Aires in France

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Nico

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We are looking to head back to France in July for a 2 week trip and visit the West Coast around La Rochelle area. We last visited France in 2018 and enjoyed the aires but on the North coast. Are aires stopover still pretty much readily available and a decent standard? Are the "Best Aires" type books on Amazon worth getting and any recommendations? Or should we be okay to wander along and simply find one at the end of the afternoon to use for the evening?

Also, is there any recommended places to visit or sites on the West coast that we should be considering?

Thanks
Nick
 
We use the Park4nite app. We had ‘all the aires France‘ years ago,and still use it occasionally,but find the app much easier and quicker to use.
 
Three answers… yes, no (unless you are a technophobe, or enjoy books as a source), and yes.

Aires are very much available, and in the intervening years a sort of hybrid aire has become move prevalent - you pay, but there is waste disposal and electricity. CampingCarPark is the prominent player, but it is very much a Marmite operation, people love them, or hate them.

I still carry an up to date edition of All the Aires, but find I use it less and less.

In July you shouldn't have a problem though that area is very popular, and if you are actually on the coast there is rarely such a thing as a free Aire. Finding an Aire in the afternoon is always a good plan, and on a Friday or Saturday we like to be settled shortly after lunch. We have found that many people go to nice coastal places at the weekend just for a lunch, and are packing up just after. It all depends.

Difficult to recommend anywhere without knowing what you enjoy!
 
We have the ‘All the Aires’ books and we used to carry the French one too.
Personally I like the Vicarious books as you get pics of the Aire but they can be deceiving!

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I always find the Camper Contact app the most reliable, certainly wouldn't bother with books they are out of date before they are printed.

West Coast in July probably best to start looking for an Aire for the night around lunchtime.
 
We carried 5kg of books around and didn't really refer to them. Everywhere is nice and gems can be found everywhere it seems. And I've only been to France once!
 
We use Park4Night and Campercontact. Tried the books and found them bulky and often out of date. Both the apps have recent reviews which can be useful if something has changed on the aire. We found a lot of aires we liked in that area, one favourite being La Tranche-sur-Mer.
 
Agree with above, books can be outdated by the time they get written.
Worth getting the various apps and also if in doubt on the area look on google maps street views (subject to the dates pics are taken).

Just be aware how busy it can be from mid July onwards, school hols etc, the French love the coast and the Aires. (y)
 
We have the "All the Aires" books but rarely use them preferring to use a subscribed Camper Contacts although books have came in handy when no phone signal. Our experience of Aires in France and Spain has taught us to get to to them before 14:00 to ensure of getting a space. If we want to explore a town etc we find it best to get to the Aire as early as possible and then have the rest of the day to visit. If the books or apps says "very popular Aire" it is a good bet it will fill up quickly

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We have an alltheaires two books from about 6 years ago, still carry them for just general reference when we have found something on park4night that's a way off and just like to see what the book says.
But not used them to actually find somewhere for years.
 
I use camper contact , personally don't like park4night as a lot of places are not proper Aires some just lay-bys . but as I decide the basic area I wish to go , I look at the app for the area tap on most Aires near water ,rivers, canals, lakes etc check out reviews then Google earth the ones I think might be suitable ,to check out access , then note them and put them in my satnav as saved places , it gives me a second choice if the one I prefer is full or not suitable .
I'm a bit sad like that but I do like to be prepared , something to do in the months running up to the holiday
 
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I just drive in a direction, then when I’ve had enough I open searchforsites and see what is nearby. Or drive through a place. Think this looks nice. Does it have an aire,
 
I like to use books such as Camperstop Europe to plan a route or to get an overview of the area, and then refer to the apps for the most up-to-date info.

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Camper Contact or Park4night (full version 8E)
If you like books ---- this one. You can get it for less than £20

<Broken link removed>
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. We have got searchforsites and park4night so we will use them and just amble along. I’ll have a look at the book suggestion too 😀
 
Île de Ré. Is well worth a visit great for cycling use the same apps as mentioned camper contact park 4 night
 
FIDGET said:
I use camper contact , personally don't like park4night as a lot of places are not proper Aires some just lay-bys . but as I decide the basic area I wish to go , I look at the app for the area tap on most Aires near water ,rivers, canals, lakes etc check out reviews then Google earth the ones I think might be suitable ,to check out access , then note them and put them in my satnav as saved places , it gives me a second choice if the one I prefer is full or not suitable .
I'm a bit sad like that but I do like to be prepared , something to do in the months running up to the holiday
Click to expand...
You can specify what type of aire you’d like on park4night as they’ve got different coloured icons/symbols on the map.
I used to use camper contact all of the time but I’ve found it’s gone down hill recently.
It was chaser who recommended park4night and I must admit I’ve been impressed by it.
However, we all have our own favourites.
I take all the Aires books with me too.

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chuns said:
Three answers… yes, no (unless you are a technophobe, or enjoy books as a source), and yes.

Aires are very much available, and in the intervening years a sort of hybrid aire has become move prevalent - you pay, but there is waste disposal and electricity. CampingCarPark is the prominent player, but it is very much a Marmite operation, people love them, or hate them.

I still carry an up to date edition of All the Aires, but find I use it less and less.

In July you shouldn't have a problem though that area is very popular, and if you are actually on the coast there is rarely such a thing as a free Aire. Finding an Aire in the afternoon is always a good plan, and on a Friday or Saturday we like to be settled shortly after lunch. We have found that many people go to nice coastal places at the weekend just for a lunch, and are packing up just after. It all depends.

Difficult to recommend anywhere without knowing what you enjoy!
Click to expand...
Trouble is the Aires book isn't up to date,,probably 18 months behind..App on your phone is regularly updated plus you can click route and it takes you to the aire like a sat navigation.. brilliant. BUSBY.
 

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