Hi, i just wondered if anyone can offer any advice on overnighting on an aire on the french motorways. can you do it?, and more importantly is it safe? I have seen some conflicting advice, i intend to travel down to switzerland then italy in july and will need overnight stops. or would i just be better/safer going on a proper site just off the motorway, any thoughts appreciated. thanks
Overnighting in Aires on French motorway network?
- Thread starter keith_374413759
- Start date
You can do it, and we do - but I have to say only when we don't have any choice. That is usually on our first overnight, because we arrive in France too late to find an open campsite (our choice). We've done it for years, without problems - taking appropriate precautions (ie putting anything of value well out of the way of any would-be-thief - and there are plenty of places in a caravan to find to hide things). There are some excellent Aires - but some you'd obviously want to avoid - and some actually have facilities for caravanners to overnight such as specialised bays, with picnic table and litter bins, and decent showers in the service area.
For all our other 'travelling time' we generally find a site. There are plenty of sites near enough to the major routes - here's a website listing them http://users.telenet.be/leo.huybrechts/camp1.htm - you should be able to find somewhere on your chosen route from there.
Some of these overnight sites have become firm favourites, and we've been back to them many times since. It makes the journey more pleasant if you can look forward to a night on a nice site - even if it does take longer because you can't drive until you drop.
For all our other 'travelling time' we generally find a site. There are plenty of sites near enough to the major routes - here's a website listing them http://users.telenet.be/leo.huybrechts/camp1.htm - you should be able to find somewhere on your chosen route from there.
Some of these overnight sites have become firm favourites, and we've been back to them many times since. It makes the journey more pleasant if you can look forward to a night on a nice site - even if it does take longer because you can't drive until you drop.
We have stayed in them too for the same reasons Val A has said. The thing is to be very alert to everything and everyone if you are not happy move on. If you have to stay on one the ones on peages are the better choice for the simple reason that villains do not like paying to ply their trade nor do they like being videoed which is what happens every time you enter and depart the Toll sections of motorway.
Also don't stay on one with a public road just over a fence or across a field. What also spreads the challenge for anyone wanting to prey on you is spread the passengers we have always had 2 in the car and 2 in the caravan, this creates a dilemma for a chancer, which is the target, who is not asleep.
If you are still unsure I would invest in the Caravan Europe books from the Caravan Club as they are rammed full of sites. Many towns have municipal and private campsites at good rates per night. Plan your route and bookmark the towns along your route both out and home bound.
Also don't stay on one with a public road just over a fence or across a field. What also spreads the challenge for anyone wanting to prey on you is spread the passengers we have always had 2 in the car and 2 in the caravan, this creates a dilemma for a chancer, which is the target, who is not asleep.
If you are still unsure I would invest in the Caravan Europe books from the Caravan Club as they are rammed full of sites. Many towns have municipal and private campsites at good rates per night. Plan your route and bookmark the towns along your route both out and home bound.
Hi, Don't we used to in the seventies wounld'nt dream of it now. Buy the Official guide for camping & caravaning in France every site is listed there
Alan
Alan
In 20 years of caravanning in Europe its something we have never done. We have always tried to plan our holidays so that we end up on a proper campsite which are usually a lot quieter than a motorway service area. The secret is to make the journey part of the holiday not just a means of getting from A to B. We have discovered some lovely places by doing this. We also once tried a middle of the night crossing-never again. We are now in the fortunate position of being retired and so can please ourselves on the time a journey takes. However when we used to regularly go down to the South of France when we were both still working we always booked 3 weeks holiday rather than 2 so that we had plenty of time.
David
David
We're with Val A. We and family and friends have used european motorway stops in Europe over many many years. We take the same sensible precautions and none of us have ever had a problem. It's personal choice. Travelling late at night on ferries suits us and a road side stop allows us freedom to traval when we choose rather than be tied to site arrival and departure times that don't always suit our plans.
We always cross in the late evening - twice, sometimes three times each year, and make our first night stop at Baie du Somme service area close to Abbeville. It has it's own caravan parking area away from the HGV entry and exit, the area is well lit and the site is visited frequently throughout the night by the traffic gendarmes.
To be honest, I can understand not choosing to use aires. World is getting a dangerous place.
Post edited
Parksy (Moderator)
Post edited
Parksy (Moderator)
I know this subject has been 'aired' (sorry!) numerous times, but I am curious to know if the stories of people being gassed then robbed on French autoroutes are really true, or urban legends? I have been reading various other forums on this topic and opinion seems strongly in favour of the latter. People ask what kind of gas could be used that is undetectable, and seemingly doesn't kill people but reliably puts them to sleep. What dosage is used to achieve this balance - if there are children in the vehicle is this taken into account by the thieves in setting the dose? As far as I know, professional anaesthetists get well paid to master this tricky science - do the thieves have such qualifications? Has anyone any indisputable evidence that this has happened to them directly(most accounts, mysteriously, refer to other people's robberies)? Believe me, no-one is more security conscious than me - you should see the number of locks, alarms and tracking devices on our van - but I admit to some agnostic scepticism on this one!
To be real, safety wise I would rather risk sleeping the night at an Aire under a plastic sheet than walk on many a city street in day light.
With a well secured caravan we sleep fine.
With a well secured caravan we sleep fine.
Security in Aires isnt a worry IMHO ,however the smell of pungeant urine or the noise of air assisted brakes and the chance that a refigeration truck can pull up beside you during the night leaving the fridge unit generator running alnight only metres from your bed, has made us this year decide for the first time in 7 years of driving through Europe, to stay at a campground/site for a good nights Kip.
Good for you percy, for the sake of a fiver why anyone would not choose an overnight campsite is beyond me???
I said earlier, as did another poster, because we choose to arrive in France after all campsites have shut for the night. Aire de la Baie de Somme (and others) have dedicated caravan areas, with no pungent smell of urine, no refrigerated units, and are regularly patrolled by the Gendarmes - so we choose to stay there because we'd have to alter our journey times otherwise. Others, as said, choose to overnight en-route because they don't want to be tied to site arrival and departure times.
Also when the children were small we found that leaving a site in the evening, (no problem on most sites in France) after showers and supper, meant that we could make good headway, sleep somewhere en-route, and arrive on another site mid-morning - giving us the feeling that we'd had a whole extra day.
It is a choice - and if you're not comfortable with it, for any reason, then don't do it.
Also when the children were small we found that leaving a site in the evening, (no problem on most sites in France) after showers and supper, meant that we could make good headway, sleep somewhere en-route, and arrive on another site mid-morning - giving us the feeling that we'd had a whole extra day.
It is a choice - and if you're not comfortable with it, for any reason, then don't do it.
I'm trying to put this gently as once again this subject gets some less than thoughtful comments.
Suggesting that all Aires and French motorway stops stink of urine is uncalled for.
As Val has said, plenty have dedicated caravan or parking areas well away from truck stops.
Where you stop is a matter of choice, suggesting that people stop in Aires to save a fiver is as bad as suggesting that caravanners should all not be tight and stay at
Suggesting that all Aires and French motorway stops stink of urine is uncalled for.
As Val has said, plenty have dedicated caravan or parking areas well away from truck stops.
Where you stop is a matter of choice, suggesting that people stop in Aires to save a fiver is as bad as suggesting that caravanners should all not be tight and stay at
"There are some Aires and motorway services that we would never dream of stopping at!"
Have not come across a campsite where I would never dream of overnighting, surely trying to 'make' one of these safe Aires when tired is as bad has trying to get to a campsite, I dont really care who stops on an aire, if they get robbed or worse thats the chance they take.
Have not come across a campsite where I would never dream of overnighting, surely trying to 'make' one of these safe Aires when tired is as bad has trying to get to a campsite, I dont really care who stops on an aire, if they get robbed or worse thats the chance they take.
"I dont really care who stops on an aire, if they get robbed or worse thats the chance they take" is quite a nasty sentiment in response to a reasonable reply.
Those who do stay on Aires don't make personal comments about what might happen to those who choose to stay on a site. Please don't wish anything bad on anyone - whether or not you agree with their holiday arrangements!
Those who do stay on Aires don't make personal comments about what might happen to those who choose to stay on a site. Please don't wish anything bad on anyone - whether or not you agree with their holiday arrangements!
Val, please point me in the direction where I "wished anything bad on anyone" in my posts, Keith asked for people's opinions, end of.
euro, I dont beleive all aires in europe stink of urine only the ones ive overnighted at, and as you are probably aware selecting an aire with a caravan area or a clean and quiet aire is a gamble as it might be full once you get their - this has happened to me every year for the last seven years .If their was a website on aires or rastplatzs in europe it would help. On that note the aire in attinghausen switzerland(north of the gotthard tunnel) charged me the equivilant of _35 to stay overnight, the attendant did say the next aire driving south had a dedicated caravan/motorhome area and was free of charge but it filled up early.
Heres my scores for attinghausen rest area
Score for peace and quiet. 2/10 (parking area very close to the autobahn )
score for cleanliness of rest/parking area. 2/10 (bins were full and suspect puddles, it hadnt rained in days!!!)
Score for facilitys 8/10 (good souvinier shop and showers)
Value for money 1/10 not worth _35
Heres my scores for attinghausen rest area
Score for peace and quiet. 2/10 (parking area very close to the autobahn )
score for cleanliness of rest/parking area. 2/10 (bins were full and suspect puddles, it hadnt rained in days!!!)
Score for facilitys 8/10 (good souvinier shop and showers)
Value for money 1/10 not worth _35
I suppose if you travel along the same routes three or four times a year you get to know the wheat from the chaff. Aire de la Baie de Somme would probably score 8 and a half/10 on Percy's scale -
Score for peace and quiet. 7/10 (nowhere which is so near to a convenient route is going to be a 10/10)
Score for cleanliness of rest/parking area. 10/10 (each caravan bay has it's own picnic table and litter bin) The service building is as clean as I've ever seen, and there's a nature walk on 'site)
Score for facilites 9/10 (good souvenier shop, restaurant and showers)
Value for money 10/10 (absolutely free, including the shower)
Aire des Deux Caps (near Boulogne) would score similarly on everything except noise - there's less barrier between you and the road - however it does have metered electric hook-ups and water on a payment meter. Could be absolutely free, including the shower, if you don't use the hook-up or water.
There are others on the A26 and A1 which we've used over the years, and these would probably come in at 7/10.
Perhaps its a good thing that more people don't chance using them, leaving room for those who do.
Score for peace and quiet. 7/10 (nowhere which is so near to a convenient route is going to be a 10/10)
Score for cleanliness of rest/parking area. 10/10 (each caravan bay has it's own picnic table and litter bin) The service building is as clean as I've ever seen, and there's a nature walk on 'site)
Score for facilites 9/10 (good souvenier shop, restaurant and showers)
Value for money 10/10 (absolutely free, including the shower)
Aire des Deux Caps (near Boulogne) would score similarly on everything except noise - there's less barrier between you and the road - however it does have metered electric hook-ups and water on a payment meter. Could be absolutely free, including the shower, if you don't use the hook-up or water.
There are others on the A26 and A1 which we've used over the years, and these would probably come in at 7/10.
Perhaps its a good thing that more people don't chance using them, leaving room for those who do.
May be I should have said that there are also French road side stops that we would rather overnight at than some UK and continental caravan sites.
We done sites with drunken yobs speeding around the site nearly mowing our daughter down and the chav sites with drunks in the cub house and late night crude banter. We've also been on UK and continental sites where locals see campers belongings as fair game and a Scottish site with facilities that made it smell like sewage treatment plant.
We done sites with drunken yobs speeding around the site nearly mowing our daughter down and the chav sites with drunks in the cub house and late night crude banter. We've also been on UK and continental sites where locals see campers belongings as fair game and a Scottish site with facilities that made it smell like sewage treatment plant.
2nd Val. BdLS and Ad2C. We've had many good nights at both and have shared a couple of breakfast's and coffee's with fellow caravanners there as well as useful general caravanning info.
To Keith I would specifically say that there are many aires where you can stay in France enroute for St Gotthard and Italy we've done it 2 years running. The French aires tend to be more spacious than the Italian ones and the Swiss ones are generally even smaller. The aire at Airolo, immediately after the St Gotthard Tunnel travelling south does have a dedicated parking area which is well used by caravanners. It can be a bit noisy however, as is in the main car park and the road and railway line are nearby.
To answer your question more generally my wife and I have been stopping overnight at autoroute aires in France and more recently Belgium, Switzerland and Italy every summer for the past 10 years or so. French aires vary widely from picnic areas with toilets right through to fully featured sites similar to, no, sorry, in fact much better than, UK Motorway services. They are much more frequent than UK services so if we don't like the look of one it is usually only about 10 miles to the next one.
We use our commonsense and only stop where there are other 'vanners already stopped in a good numbers and with good lighting, etc. We have a cheap Lidl door alarm lock set which goes off if the door is opened whilst we are sleeping. We keep our valuables and documents well hidden about our persons, in bed!!!, and in other places around the 'van. I am a generally VERY cautious person and choose my aires carefully. Especially on the French autoroutes aires are very frequent and so if we don't like the look of one aire we just move on to another.
Why do we do this?? The big advantage of staying at aires is that on long journeys we can drive until we are beginning to feel tired and then just pull over, drop the 'van legs, eat and go to bed. No need for unhitching and hitching and we can be away bright and early in the morning. We have sometimes kept going until 9.00pm and been away in the morning a 7.00am well refreshed. It is unnecessary to bother looking for a campsite or worry about reaching a site by a certain time. We do not have to leave the autoroute. The 'van remains hooked-up so no messing around setting up when we are tired. Just legs down in the evening and legs up in the morning. We can maximise our time travelling to our final destination. Oh and of course it is free, even on the toll-free autoroutes!! unlike rip-off UK motorway services. I have never found the problems of urine smells on the Continent although I have FREQUENTLY found this in UK service areas where I have been charged up to
To answer your question more generally my wife and I have been stopping overnight at autoroute aires in France and more recently Belgium, Switzerland and Italy every summer for the past 10 years or so. French aires vary widely from picnic areas with toilets right through to fully featured sites similar to, no, sorry, in fact much better than, UK Motorway services. They are much more frequent than UK services so if we don't like the look of one it is usually only about 10 miles to the next one.
We use our commonsense and only stop where there are other 'vanners already stopped in a good numbers and with good lighting, etc. We have a cheap Lidl door alarm lock set which goes off if the door is opened whilst we are sleeping. We keep our valuables and documents well hidden about our persons, in bed!!!, and in other places around the 'van. I am a generally VERY cautious person and choose my aires carefully. Especially on the French autoroutes aires are very frequent and so if we don't like the look of one aire we just move on to another.
Why do we do this?? The big advantage of staying at aires is that on long journeys we can drive until we are beginning to feel tired and then just pull over, drop the 'van legs, eat and go to bed. No need for unhitching and hitching and we can be away bright and early in the morning. We have sometimes kept going until 9.00pm and been away in the morning a 7.00am well refreshed. It is unnecessary to bother looking for a campsite or worry about reaching a site by a certain time. We do not have to leave the autoroute. The 'van remains hooked-up so no messing around setting up when we are tired. Just legs down in the evening and legs up in the morning. We can maximise our time travelling to our final destination. Oh and of course it is free, even on the toll-free autoroutes!! unlike rip-off UK motorway services. I have never found the problems of urine smells on the Continent although I have FREQUENTLY found this in UK service areas where I have been charged up to
Keith, My advice is - don't! My wife and I are recently retired police officers, so we are not of a nervous disposition but the idea of stopping is to get a good night's sleep before the following day's journey. We used the aires extensively but three bad experiences has changed that for us. Once we witnessed three men attempting to break into nearby rigs (we chased them off)and twice there have been attempts on ours. Once the alarm on the car was activated and the other occasion my wife awoke to see a man trying to force the window next to our bed. I do not subscribe to the gas myth. None of my former contacts in the French police have ever discovered a suspect carrying anaesthetic gas in their cars. There has never been a death from gassing or gas bottle discarded by a fleeing thief 'caught in the act'. If I had fallen asleep, dog tired after a long drive and a couple of glasses of wine then to find I'd left a window open with my wallet to hand, I would awake feeling very sick and with a real headache. The answer lies in poor caravan security and very tired occupants.
Our bad experiences were all in aires de servive, not aire de repos. It does not help to sleep amongst the trucks because they will say they suffer the dame problems and suspect some truck drivers may be responsible.
I am sure many hundreds will continue to use the aires, without incident but sooner or later their luck will run out. Book ahead, if travelling at peak times or arriving late and use the campsites. This way, nobody will be fretting or standing guard and a decent sleep may follow. Enjoy your trip!
Regards
Phil
Our bad experiences were all in aires de servive, not aire de repos. It does not help to sleep amongst the trucks because they will say they suffer the dame problems and suspect some truck drivers may be responsible.
I am sure many hundreds will continue to use the aires, without incident but sooner or later their luck will run out. Book ahead, if travelling at peak times or arriving late and use the campsites. This way, nobody will be fretting or standing guard and a decent sleep may follow. Enjoy your trip!
Regards
Phil
I am sure many hundreds will continue to use the aires, without incident but sooner or later their luck will run out.
Sooner or later I might win the lottery, but I am not going to hold my breath. There are many thousands of caravans & motorhomes on the roads of France each year that never ever have any problems at all, I am one of them, I have travelled extensively on the continent and have never seen any problems or met anyone who has had problems, but I have met plenty who know someone who has had a problem, rather strange that.
Go on holiday and enjoy your self regardless of where you stay.
Steve W
Sooner or later I might win the lottery, but I am not going to hold my breath. There are many thousands of caravans & motorhomes on the roads of France each year that never ever have any problems at all, I am one of them, I have travelled extensively on the continent and have never seen any problems or met anyone who has had problems, but I have met plenty who know someone who has had a problem, rather strange that.
Go on holiday and enjoy your self regardless of where you stay.
Steve W
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