Motorway service area facilities for caravanners

[sheila_374397204]

Tebay on the M6 is a rather nice services, however, there is a very small caravan area (and car parking if truth be told) so it is difficult as cars park in the caravan area.

 

[nrdonnelly]

Sheila,

Westmorland services at Tebay is among the best there is for UK caravanners and they used to have an arrangement where caravanners could pull into the campsite to park, which was a lot more pleasant than sitting in the car park! The farm shop is very nice too.

One reason I suspect it is good is that it is not affiliated to the big groups which run the majority of service areas.

Regards

Nigel Donnelly

Editor

Practical Caravan

www.twitter.com/pcaravan

nigel@practicalcaravan.com

 

[KeithJ]

Nigel

We were on our way to Dover recently and had heard from friends that there was a new services on the M20 near the channel tunnel that was advertising itself as a waiting area for early arrivals for the ferries.

We normally take the M2 from Dartford, but decided to detour to the M20 as this sounded the ideal stopping place.

At first glance it looked promising, but after two tours around the parking areas we could not find anywhere for caravans at all. There was a lorry park, a car park with a height barrier barring caravans, a large coach park with only one coach in it - and a sign saying we could park in the inappropriate areas for

 

[nrdonnelly]

Keith,

I have no experience of this service area, but it sounds like it is designed for stacking up the trucks, rather than caravans. Still, it wouldn't hurt to pop a couple of caravan signposts and a few accessible bays for caravanners.

Cheers

Nigel Donnelly

Editor

Practical Caravan

 

[KeithJ]

Thanks Nigel

The lorry area is not massive, considering the thousands of trucks heading for Dover these days....., but there is no apparent recognition that caravanners even exist! They obviously like coach parties, though - they probably spend the most money!

Keith

 

[TheSleuth]

Don't kid yourselves that it's rubbish in the UK and everything's great in France although I'd agree without hesitation that overall the facilities there both at Service Stops and basic Aires is generally far superior.

In June when the autoroutes were only moderately busy we could not get in at several consecutive service areas - ample caravan spaces were provided at all, but private cars kept us out as their occupants preferred to park close to where they wanted to picnic. At another fuel stop a mob of motorcylists decided that the best place to gather and chat about their steeds was right in front of the fuel pumps. So close I simply hadn't room to swing my twin-ax round without clouting the curb or risking the pump itself.

My sister in law says they like to park their non-towing car in the caravan bays "because there's always more room!". Grrrr.

Best UK services I've been in by a country mile is on the M1 run by M & S, but I'm blowed if I can recall now whether it was Donington Park or Trowell. Senile decay setting in.

 

[JoannaLesley]

We have just spent the past 3 or 4 days driving up from the South of France. I'm with Val and Euro all the way. French aires are plentiful and clean (vans come regularly to empty bins)and caravan signing is clear. It's interesting to note that, in most cases, cars and caravans are pointed to the same area and trucks sent round the other way.

At no time did we have to park with trucks. We used the shops for basic supplies, but also ate in our van.

Back in the UK, we pulled into the services at Reading on the M4. Appalling signage - there is a small amount of space for caravans, as we subsequently found, but it is not signed when you come off the motorway. Not wanting to get ourselves trapped in the car parking area, we opted for the truck bays.

We planned to eat here. Horrified at the prices (