France has nearly 3000  municipally provided Motorhome parking areas, most provide fresh water and waste water facilities. So the objective of this guide is spot on, a list of all the aires (motorhome stopover & services) in France.

Whilst the listings are organised by large regions, after that the organisation is rather random, possibly in the order the aires were added. I found the map at the front of the book fairly poor if you are looking for some where to stop near by. Some of the GPS co-ordinates are also incorrect or not up to date.

On one occasion the Aire we chose no longer existed having been closed down, and the road designated as being prohibited for Motorhome access, which can incur a fine in certain areas.

So, in short my advise is read the book thoroughly, make sure you understand how to enter co ordinate into sat nav properly.  Then use your eyes and common sense to look for the “Aire” or “camping car” signs and follow them.

Published by Vicarious Media
Folkstone, Kent

Reviewed On 20/05/2018

13 thoughts on “All The Aires France North / South 

  1. Hope weather picks up, its been glorious here in South West Scotland. We leave on Friday, our plans have changed , we are now only spending a few days in France, then we are heading straight over to Portugal, we have been offered a nice piece of land with a little house on it , in return for looking after the land we can stay there as long as we like, it’s through the Pure Portugal website. As we have been looking for land to buy there for a while, it’s incredibly cheap to buy in Portugal. This will give us a chance to live there before buying. We are leaving our moho in storage in England , and taking our car and tent, if we like the place ( I’m sure we will ) we will come back for moho and bring it over to Portugal. The place is in the Coimbra region , the couple who own it are in the medical profession , as is my wife ..a nurse. Currently working for various medical agencies. We travel and live full time in our rolling home..going from job to job around the Uk..I’m itching to get back on the land again though, as I am a organic farmer. Having just spent 10 years in Spain as a citrus fruit cultivator, in Almeria. Well not just, haha time flys..I returned to the Uk in 2014..madre mia. Been busy working on boats as a rigger and driving for a media company in Dorset since then..onwards. And hope the Sun comes out for you both..Liam x

    1. Hi Liam. Just wondered how you are getting on in Portugal. We are aiming for Portugal this weekend and hopefully get some better weather. Karen

      1. Hi Karen, excuse late reply.
        Well , we are in Scotland now. Returned a week ago. We only spent 3 weeks in Portugal, the land we were offered was unsuitable for us. Although it was free to use for as long as we liked, it wouldn’t have accommodated our motorhome, let alone our car..it was located deep in a eucalyptus forest with bad access. We did however , visit a few plots of land for sale , in the Castelo Branco region.
        Again nothing of much interest for us, lots of cheap land but most without water ,or decent quality earth, or with tracks requiring 4×4 vehicles. Overall we have decided that we are not too keen on Portugal. We enjoyed our time in Spain , and France..i think we followed a similar path to you guys, we stayed in the Charente Maritime , The Dordogne, The Lot, Mayenne, Normandy. We stayed on a few campsites, which was a first for us. We also stayed at a friends farmhouse in Normandy. And we wild camped also. We had left our motorhome in storage in England, and took our car, which meant we could cover greater distance’s, and see more off grid places than we could have done with the moho..we are back now for 6 months , where we will based on a campsite between Bristol and Bath. Then in early 2019 we are going over again, but not to Portugal. I think we will visit Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro,Sardinia, then France and Spain again..both languages , Lorraine and i are pretty fluent in.
        Well i look forward to reading your next post, and hope you are both having a great time..hugs from Bonnie Scotland, Liam and Lorraine.

        1. Like you we are the same about Portugal. It’s much cheaper than France. We are meeting friends in Spain other wise I think we would give it a miss. I’m hoping to catch up with blogs in the next week or so, the internet hasn’t been great. X

  2. Enjoy Toulouse , I lived in Toulouse , and also in the surrounding area for a few years , early 2000’s ..la ville rose.
    My daughter Libertad was born prematurely , due to the terrible explosion they had there, in Toulouse, 2001.quite a few people died,it happened in a chemical fertiliser factory close to the university..we lost all our windows. The area around the explosion was affected for 2 km in all directions.
    Enjoy your time there..we leave next sat , Newhaven to Dieppe, then heading slowly down to the Landes , and over the border into Spain. My wife is really looking forward to it, as a hardworking nurse she has not had any time off, in the last 12 months..all the best stay safe x

    1. Only just managed to read this know. Internet here isn’t great. I didn’t know that happened Toulouse so interesting but scary fir you at the time. Enjoy your time in Spain. We will be heading that way at some point and hoping for better weather, it’s been awful here. Take care x

  3. Wow, just read your story about the house sitting and fire..glad you survived.
    You write very well !! ..Greetings from Scotland, we are full timers, my wife and I. Heading to France in 2 weeks, then Spain and onto Portugal to look at some land for sale, going in our old kontiki..looking forward to your next post..stay safe.

    1. Thanks for reading the blog. Some times it’s difficult to know what interests people x

      1. I think people are generally interested in everyday life. Especially in the everyday life of people in a different country to their own..I think “blogs” are new type of *post card* ..I guess finding the motivation to write is the crux x

    2. We will be near Toulouse from June until mid July then hopefully on to Spain end of July

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