Le Guide officiel Aires de service camping-car - Edition 2022

Product Information

We generally use the app park4night.com to find aires or approved overnight motorhome places. We decide whether we want to wild camp for the night or whether we need facilities/ want to charge motorhome batteries etc. In towns and villages, an Aire is no less or safer than an equivalent car park where you live at home. Some gated aires closed during the height of the Covid pandemic. France currently has few restrictions and most aires are fully open, although where there are services like toilets and showers, they may remain closed.

We are pleased to note that the use of tokens is now reducing, although some are still left. About 10-15 years ago, no machine had credit card facilities and the jeton was the only way to pay. We saw one during a recent road trip that still required a trip to the local boulangerie to get a token. Map of aires in France – standalone bornes Greoux les Bains: A pleasant, shady terraced aire, close to banks of the River Verdon and the town, with good facilities. Absolutely- as long as you follow the rules. Find out more about wild camping with a motorhome in France (and how to find places to stop.) Staying at an aire means you must remain self-contained and take everything with you. If there are no waste disposal units, don’t just throw your waste out here.

It costs the municipal councils a great deal of money to create and maintain these parking spaces and services that are dedicated entirely to motorhome travel. Don’t abuse the invitation by not looking after the areas where you stay. More guides for overnight stays in a motorhome in France If we want to charge/ empty toilets or find somewhere to park for a few days so we can ride our bikes, we head for a French Aire.

Some aires in France have electric points you can connect to, others don’t and you need to be self-sufficient for the duration of your stay. Most of the aires we’ve used in France use the same electric connectors as we use in the UK.Some aires have restrictions on what you can empty into them, especially if they’re on the fosse system. This means you have to be careful which chemical you use in your toilet and grey waste. We use a product called Solbio organic toilet fluid, which is natural and doesn’t contain harmful chemicals. It’s also safe to be disposed of in septic tanks or fosse, meaning we have more options to dispose of our toilet responsibly.

There are a growing number of commercial aires which have barriers and are more strictly controlled, but are generally very well run and often have additional facilities such as showers and restaurants. The largest provider is called Camping Car Park France , who run over 250 commercial aires in France.

Sur votre smartphone

Keep reading to learn more about the types of aires you will find in France. Types of aires Aires de Service – Service points only Often, these are run by the local council and are designed to encourage people to visit the area. They are nearly always well kept and welcoming, with signs in French and often English. If the signs aren’t in English, the info will be displayed in a way that’s fairly easy to understand. Some don’t actually say the word aire either, so best to be on the lookout for everything that could be connected to an overnight stopover location. There are well over 5,000 aires across France. Most large towns and cities will offer somewhere for motorhomes to park, and many rural villages too. Along popular routes and wherever there is a tourist attraction, you’ll find a French aire. Keep an eye out for signs that say ‘aire de service pour camping car’, which means service area for motorhomes. Rules for staying at Aires de Service in France