Last minute change of plan.... So what are French Aires like during October?

Next Stop

Next Stop

Joined
Oct 29, 2019
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MH
VW LWB Crafter
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Long story short, Having spend the last two years building up our van ready for continental adventures, we had booked to go to the Netherlands for a two week tour leaving this coming Tuesday, but the van decided other plans and has spent the last 5 weeks at the garage with an electrical problem, won't go into details now but the result is we decided to cancel the tour and re-book for next spring. Next spring is too far away so we have decided we might book a week in France during the October half term (family unit, so do not have the luxury of being able to book whenever!) Question is what are the Aires like when out of season? We were thinking of just winging it and not booking anything but don't know if things like water and waste facilities are still running or do they get switched off this time of year? It's going to be around Brittany that we will be travelling, been before in a car and thought the area was lovely, can't wait to return!

Martin
 
Tend to still be fairly busy in October but you won't have any trouble finding space. Water often gets turned off on in the North at the begining of November.
 
We were in France last October on our way back home from Switzerland and the aires we went to were very busy.
 
Mixed, some rural aires were almost empty. Others in popular spots were very busy.
The days are short with darkness falling early and even on the med we found that it was 11am before the air warmed up and it started getting cool by 5pm.
That said, we loved it and will go again, health issues permitting.
 
From my experience there's no problems in October.
Just go, there's lots of alternatives Aire

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October weather in northern france will be very similar to here as you say your a family i would try to plan some places to go with children
 
Hi Next Stop ,
Love Brittany , very similar to Cornwall but the roads are a lot better , suggest you get the app for campercontact (or similar) for aires , presume you've got a satnav that you can put in GPS co-ord's makes finding the actual aire a lot easier .
You don't say how old your children are & their interests . Will you be going via Plymouth / Roscoff .
I will look out some of the aires that we've used when I get time , early in August & P.M. them too you , might not be your sort of choice as we are a much !! older couple.
Terry
 
In my experience A week is not really going to be much fun in October for a family tour, not long enough to get to the better weather I'm afraid.
Aires will be fine and will be plenty room and the emptying and filling will still be working.
If it has to be then , well go for it, but don't expect it to be any different than here weather wise, and you would need a couple of days traveling each way to get to the warmer parts which doesn't leave you a lot of leisure in between.
 
Thanks for all your replies!

FIDGET The kids are 9 and 12, and love the outdoors, they love a good castle and don't mind getting dragged around pretty villages, so long as there is some sort of food involved:LOL: Will be travelling from Plymouth, the last time we went we visited Huelgoat Forrest which had a nice looking aire on the outskirts, be good to return as it was stunning.

chaser I know it's not going to be an ideal time to visit, but we are so gutted that our current trip has been cancelled at the last moment we need something to look forward to! Not too fussed about warm weather, we live in Cornwall and despite what the internet shows, the weather down here is.... changeable at best!

Glad to hear the services will still be open, we have lost a lot of time what with Covid and now this, we are just keen on getting out at every opportunity in the next few years, having a few friends with older children, we know we don't have much time until our oldest wont want to go with us.

<M>

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Next Stop said:
Thanks for all your replies!

FIDGET The kids are 9 and 12, and love the outdoors, they love a good castle and don't mind getting dragged around pretty villages, so long as there is some sort of food involved:LOL: Will be travelling from Plymouth, the last time we went we visited Huelgoat Forrest which had a nice looking aire on the outskirts, be good to return as it was stunning.

chaser I know it's not going to be an ideal time to visit, but we are so gutted that our current trip has been cancelled at the last moment we need something to look forward to! Not too fussed about warm weather, we live in Cornwall and despite what the internet shows, the weather down here is.... changeable at best!

Glad to hear the services will still be open, we have lost a lot of time what with Covid and now this, we are just keen on getting out at every opportunity in the next few years, having a few friends with older children, we know we don't have much time until our oldest wont want to go with us.

<M>
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I know it gets criticized on here , by me as well I admit, for being out of date before it's printed, but in your case with only a week to find the Aires, I would look at purchasing the ," alltheaires" book where you can study most of the Aires before you go, you only need to buy it once as it will still be working for other years, ours is from 2016 and we still have a look at it.
I will have a look and put a link on in a min.
 
chaser said:
Here's the link.

www.vicarious-shop.com

All The Aires France 2025 10th Special Edition Vicarious Books Media

All the Aires France 2025 by Vicarious Books Media 10th special edition is the most comprehensive and accurate information available for motorhome and campervan users using Aires in France. ISBN:9781910664292
www.vicarious-shop.com www.vicarious-shop.com
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Thanks for the advice Chaser, call me old fashioned but I quite like thumbing through a book to find information, plus it's something to read in the bath.
Planning, in my mind, is half the adventure(y)
 
With the Kids it's a great day out at Grand Parc Puy du Fou. It a bit south of Brittany near Chalons, isn't cheap but is something they will remember forever. There an Aire attached. You need to book if you want to see the evening show ciniscenie. Nothing to do with cinema.
 
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Hi Next Stop , not sure where in Cornwall you are , but I have a copy of Camperstop 2018 you are welcome to borrow it gives a lot of photos and info also gps co-ords ours is twelth addition , I'd like it back ready for next year as we hope to get over there then.
Lovely castle at Fougeres , north east Brittany wel worth a visit,

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Agree but convenient for castle , free + free water , I know it's just like motorhome park as opposed to a car park , nice walk around large stone pit behind it , also not too far from bar and eatery .@Next Stop
 
You may be lucky with the weather, especially if you head for the south Morbihan, Loire Atlantique area. We had a holiday home there for many years and always spent two or three weeks there in October with many more dry than wet days. Rain coming into Brittany from the Atlantic tends to dump on the high ground to the west leaving southern Morbihan that bit drier. If your youngsters like swimming most decent sized towns will have a municipal indoor swimming pool to provide a few hours activity on a wet day. A mooch around the old submarine pens at St Nazaire makes for an interesting free outing. There's loads to do in Nantes too, with a Camping Car Park aire right by the entrance of the campsite which itself is open all year round and would cost 22 euros a night in October if you have an ACSI card. The tram stop is just outside the camp site and you can buy saver tickets at a good price from the site reception. Come to think of it, there's a large indoor swimming pool opposite the campsite. Here's a few links that might be useful:

Nantes Camping
Nantes Camping ACSI
Nantes Aire
 
meanders said:
With the Kids it's a great day out at Grand Parc Puy du Fou. It a bit south of Brittany near Chalons, isn't cheap but is something they will remember forever. There an Aire attached. You need to book if you want to see the evening show ciniscenie. Nothing to do with cinema.
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This place looks amazing, just added it to my bucket list!
 
FIDGET said:
View attachment 644387Hi Next Stop , not sure where in Cornwall you are , but I have a copy of Camperstop 2018 you are welcome to borrow it gives a lot of photos and info also gps co-ords ours is twelth addition , I'd like it back ready for next year as we hope to get over there then.
Lovely castle at Fougeres , north east Brittany wel worth a visit,

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View attachment 644381View attachment 644392
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Thanks for the offer Fidget, that's very kind of you, we are down west, so many a bit far to come and get, I've seen the app before, didn't know there was a book to go with it, I'll look out for a copy!

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Dart said:
You may be lucky with the weather, especially if you head for the south Morbihan, Loire Atlantique area. We had a holiday home there for many years and always spent two or three weeks there in October with many more dry than wet days. Rain coming into Brittany from the Atlantic tends to dump on the high ground to the west leaving southern Morbihan that bit drier. If your youngsters like swimming most decent sized towns will have a municipal indoor swimming pool to provide a few hours activity on a wet day. A mooch around the old submarine pens at St Nazaire makes for an interesting free outing. There's loads to do in Nantes too, with a Camping Car Park aire right by the entrance of the campsite which itself is open all year round and would cost 22 euros a night in October if you have an ACSI card. The tram stop is just outside the camp site and you can buy saver tickets at a good price from the site reception. Come to think of it, there's a large indoor swimming pool opposite the campsite. Here's a few links that might be useful:

Nantes Camping
Nantes Camping ACSI
Nantes Aire
Click to expand...
Thanks for the links, the kids love swimming but is it true that as a man you have to wear budgy smugglers and shorts aren't allowed? Sure I've read it somewhere, it would not be pretty sight!
 
Loads of rules at pools in France, which the French seem to ignore and everyone else sticks to! 😁 No need to go for 70s style speedo, many people wear their usual baggy swim shorts over a pair of trunks, which can be boxer size rather than a close relative of the thong. Used to get cheap pair from Sports Direct
 
Yes, Macvan is right. We queried it at a campsite years ago and they said the rules came in when there was a fashion for cut off denim jeans that people would sit around in all day, get mucky then jump in the pool. Our argument that dedicated swimshorts with a net inner liner are a different proposition didn't get us anywhere but I suppose they can hardly go around looking down the front of a blokes shorts to check for the net liner so stretchy fabric is the rule. Trunks like these seem to be accepted everywhere.
 
While a French open air swimming pool I was once told that it is good for spotting perverts….
 
You really should get an app! Something like Search for sites covers the UK and Europe. Imagine a wet evening, you have had enough and just want to find somewhere to stop. With a book it is not so easy, with an app, open it and it shows what is around you. OK, only use it at need, we did and it converted us.

We have been in November and found most still have water on. But as someone else said, Camping Carpark have Aires all over, and although they do cost, you do get electric, WiFi (most places) and water/waste services. Reckon on around 10€ to 13€ a night. Hope the trip goes well

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