French Aires

[Lanerboy]

Is there an app on android that shows all the French Aires in detail I.e. postcode,pics,facilities etc

If not which is the best book to buy with all the info I would need

I am asking as looking to go abroad in may in ours for the 1st time starting at the West side of the alps and driving across the the east side then back up through bavaria in Germany

Thanks

LB

 

[busby]

Camper Contact or Park for The Night App on your phone,,its all you need..BUSBY,

 

[Theonlysue]

Also search for sites and

http://en.airecampingcar.com/aire_camping_car_gps.php/5194-Surchauffant au bord du lac de vouglans

 

[Madcaravanner]

Camper Contact or Park for The Night App on your phone,,its all you need..BUSBY,

Dumped both those for Search for Sites

Remember if you have a blue badge and you are on a local council Camping Car Parking area (ie no camping behaviour) the PArkign is Free on your blue badge and doesn't need the clock visible either

 

[BusyBuilder]

Dumped both those for Search for Sites

Remember if you have a blue badge and you are on a local council Camping Car Parking area (ie no camping behaviour) the PArkign is Free on your blue badge and doesn't need the clock visible either

Blue Badge ???

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[Madcaravanner]

Blue Badge ???

Yes if you are Disabled (like me) and have a Blue Badge for parking in France at least you can use it in Camping Car Parking places (ie they have no barriers and you are not allowed to have tables and chairs or awnings or windows open ) you can park for FREE ( the beach on at Saint George De Didonne is €10 a night or free with the Blue disabled badge)

 

[Northernraider]

Park4night app

Best all rounder

 

[peterc10]

We use Campercontact app. Well worth the £5 per year or so it costs. Loads of photos on most of the Aires and info on costs and facilities.

In most of Europe postcodes are either non-existent or useless because they cover too large an area. Instead we always use GPS coordinates to find where we want to go. The Campercontact app gives them.

 

[irnbru]

I also vouch for Park 4 Night when going abroad its the one most foreigners use. Well worth buying the subscription version.

 

[DL42846]

CamperContact and Park4night. However my go to app is the CamperContact. I haven't used parking4night for ages.

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[Lenny HB]

I also vouch for Park 4 Night when going abroad its the one most foreigners use. Well worth buying the subscription version.

I use it when desperate but generally find lots of the spots are only suitable for small vans, been caught out loads of times so prefer to rely on Camper Contact.

 

[Northernraider]

I use it when desperate but generally find lots of the spots are only suitable for small vans, been caught out loads of times so prefer to rely on Camper Contact.

You must have been unlucky lol.

 

[filopastry]

@Madcaravanner not sure you are correct with the free parking. I have a French badge and have to pay on most parking areas, not all ... but most. The only real constant advantage of the disabled badge in France are the preferential parking places.

We also have the blue outlined parking bays/areas that one finds in France (not the disabled bays), to use these one must have the "cardboard clock" visible in the screen.

You can download and print your own "disque bleu" with the link below.
https://www.mairie-bailly.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/kit-disque-zone-bleue-bailly.pdf

Each Marie can dictate the hours within which one must use these disks and also the maximum length of stay and the period before one may return. There will be notices posted with the info.

Phil

 

[MichaelT]

We travelled through France, Germany, Belgium & Luxembourg last year and found Camper Contact & Search For Sites Apps the best, dumped the book Bord Atlas. SFS is easier to use but CC complements it.

 

[River gypsys]

I agree with all the above, but, for your fist time , the ," all the aires France " books are brilliant , these are from vicarious books you'll find them on Amazon

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[MichaelT]

I agree with all the above, but, for your fist time , the ," all the aires France " books are brilliant , these are from vicarious books you'll find them on Amazon

Waste of cash, the apps are a third of the price (SFS is free on the web) and they do not weigh anything or take up any room and are out of date before they are printed. Apps/websites are continually updated and you can see the latest reviews, get directions and will even navigate for you..

 

[DL42846]

Waste of cash, the apps are a third of the price (SFS is free on the web) and they do not weigh anything or take up any room and are out of date before they are printed. Apps/websites are continually updated and you can see the latest reviews, get directions and will even navigate for you..

+1. couldn't agree more. I ended up binning all my books once I got CamperContactc. And the sites are easier to navigate to, just click on directions and your phone becomes a SATNAV.

 

[Offagain]

We've just gone through France in a motor home for the first time. Didn't use a motorway aire once. Looked at searchforsites and campercontact a couple of times but ended up mainly using park4night.
Our van is 7.5m long and so far haven't had any problems. Make sure you read the descriptions and look at the photos. And add more of your own if you can improve the listing.
We're now going through Spain and so far park4night has come up trumps every time here too. This was my view on waking this morning:

Edit: every place we've stopped has been free and some had free services too

 

[Zigisla]

We like to use a combo of real maps and books and cross ref with the apps. We look at the map and or the AtA books to see the area we want to look at and choose a few of the Aires listed and see which ones take our fancy. Then we cross ref with Camper Contact App to see if they are still open or any changes and read the reviews - The most important part we think. Then we plot the route via the App Co-Ords. We quite often still find CC App doesn't have the Aire in the book, but the Aire is still open and available, so the books aren't always out of date. We then update CC App with details. If you like hard copies, you have to remember that some of the 1000 odd Aires will have closed or had a change in details, but not a lot.
Only ever used Park4Night free version, so cannot make a real call on that App.

 

[keithchesterfield2]

There is one big problem with the book/s 'All the Aires'

The Aire information is collected, edited, printed and published on a certain day.

But by the time all this time has elapsed the information is weeks, months or even years out of date.

The book used to be my choice but after finding Aires that were in the book had either shut, moved, had barriers fitted, prices altered and services removed or even added it soon became apparent that the book was merely a basic guide and not a definitive help.

Apps like CamperContact (and others) are usually up to date with information that is only a few days or weeks old.

Reviews and pictures, quite a few on many Aires, on the Apps are a great help with most being very accurate and useful.

The book is a guide - but nowhere near as useful as the Apps.

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[LesW]

When we started 'motorhoming' two year ago I bought several guides to aires etc, mainly because I like flipping through books more than looking at various size screens.

...but the convenience of finding sites near to where you are, or where you are going, is so much easier with any of the apps available that I no longer buy the books.... plus the weight saving is helpful..

 

[TerryL]

We like to use the books too and to be fair, although some things might change, they don't go much out of date that quickly. Okay some do close (and new ones open too) but there are enough around so it's not far to the next one. If you're using the Vicarious Books publications I believe they have a web page that publishes amendments sent into them by users until the next edition is printed.

If you want POI's http://www.i-campingcar.fr/accueil.htm is a French aires site which is always kept up-to-date and you can download a full list for various electronic devices. It has a good search facility and you can also download an excellent, if lengthy, PDF too. It's in French of course but easy enough to follow.

Campercontact is very good but remember it is fed by people sending in information, some of which (like Wikipedia) may not be entirely accurate. It also lists everything although the filter facility is okay.

 

[Lenny HB]

You can download and print your own "disque bleu" with the link below.
https://www.mairie-bailly.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/kit-disque-zone-bleue-bailly.pdf

That is very useful, thanks.

 

[Lenny HB]

You must have been unlucky lol.

May have just been unlucky, generally if they are in both CC & Park4night they are OK but if only in Park4night treat with caution. Been caught out enough times, now only use on Park4night in emergencies.

 

[peterc10]

You can download and print your own "disque bleu" with the link below.
[URL]https://www.mairie-bailly.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/kit-disque-zone-bleue-bailly.pdf[/URL]
l

Do you have to have anything but this showing? If not then surely it can be abused by anybody who is not disabled

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[peterc10]

May have just been unlucky, generally if they are in both CC & Park4night they are OK but if only in Park4night treat with caution. Been caught out enough times, now only use on Park4night in emergencies.

I have had the same experiences. Park4night seem to have no real filter and report more of what I would call "dodgy" places (i.e. ones that I would not consider once I have seen them) than CamperContact. They seem to have more unofficial "wild camping" places in urban/suburban areas and industrial estates just because they are free rather than suitable.

Just my opinion; others may find them suitable!

 

[filopastry]

Do you have to have anything but this showing? If not then surely it can be abused by anybody who is not disabled

This is NOT a disabled parking aid but a "blue zone" parking clock. Blue zone parkings in France are parkings open to all but are time limited between 1 and XX hours which is declared on the signs nearby. In a blue parking zone, designated by blue lines, you should not park without this time clock showing your time of arrival, if you do, or if you exceed the maximum parking time, you will be fined. These parking areas, are as far as I can find out always free.

 

[peterc10]

This is NOT a disabled parking aid but a "blue zone" parking clock. Blue zone parkings in France are parkings open to all but are time limited between 1 and XX hours which is declared on the signs nearby. In a blue parking zone, designated by blue lines, you should not park without this time clock showing your time of arrival, if you do, or if you exceed the maximum parking time, you will be fined. These parking areas, are as far as I can find out always free.

Thanks for that. The fact that it is similar blue to the disabled badges obviously confused me. Easily done

Not noticed these blue zones on our travels, and rarely, if ever, paid for a car park in France. Maybe because we don't often take the motorhome into the middle of towns or cities, unless there is an Aire there! Instead we tend to use bus, scooter or walking. Are these type of car parks very common in France?

 

[pjay]

Just for info I came across a few of these blue zones in the Netherlands a few years ago.

You can park for free within the blue lines as long as you display a blue parking permit/card on the screen set with your arrival time. Durations vary but as an example it was 2 hours in Edam. Cards were available in a local newsagents for about €2, probably a bit more now.

Pete

 

[filopastry]

@pjay Same scheme as France and I believe you can use the same clock as France (but please verify that) @peterc10 Easily confused .. welcome to my world. The blue patking bays tend to be in town centres where parking is limited, idea is that one can do shopping etc but not stay there all day. You can get them at the Maries or simply using the link in post 13

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