City Parking

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

As most of you know I'm new to motorhoming having previously towed. The one thing that is bothering me is finding city parking. We love exploring attractive cities in France and we hope in Germany as well this year. With a caravan of course it isn't a problem as you've a car, which can be parked almost anywhere.

Has anyone any good advice about finding suitable car parks for a 6 metre motorhome? I have the best model TomTom satnav in case there are any databases available but I'm wondering if ultimately, I'll be looking for coach and bus parks. Any advice from some of you very experienced travellers would be much appreciated.

[saruman]

hi try this by graham

 

www.motorhomeparking.co.uk

 

ray

[Brian Kirby]

Frank

The position is quite varied across France, depending partially on size of city and partly on the attitude the local Mayor takes to tourists/motorhomes.  However, as a general rule, France and Germany are far, far, easier then UK.

Can you park?

You will probably find some difficulty in normal car parks, on and off street, due to size.  Do be aware that you can be ticketed if any part of your vehicle overhangs the bay markings, including overhanging a footway.  This is not universal but, as a stranger, how will you know?  And don't assume that because French vans are parked overhanging it will be OK, those from the less stringent areas get caught in the picky ones!  However, in some cases you will find unrestricted free roadside parking, without marked bays, within an easy walk of the centre.

You will often find a dedicated motorhome (camping car) parking area, often called an "aire parking camping car", or something similar.  These do not always equate to the overnight stopping aires, although some will be one and the same.  They are sometimes signposted by a camping car symbol with a "P".  A guide to aires should make clear which type are which.  Many, but by no means all, are free during the day.

Many towns/cities have their municipal campsites.  These are often within walking distance of the centre or have bus/train routes into the centre from nearby.  Caravan Europe is probably the best guide, but you may find yourself amazed at how hazy your ex tugging colleagues are about distances.  "5 mins to centre" may be stated, but you'd need an F1 racing car to do it in that time, leave alone on Shank's pony!  If you can waymark the described location/address on your Tom Tom it will be worthwhile, if TT won't do that try Autoroute or similar, and double check the site's website to see if they have an address or plan to be more accurate.

I am far less familiar with Germany, but I have used one or two stellplatz, some at least of which seem within walking distance of town centres and can generally be used for daytime parking. 

How you fare will, inevitably depend on time of year and popularity of the places you visit.  High season, around the honeypot areas, all spaces are at a premium and infringements are more likely to be penalised, especially anywhere along the Cote d'Azur.  Less popular places, at the same time of year, will still be free, and off season there is good availability almost everywhere.

For sheer shopping convenience supermarkets in smaller towns take a lot of beating.  Best visited periodically while en-route, so once you arrive wherever you don't have to beetle off shopping and then try to carry the lot back.  Than famous "5 mins" is even further when Shank's pony is staggering under the weight of half a week's shopping!

Final tip.  How do you find the wayside supermarkets?  Well you'll probably already be familiar with the names of the main chains.  If you have Autoroute, enable petrol stations in "show places" menu, and then do a search for "Auchan", "Stoc", "Champion" etc.  Since most of the fuel sales in France are now from supermarkets, wherever there is a petrol station called Auchan etc. etc. there is almost bound to be an Auchan etc. etc. supermarket, and so on almost ad infinitum!  Then you just bend your route a bit to pass by whichever one is nearest to the line you were taking.

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

saruman - 2006-12-30 3:59 PM hi try this by graham www.motorhomeparking.co.uk ray

Thanks saruman but I'd already got this website. It is of course purely for the U.K. and I'm more concerned about the Continent.

Thank you Brian for some very comprehensive advice. I'll be printing it off to put in the front of my European atlas to remind me of the tips!

It's going to need a whole new mindset. The shopping en-route is excellent advice which I hadn't considered. I'd never do it with a caravan in tow but of course with a motorhome it's a different story. We'd normally park up the 'van on site and then find a supermarket when we're settled but of course your idea is far better for a M/H.

I'll get the hang of it all eventually!

[Derek Uzzell]

Frank:

 

Regarding France, the "Guide Officiel Aires de Services Camping-Car" booklet contains a section headed "Stationnement dans les villes". It's also worth visiting www.campingcar-infos.com as this carries suggestions on motorhome 'aires de stationnement'. Be warned, though, that such information may be out of date and that an increasing number of French local authorities are taking a harder line on motorhome parking, particularly in touristy areas. Railway-station car parks are another possibility.

 

Out of idle curiosity I searched the Warners forums using keywords "guide officiel" (without the quotes) and this retrieved a mass of stuff you might find useful.

[GJH]

Frank Wilkinson - 2006-12-30 5:22 PM

saruman - 2006-12-30 3:59 PM hi try this by graham www.motorhomeparking.co.uk ray

Thanks saruman but I'd already got this website. It is of course purely for the U.K. and I'm more concerned about the Continent

As far as proactive research by myself is concerned, Frank is quite right. Time, my lack of language skills and lack of knowledge of continental parking precludes me making the same sort of approach as to organisations in this country.However, in response to a user conribution I did set up an Overseas page - http://www.motorhomeparking.co.uk/overseas.htm - which I shall be happy to add to if anyone wishes to send in details of their (good or bad) experiences.Regards,Graham

[Bill]

If all you want to do is park for a few hours while you visit the town (overnight parking is a different matter) why not just park in a quiet suburbabn street, near a bus stop, then catch the bus into town?

 

I've only done this in the UK, but there is no obvious reason it wouldn't work abroad.

[GJH]

If all you want to do is park for a few hours while you visit the town (overnight parking is a different matter) why not just park in a quiet suburbabn street, near a bus stop, then catch the bus into town?

Fine in principal. However, in some places you need to watch out because there are on-street parking restrictions. Sometimes they might allow cars but not larger vehicles.

 

Also, we need to be sensitive to the needs of residents - especially in streets of houses without off-road parking where parking our vehicles (whatever they are) might cause problems for people who live there.

 

Graham

[Guest Frank Wilkinson]

Derek Uzzell - 2006-12-31 9:00 AM Frank: Regarding France, the "Guide Officiel Aires de Services Camping-Car" booklet contains a section headed "Stationnement dans les villes". It's also worth visiting www.campingcar-infos.com as this carries suggestions on motorhome 'aires de stationnement'. Be warned, though, that such information may be out of date and that an increasing number of French local authorities are taking a harder line on motorhome parking, particularly in touristy areas. Railway-station car parks are another possibility. Out of idle curiosity I searched the Warners forums using keywords "guide officiel" (without the quotes) and this retrieved a mass of stuff you might find useful.

Thanks Derek, that's very useful. I shall order the book immediately.

[Rayjsj]

8-) If I have travelled many miles to visit a particular area (most populated places are many miles from where i live) with my motorcaravan

i first get to my pitch and book in,then drive out to the nearest village/town/city to spend some money on local produce etc., so I look for somewhere to park near the shops, if i find Height restrictions, Etc,and i often do these days,

VERY unwelcoming to visitors. I drive around the village/town/city until I DO find somewhere to park (I have after all paid my road tax) if that happens to be outside someones house, then i am sorry but i WILL park there until I have done my shopping etc., if the resident comes out to complain,i explain the situation,the council in charge of his village/town/city has made restrictions that forbid me to park where I SHOULD be parked,in a car Park, out of his way. I dread to think what foreign motorcaravanners think when they meet such unwelcoming restrictions on parking (i don't include overnighting restrictions in this) Rayjsj

[Derek Uzzell]

The French aires de services guides are published annually in mid- to late March. As there's a reasonable amount of flux in the aires network over a 12 months period (new aires being introduced, old ones disappearing), if you can hang on until the 2007 edition becomes available I believe you'd find that worthwhile. Otherwise you'll be getting information that's the best part of a year old.

[Usinmyknaus]

Having watched, gobsmacked, the French parking cars on-street in Calais, Lille, Paris, Rouen and Nice, I'd think twice about giving them a large and expensive lump of plastic and aluminium to aim at!

 

Good idea about railway stations on this and Tony Jones' thread though, I'll give that a try.

 

Bob

[Keith T]

Our usual, and preferred, laternative to city parking is to find the nearest campsite (often easier in France!) then use public transport. This give more peace of mind from the security aspect, and also mean as the driver, I can enjoy seeing the area more. In UK if we can find a 'cantral' site (eg York, Bristol, Birmingham) then we'll use bus/train to go almost anywhere. We don't carry bikes, but do a lot of walking, and I'll usually investiagte befor travelling how far to public trannsport, and if it is actually running (!), and as long as there's somehting within say a couple of miles max then that's fine.

[GJH]

Keith T - 2007-01-03 10:19 AM

 

Our usual, and preferred, laternative to city parking is to find the nearest campsite (often easier in France!) then use public transport.

The CC site in Edinburgh is great for public transport. One service from just outside the gate and several others within a walk of a mile. Plenty of buses in the city and very reasonably priced as well, especially with the day tickets.

 

Graham

[Mel B]

We often park a slight distance from the centre where there aren't any time restrictions and then get the pedal bikes off the back and go in on them. Apart from not having the hassle of city centre traffic to contend with, we can then use them to scoot round the city from place to place which is much quicker and less tiring than walking especially in larger cities where some of the places to see can be quite spread out.

 

We also use a couple of small ruck sacks and a third one that packs away really small so if we do get carried away with the shopping we can stuff everything into them and still pedal back to the 'van safely. It's also much easier to carry anything you buy back on the bikes rather than drudging around with loads of carrier bags hanging off all of your apendages!