Tinlizzie Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Well, In 2 weeks we are off on our second road trip through Europe. The first was northern France in the floods, so we are hoping to fare a little better this time. Because we hope to be away for 6 to 8 weeks we are thinking that we will make some use of Aires during our travels. We plan to use the articles written in "Out and About Live" as a bit of a bible. https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/articles/travel/the-long-road-south-a-motorhome-route-through-france-to-spain However, I'm a bit worried by the idea that you can roll up mid afternoon and find your planned stay full. How often does this happen in your experience. If the next one was full too I think I might start to panic. Also the advice is, if it looks a bit dodgy move on. What signs do you look for? How much do you guys plan a trip - do you have planned stop areas and locate 2 or 3 Aires in each? Any advice gratefully received Lizzie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 We use aires when they're convenient. We rarely plan far ahead, and I'd have thought you'd be unlucky to find any but the most popular or smallest ones full by mid-afternoon in September. Unusually, for us, we've just got back from an August trip, and to our surprise we had no difficulty finding space on aires. In fact, arriving mid-afternoon often meant we were the first or second van to turn up. And in any case, the French are generally so relaxed you can park in almost any carpark overnight if you want to - we certainly have, and lots of other more obscure places too. Generally, we like somewhere that has an attractive setting; or is close to somewhere of particular interest. It's difficult to say what would put us off stopping over - it's more or less a gut reaction. In reality there have been few places we've turned up and felt unhappy - we usually try to do a small amount of research as we're travelling in order to find places that would meet our needs. The Vicarious guidebook 'All the Aires: France' is handy and there are lots of apps you can have on your phone too. No single resource captures all the thousands of French aires - I believe there are well in excess of 7,000. We also use campsites too, so not exclusively staying on aires. And the ACSI discount scheme will be in full operation, so plenty of choice of reasonably priced places available. My advice would be don't worry about it too much, but just 'go with the flow'. Perhaps easier said than done for the first time, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 As well as ALL THE AIRES FRANCE we have the Bord Atlas France from vicarious I also on my ipad have downloaded CAMPERCONTACT there is a free version but the full version is only £4.50 or there abouts , If all else fails the Municipals are very good and not expensive, and as has been already said Car Parks in most villages wouldn't complain I don't think ! you would have to be very unlucky to find no places especially later in the season. Hope you have a good trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 I agree with the suggestion not to worry too much and just turn up and hope there's room, which there almost certainly will be. The Aires which are near an attractive location and those which are very handy just off a transit route are more likely than others to get full but we have almost never been unable to park up somewhere on or near the Aire. If push comes to shove there will always be a car park or a campsite somewhere nearby that you can resort to for an overnight sleep. Ordinarily in France you never need to worry about security, there just isn't a threat. In the extremely unlikely event that you find yourself surrounded by dodgy-looking travellers just quietly move on but really, it's not going to happen. Avoid stopping overnight on motorway service areas of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKen1 Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Weve just got back from an extended trip to Italy and France and as Mike said you need an Aires book better still at least 2 ..we carry the Vicarious "All the French Aires" and also "Camperstop Europe" which should cover most stops If you arrive late in September there should be no problem finding space failing that people just park adjacent to the Aire for the night .For Camping get the ACSI book (its 2 books now ) with the discount card inside. All your stop over needs are now covered. A bit dodgy...well that is a very personel thing.. .when we pullin and look at each other and say "not sure about this place " we up sticks and move on because you can bet you will not get a good nights sleep every sound will wake you. We generally plan the direction and at the Coffee/ Lunch have a look at the books and then decide how far the next Aire is or just stay put. There are so many Aires in France you generally dont need to travel more than an hour or so to the next one in fact you can usually stumble across one not in the book by keeping an eye open for the motorhome water dump signs. Have a great trip Brian K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 I would have to agree with what has already been said. Regarding “is it safe”. If my wife is happy then I am, if not (woman’s intuition?) we move on. Our trips are usually in spring/early summer and autumn and we use a mix of aires, stellplatze and campsites. We have been using French aires for many years, we have yet to find one full at these times of the year. We have on occasion, out of necessity overnighted in village car parks. We have never had a problem or been moved on. In France it seems that if you park sensibly, don’t cause any sort of problem and just stay for the one night then nobody seems to mind – locals or police. We have seen the French do exactly the same thing. I our experience most French villages have a car park if you are stuck. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 For unknown (previously unvisited) Aires, arrive by 16:00 and you should be OK. Aires are anarchic, first come, first served, but rarely will you come unstuck and usually when there is no room at the inn, there is another inn close-by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinlizzie Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 Thanks for your advice and reassurances everyone. I notice that everyone talks about Aires in France, but not Spain. Do you use them in Spain too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Tinlizzie - 2016-08-29 10:59 AM Thanks for your advice and reassurances everyone. I notice that everyone talks about Aires in France, but not Spain. Do you use them in Spain too? Of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKen1 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 The "Camperstop Europe " will have Spanish Aires in and you could get the Vacarious "Spain and Portugal Aires" book Once you sample the French aires you may be a little disappointed with some of the Spanish ones but they still offer the same services.We use them where possible as they are good for a couple of night stops and some are handy for the larger Cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 Some signs that might make you cautious about staying, side window glass on the floor, travellers, graffiti on the walls, suspicious characters walking around, no street lights, burnt out car/motorhome 8-) , high rise flats with barking dogs (they keep you awake), refrigerated trucks, (they keep you awake). On the other hand I have had some peaceful nights at some strange places. Cemetery car parks are usually quiet and the neighbours are very quiet! River car park, lake car parks, bar car parks, supermarket car parks, police station car park (yes really, I asked where I could spend a night and they pointed to the far corner, I did feel safe that night. The list is endless. H Edit: Don't leave your trousers over the front seat and keep handbags out of sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 http://s358.photobucket.com/user/vindiboy1/library/AIRE%20HOPPING%201 We use Aires and wild camp all the time and have done so for 20 odd years now never had a problem we use them in France Spain Portugal Germany Belgium Norway Sweden etc, they are called different things in different countries but are still Aires, we avoid Campsites like the plague, each to their own of course , if an Aire looks full when you are on one, wait a while and 3 or 4 more vans will get in , busy and fun . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 http://s358.photobucket.com/user/vindiboy1/library/AIRE%20HOPPING%202 Some more Aires we have used , there are many ways of finding Aires, on line, apps , etc but we just use the Vicarious books for our trips ,great publications ,in English and easy to follow and available for most Countries, others will have other ideas no doubt, enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 vindiboy - 2016-08-30 12:53 PMhttp://s358.photobucket.com/user/vindiboy1/library/AIRE%20HOPPING%202Some more Aires we have used , there are many ways of finding Aires, on line, apps , etc but we just use the Vicarious books for our trips ,great publications ,in English and easy to follow and available for most Countries, others will have other ideas no doubt, enjoy.Just opened this link and received a message from Google that my Tablet had been infected.Anyone else had this message ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 The link is fine. Unless you have other problems it could simply be a false positive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 EJB - 2016-08-30 2:15 PM The link is fine. Unless you have other problems it could simply be a false positive! Thanks for the advice. No problems so far but I'll run a scan on my machine just to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 There is lots of pop ups on PB DONT click anything especially something saying its from Microsoft and you have a Trojan !!! my O.H did on a football forum and ended up having a phone conversation with a scammer >:-( I was out and furious when I came back as Im always telling him not to !! he did have to take his computer in months ago because of a Trojan . This was only yesterday hopefully my Son and myself have got rid of anything that might be lingering, and he didn't give any financial details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 maggyd - 2016-08-31 11:39 AM There is lots of pop ups on PB DONT click anything especially something saying its from Microsoft and you have a Trojan !!! my O.H did on a football forum and ended up having a phone conversation with a scammer >:-( I was out and furious when I came back as Im always telling him not to !! he did have to take his computer in months ago because of a Trojan . This was only yesterday hopefully my Son and myself have got rid of anything that might be lingering, and he didn't give any financial details. Thanks for the information. When I opened the link to photo bucket, a few seconds later it diverted to another website. That's when I got a warning from Google and to click OK to remove the infection (I use Google Chrome). I ignored the message and closed the tab on the pop-up website. Hopefully, my inaction to click on anything has saved the day. Thanks for sharing your son's experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinlizzie Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks for the photos - loads of info there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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