CCP Expanding Rapidly

[DBK]

The French Camping-Car Parks organisation seemed to have changed up a gear. They have just opened their first outside France in Belgium and say they are going to open in Portugal, Spain and Germany soon.

But they are also becoming even more numerous in France.

You can see the Belgian aire in the top right, just over the border. The blue blobs are their normal aires, green are service (dump) points only, orange are the Camping de mon Village sites which take tents and caravans in high season and have loo blocks open at the same time.

The interesting ones on the map are the lilac coloured blobs which are sites they are in the process of taking over and will open this year or perhaps next year from what I've been able to discover.

I'm not trying to start a thread about the merits or otherwise of CCP. We've used them a lot on this trip and are currently on one beside a lake in the Pyrenees but I appreciate many don't use them. However, I think CCP are going to be harder to ignore in the coming years.

 

[125BEER]

Hoping to use them v.soon,card loaded and ready

 

[Reallyretired]

SWMBO really likes them, she is a sites fan and I am much more in favour of aires. CCP is a good compromise.

 

[Bobby dazzler]

Some people say there are expensive but I have found them to be good value with the electricity some of them are really nice as well

 

[Itsmcb]

Its nice to see a few more in the north east

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[Chod Jacqui]

We used the Belgium aire about twelve years ago, nice spot, good walks and basic shops, would highly recommend

 

[chaser]

Not starting a discussion but I really think it's the beginning of the end for Aires as we knew them, look at just on here the number of people that come on and say we used to use Aires but now we go on these

 

[Reallyretired]

Very few CCP aires are new, they are usually either municipal aires or municipal sites that they have taken over. We tend to go for the ones that were sites simply because they are nicer usually and much the same price, often less than they were when they were municipal sites.
The number of aires that are free was declining even before CCP came on the scene.

 

[Skez]

I'm afraid I'm totally with chaser on this. They provide facilities that we don't need, and I agree that they seem to be replacing the traditional Aires in some places.
DBK, you're right, they will become hard to ignore, but some of them are close to being a campsite - which is a beast we specifically seek to avoid most of the time!
TBH, I' d rather pay a small charge at a traditional Aire, but it's easy to see why they're becoming more popular.

 

[Jenben]

We have been away over 7 weeks in France , using aires and a few CCP sites on our trip. A quick look at my notes shows that we have stayed at 21 different locations .

Over this trip so far we have a 50/50 split between paid aires, CCP sites and free aires.

We have noticed on recent trips that a lot more people need ehu to charge kit , particularly noticeable is the increase in electric bikes .

As such I can see why aires with ehu are becoming more popular ( whether CCP style or not).

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[Poutie57]

We’ve been away in France for over 3 wks now and have used ‘traditional aires’ as well as CCP aires and quite honestly don’t mind either but if you take our current location in Aix Les Bains there are no trad aires only a CCP and normal campsite one is €15 the other is €25 and you have to be under 3.5t so no brainier. At Seyssel they have stopped people using the river bank and force you to stay on a CCP you are fenced in a felt like a prison camp and on top of that it was empty where as the river bank used to be packed all the time

 

[Reallyretired]

We dont need ehu, or wifi, however a good drive over dump and water is needed. Many free aires and indeed paid ones require an additional payment for water and some free sites Ive stayed on have either had no water or the dumping is out of action. In one case because some bu33er had parked his car on it.
Having ehu saves a bit of gas especially if its hot and usually all the things on CCP work, with the exception of the wifi which often only works next to the barrier or is painfully slow.

 

[chaser]

We’ve been away in France for over 3 wks now and have used ‘traditional aires’ as well as CCP aires and quite honestly don’t mind either but if you take our current location in Aix Les Bains there are no trad aires only a CCP and normal campsite one is €15 the other is €25 and you have to be under 3.5t so no brainier. At Seyssel they have stopped people using the river bank and force you to stay on a CCP you are fenced in a felt like a prison camp and on top of that it was empty where as the river bank used to be packed all the time

It's really not a case of now but rather the future, not going to make any difference to me as I shall be finished but can't anyone see that this is going to steam roller till all the free Aires have been taken over and then this CCP outfit is going to put prices up to site prices for stuff you don't need , pretty much like the club's here.

 

[chaser]

It's really not a case of now but rather the future, not going to make any difference to me as I shall be finished but can't anyone see that this is going to steam roller till all the free Aires have been taken over and then this CCP outfit is going to put prices up to site prices for stuff you don't need , pretty much like the club's here.

Not only that they are going to campaign to get all motorhome parking in towns banned and any flt parking banned.

 

[Stealaway]

It's not going to be a problem in my lifetime.
We been in France and Germany for 29 nights up to tonight.
We have paid for two nights at one Stelplatz and occasionally 2€ for some water.
It will be awhile before we are having to pay for Aires.
Guess how much we are paying for a riverside Aire in Revit tonight?

The French are even worse at paying for anything.

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[chaser]

It's not going to be a problem in my lifetime.
We been in France and Germany for 29 nights up to tonight.
We have paid for two nights at one Stelplatz and occasionally 2€ for some water.
It will be awhile before we are having to pay for Aires.
Guess how much we are paying for a riverside Aire in Revit tonight?


The French are even worse at paying for anything.

Yeah I agree with you , not going to make any difference to us, just worried about what's going to happen in a year or two, it's not going to be the same anymore, France is going to end up like here instead of UK changing to the old French way.

 

[Jenben]

I see this a different way as they seem to be taking over municipal campsites and aires which the local councils no longer wish to run.

They are investing in making these sites suitable for vans all year round.

Municipal campsites which were only open during the high and very short France holidays are now open all year to vans.

We avoid the French peak holiday season but often drive through areas where we might stay but there isn’t currently an aire but there is a closed campsite.

This network of CCPs seems like a good idea to us,it is adding options to our travels.

 

[Kups]

We use CCP and find them good value and well maintained, much better in some cases than when owned by the local council.
As for the spread of managed aires, if you were not aware of the Aire Park Reservation network, here it is, much, much larger than CCP. 1,500 sites with or without resrvation. https://www.aireparkreservation.com/

 

[Lenny HB]

I don't like the way they are taking over traditional Aires, don't need or want EHU or WiFi and object to paying for things I don't need.

 

[Kups]

I don't like the way they are taking over traditional Aires, don't need or want EHU or WiFi and object to paying for things I don't need.

I don't suppose the French like it either but that's the way it's going. Councils keen to offload their maintenance and management costs for a guaranteed rent.

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[scousebird]

We stayed at 3 CCP aires while we were over recently because they were where we wanted to be. We also stayed ay 1 municipal site, 2 free aires and 3 other paid aires. We won't avoid a place because there is no free aire.

I'd rather pay than lose the facility altogether because the municipality can't afford it any more.

 

[carolyn]

Your thread has reminded me that I have forgotten to order a card for our trip 2weeks tomorrow which is annoying. I vaguely remember reading that you can buy one from the machine at the Aire, is this a figment of my imagination please?

 

[DumfriesDik]

With payment comes expectation.

As long as the CCP are up to scratch and in a good location, that would be enough for us to us them.

We have enjoyed and been impressed with some of the free Aires.

 

[Lenny HB]

Your thread has reminded me that I have forgotten to order a card for our trip 2weeks tomorrow which is annoying. I vaguely remember reading that you can buy one from the machine at the Aire, is this a figment of my imagination please?

Yes you can get one out of the machine.

 

[Figaro]

We use CCP and find them good value and well maintained, much better in some cases than when owned by the local council.
As for the spread of managed aires, if you were not aware of the Aire Park Reservation network, here it is, much, much larger than CCP. 1,500 sites with or without resrvation. https://www.aireparkreservation.com/
View attachment 616332

That looks useful, just a pity it's in French only and there doesn't seem to be much info listed for each site

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[125BEER]

Your thread has reminded me that I have forgotten to order a card for our trip 2weeks tomorrow which is annoying. I vaguely remember reading that you can buy one from the machine at the Aire, is this a figment of my imagination please?

Check the website..

 

[125BEER]

Lightning Lenny beat me to it...

 

[MichaelT]

I'm afraid I'm totally with chaser on this. They provide facilities that we don't need, and I agree that they seem to be replacing the traditional Aires in some places.
DBK, you're right, they will become hard to ignore, but some of them are close to being a campsite - which is a beast we specifically seek to avoid most of the time!
TBH, I' d rather pay a small charge at a traditional Aire, but it's easy to see why they're becoming more popular.

I admit you do not ned EHU but you do need water and to dump grey and black waste at least every few days?

 

[Skez]

admit you do not ned EHU but you do need water and to dump grey and black waste at least every few days?

Of course, and we can do that on a traditional Aire, but we don't need all the other facilities such as EHU and WiFi, and secure barrier controlled entry, or indeed the ability to book. These all cost money to provide, and as I said, starts to look more like a campsite to us!

 

[jumar]

Of course, and we can do that on a traditional Aire, but we don't need all the other facilities such as EHU and WiFi, and secure barrier controlled entry, or indeed the ability to book. These all cost money to provide, and as I said, starts to look more like a campsite to us!

I'm on the side of anyone providing anything that I need, I am willing to pay for, if I don't need it or can get it free then I will use that too....my choice entirely....I would welcome an increase in these places to use while in France.
Without doubt we all will have to get used to more control in the way we travel in Europe, this will also apply to the overstretched Med coast...

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