of the village?

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[stcyr]

Aire simply means area. Aire de campingcar is a parking area for MHs. Aire de service = service point, aire de repos = rest area, aire de jeux = play area....

 

[Deleted member 29692]

No it was a local French gent who then directed us to a free stopover in a local village. The Aire had water, showers/toilets, picnic area and a parking area for lorries but we didn't want to park next to the lorries because of the noise.

If it was an Aire de Campingcar there wouldn't have been lorries in it.

 

[chaser]

No it was a local French gent who then directed us to a free stopover in a local village. The Aire had water, showers/toilets, picnic area and a parking area for lorries but we didn't want to park next to the lorries because of the noise.

Sounds like a motorway aire

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[chaser]

Perhaps he was just warning you that it wasn't safe

 

[Gina M]

oooh I am getting it now, I thought that Aires were just motorway resting areas. One of the locals did explain to me that nearly every village in France have a motorhome overnight resting area. Loved the camperstop areas, woke up one morning and the van soon started to rock no not that we were parked right next to a railway line and it was the 5.30 am to Paris

 

[Gina M]

Do you remember the name of the village?

no sorry I don't remember.

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[KeithChesterfield]

If you want an idea of Aires in France have a look at some we have visited - the link is below.

There are better Aires, and some worse, but you'll get some idea of what to expect.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

@ginam.

You might also want to check out Camper Contact Link Removed and the app that goes with it.

 

[Kevan]

there are lots of places in France where you can park all day, and still have service points, but no overnight camping, if you have the AIRES book it should tell you which, you can or can not overnight on.

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[sedge]

A number of ordinary roads also have 'aires' along them - but again they are not Aires de camping cars - just places you can park for a bit, might have loos, might even have a friterie - but you aren't allowed to 'camp' or stay the night.

 

[wingman]

@ginam.
Yep, you don't get lorries on 'proper' Aires! You must have just been unfortunate in finding a different sort of Aire (as suggested above).

Rather than leaving it to chance, I'm sure you've heard of the book 'All the Aires in France' and other resources like Camperstop. Have a dekko at these when armchair planning, or before your next day's leg. Select a few Aires in case one of them is grotty.

Look out for the road sign depicting a Motorhome dumping waste.

 

[Gina M]

Thanks everyone for the useful information. We have a camperstop book but I hadn't heard of "All the Aires in France". We did end up in some dumps on our travels, I named them dump car parks !!! and howled with laughter at one of said car parks when a couple with a massive van had all of their recliners and tables all set out while they were sunbathing. To me it was the equivalent of sunbathing at Tescos

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[iandsm]

Afternoon everyone, hope you are all ok. Not been on here for a while due to other stuff getting in the way !! anyways we had our fantastic trip to France/Spain last year and loved all the free stopovers we came across. But I am baffled by the Aires in France, we loved them as a good stop off to walk the dog, make a cup of tea etc. but one night after a long drive we stopped off an Aire and decided to stay the night there, but a local informed us that we could not do that. I thought you could stay overnight in these places. I am sure there is thread on here about this already but I cannot find it !! Thanks in advance, Gina.

I would advise you to do some more research into Aires and as has been suggested get a guide like " all the Aires " before you go to France again. It's so much more relaxing and rewarding if you know where you can safely stay and what the alternatives are should your chosen place be unsuitable for some reason

 

[Gina M]

We thought we would just get over to France and just take our chances where we stayed as we thought it would be fun ..... NO, NO, NO !!! there were days when we just drove until we were exhausted, we would stop to look on the sat nav for a place to stay, drive there and find it was a dump, then argue, then try and find another place we would fall into bed exhausted, wake up the same then drive for another 5/6 hours and do it all again

 

[DBK]

Another vote for CamperContact which NickNic mentioned. It costs under £5 a year for the app and is probably the most recommended aires app there is on here. There are others but this one has good descriptions, usually several photographs and reviews, which are now translated. We've found it invaluable for locating good aires.
Search for "all motorhome parkings" in the Apple or Android play stores.

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[Khizzie]

We thought we would just get over to France and just take our chances where we stayed as we thought it would be fun ..... NO, NO, NO !!! there were days when we just drove until we were exhausted, we would stop to look on the sat nav for a place to stay, drive there and find it was a dump, then argue, then try and find another place we would fall into bed exhausted, wake up the same then drive for another 5/6 hours and do it all again

That's the reason I now plan to stop for a couple of nights at mainly municipal at each chosen location. Most are not very expensive and have all decent facilities. There are a few nice Aires about but most that I have seen that are free are mainly car parks or patches of gravel. mind you many on this forum are much more travelled than myself and know of some wonderful places to stop. Roy

 

[iandsm]

That's the reason I now plan to stop for a couple of nights at mainly municipal at each chosen location. Most are not very expensive and have all decent facilities. There are a few nice Aires about but most that I have seen that are free are mainly car parks or patches of gravel. mind you many on this forum are much more travelled than myself and know of some wonderful places to stop. Roy

Which is why you need to do your research. I am sure you will find that, "most that I have seen that are free are mainly car parks or patches of gravel" is far from the case. there are loads of really great aires with fantastic locations and views, some for just a few euros and some with water and electricity are even free. Spend some time on research and you will be rewarded and pleasantly surprised as many on here have.

 

[Gina M]

Don't get me wrong we did find some really beautiful Aires thanks to Camperstop. On balance we had more good times than bad. We are still alive and still together

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[wingman]

@ginam.
Nooooo Gina.
This motorhoming in France malarkey is not as simple as some make out The lobby that says, "Oh, we just point the bonnet and go.....et voila, we found this delightful Aire..." are really closet seasoned campaigners! They already KNOW the difference between Aires de Service Camping-Cars, Aires de Jeux, Aires de Service (fuel station) etc.

They also know that pointing the bonnet and go can lead you paying €27 in tolls! They also know that (assuming a RHDvehicle) the poor soul in the passenger seat has to have cat-like body contortions to reach the payment slot!! When no one mentions these little tips first, it makes us feel lesser beings than the free spirit brigade

It's all about the planning; not going OTT until you're frightened to death, but just spending a bit of time driving the armchair. There are well over 3,000 Aires solely for motorhomes, so you should find the 'proper' ones.

The @KeithChesterfield You Tube video's are excellent. His videos start some way out from the Aire, so you get an idea of the local terrain and road foibles as you approach. He also makes comments in the form of in-video captions, giving tips both en route and at the Aire itself.

Hope all this helps?
PS. The very first ever French Aire that I stayed on had a Circus on it! It pays to have a plan B !

 

[Gina M]

OMG James you had a spy camera in our van all of that happened to us, the arguments we had at the tolls as I just couldn't get out quick enough, couldn't reach, fell on my face and lost my baseball cap in the wind !!! and alarming the local police once as I was yelling obscenities at the dumb driver and we turned up to one site to find a circus on it !!!

 

[Khizzie]

@ginam.
Nooooo Gina.
This motorhoming in France malarkey is not as simple as some make out The lobby that says, "Oh, we just point the bonnet and go.....et voila, we found this delightful Aire..." are really closet seasoned campaigners! They already KNOW the difference between Aires de Service Camping-Cars, Aires de Jeux, Aires de Service (fuel station) etc.

They also know that pointing the bonnet and go can lead you paying €27 in tolls! They also know that (assuming a RHDvehicle) the poor soul in the passenger seat has to have cat-like body contortions to reach the payment slot!! When no one mentions these little tips first, it makes us feel lesser beings than the free spirit brigade

It's all about the planning; not going OTT until you're frightened to death, but just spending a bit of time driving the armchair. There are well over 3,000 Aires solely for motorhomes, so you should find the 'proper' ones.

The @KeithChesterfield You Tube video's are excellent. His videos start some way out from the Aire, so you get an idea of the local terrain and road foibles as you approach. He also makes comments in the form of in-video captions, giving tips both en route and at the Aire itself.

Hope all this helps?
PS. The very first ever French Aire that I stayed on had a Circus on it! It pays to have a plan B !

Thats the best info anyone could give. .so many (even me believe it or not )are quick to condemn or promote an aire with their own slant of what they expect. . Yes I have stayed on some really nice Aires but you do pay a few euros for them. Then you get something like le crotoy .you still pay a few euros but what a dump with dog crap every where.or Honfleur beautiful location if you like to be cheek to jowl with your neighbour and his snoring keeps you awake at night and all for 9€ .... So yep do your research ..

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[Khizzie]

OMG James you had a spy camera in our van all of that happened to us, the arguments we had at the tolls as I just couldn't get out quick enough, couldn't reach, fell on my face and lost my baseball cap in the wind !!! and alarming the local police once as I was yelling obscenities at the dumb driver

Three words Sanef toll tag..lol

 

[chaser]

Thats the best info anyone could give. .so many (even me believe it or not )are quick to condemn or promote an aire with their own slant of what they expect. . Yes I have stayed on some really nice Aires but you do pay a few euros for them. Then you get something like le crotoy .you still pay a few euros but what a dump with dog crap every where.or Honfleur beautiful location if you like to be cheek to jowl with your neighbour and his snoring keeps you awake at night and all for 9€ .... So yep do your research ..

Couldn't agree more, lecrotoy gets rave reviews on here , we thought it was rubbish and as you say we found dog muck around the water point, honflieur , you just have to put up with if you want to go there , but both are about our worst.

 

[Emmit]

Stopped at an Aire last year in France (somewhere near Cahors.) Been there about 20mins when a bloke turned up in a car and started telling me that the Cypress trees that were there (about 15yds away) had been deemed dangerouse.

I knew that he was telling porkies, but it was his way of saying "Please don't park that monstrosity outside my house."

We moved on, don't want to upset the locals and it's not as if France has a shortage of Aires is it.

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