Recommend me an French Aire

[wilksy61]

Later on this month I shall be driving my Knaus Boxdrive to Spain, the route I'm going will take me towards Bordeaux and by the time I get there it will probably be best to park up and have a sleep.

Any recommendations for an Aire that won't take me to far out of the way, in the past when going by car we normal park up at the Aire de Porte des Landes Ouest for a nap but with a motorhome you're always told not to park up on the motorway Aire's.

[s2sol]

If it's not too far out of your way, there's a very basic one in Biscarrosse. The aire itself is nothing special, but it's a nice little town with a cracking kebab shop about a five minute walk from the aire.

[wilksy61]

Cheers taken a look at that one but its a bit to far out of the way, the one at Castets seems to be ideal for me as its almost next to the motorway. How do they work for instance how do you get in if they have barriers?

[s2sol]

The majority in France, except in larger towns, are free and don't have barriers. There's a very useful app called Park4night, which has details of Aires, free parking places, campsites etc. It's well worth a look, and will generally give you details of how the aire works.

I'm in Germany at the moment. I've got a couple of things to sort out in Brugges next Wednesday, and I'll be heading down to Morocco via Spain as soon as possible after that. I haven't seen the sun in days.

[chopper602]

I'll echo the app recommendation. There is also 'searchforsites' and a new scheme in France 'Camping Car Park' which operates a network of aires which you can book in advance (they do cost a few Euros per night though)

[ferret50]

I have never had any issue sleeping in the motorway service areas, and the first one heading south out of Bourdoux is very good.

[Rob 131 Sport]

I’d definitely want to be parking somewhere secure that had many people around.

[chopper602]

ferret50 said:

I have never had any issue sleeping in the motorway service areas, and the first one heading south out of Bourdoux is very good.

I've never felt the need, but I'd not risk sleeping in a motorway aire, especially when there are local village aires all over in France.

[Dog Star]

chopper602 said:

ferret50 said:

I have never had any issue sleeping in the motorway service areas, and the first one heading south out of Bourdoux is very good.

I've never felt the need, but I'd not risk sleeping in a motorway aire, especially when there are local village aires all over in France.

Never had an issue with them, and they are very convenient.

On our way to Spain every year we always used to stop for the night at Aire de Frontonnais Sud, which is just north of Toulouse.

[wilksy61]

Thanks for the replies, I've always slept in the car at Motorway Aires without any issues, its just that in MMM and Practical Motorhomes you're always told not to stay at them due to theft etc.

The one just south of Bordeaux looks ok I hope I will get a bit farther than that before I need to park up.

[littlebasher]

As above, we found the 'Camping Car Park' app invaluable in the summer.

Cheap (like £11 a night) and with mains hookups, water and somewhere to empty the toilet cassette. Plus it shows how many spaces are available, which allowed me to plan stops in advance

[Steve Kimberley]

chopper602 said:

I'll echo the app recommendation. There is also 'searchforsites' and a new scheme in France 'Camping Car Park' which operates a network of aires which you can book in advance (they do cost a few Euros per night though)

Camping-Car Park isn't really new - we've been members for years. Decent system, although rather variable.
We also subscribe to France Passion (like Britstops but far better IMO).

[Benson11]

We found theres not much around Bordeaux campsite wise, I have stayed on the services mentioned above before and didn't have any issues but its not the best night sleep in those places.

Id say check camping car parks and find something that works for you, its pretty much always turned up good options for us.

[-Cappo-]

I occasionally drive trucks in Europe, and park up in motorway aires if I have to, and I think it's fair to say I've had people trying the doors or otherwise interfering more times than I haven't. In a truck I always now use a ratchet strap between the two door handles. I haven't taken my RV to Europe yet but intend to at some point, and we definitely won't be sleeping in motorway aires!

[Rob 131 Sport]

-Cappo- said:

I occasionally drive trucks in Europe, and park up in motorway aires if I have to, and I think it's fair to say I've had people trying the doors or otherwise interfering more times than I haven't. In a truck I always now use a ratchet strap between the two door handles. I haven't taken my RV to Europe yet but intend to at some point, and we definitely won't be sleeping in motorway aires!

I think this post summarises the matter.

[mcelliott]

We stay in loads of aires, never had trouble, if we get a bad vibe we don't stay, so far everything is fine.

[Badda]

-Cappo- said:

I occasionally drive trucks in Europe, and park up in motorway aires if I have to, and I think it's fair to say I've had people trying the doors or otherwise interfering more times than I haven't. In a truck I always now use a ratchet strap between the two door handles. I haven't taken my RV to Europe yet but intend to at some point, and we definitely won't be sleeping in motorway aires!

Why don’t you lock the doors?