Has anyone done a trip through France using mainly France Passion/Aires de Service?
We are landing in Spain, and over three weeks we would like to go through the Pyrannees, visit Carcassonne, Nimes and Avignon, put my toes in the Med, and goover the Millau bridge.We like to potter about and avoid auto routes.
We would visit the occasional campsite for a couple of days at a time.
We would love any advice about France Passion/Aires.
We use France Passion a lot when travelling through France. They are a great way to meet the locals, and also good to be able to taste the various wines, produce etc of the region you are in. We would thoroughly recommend using France Passion, it is an adventure in itself following directions to these vineyards, farms etc. - they take us to places off the beaten track that we would never have visited. We only stay on campsites occasionally to catch up with the laundry etc. Use France Passion and enjoy your trip.
The above link will give you the company based in the uk that has all the books/guides you need for an enjoyable time in europe and the uk. They supply books that have aires in and they do french passion, all with directions to the location.what facilities if any and what is charged, eg. some aires make a small charge for taking on fresh water or dumping of waste/blackwater tanks, and some aires even have elec hookup.
Hi my friend, yes me and the wife have used the system, but to tell you the truth i much prefer aires or campsites, the reason being you tend to meet likewise people you can chat to and share experiences of places to visit and where to stay and so forth, that said its not that i'm complaining about the service they offer, on the contrary we have stopped in some beautyful places as above mentioned off the beaten track. As books on aires and campsites,i'm happy to say that since i purchased a TomTom 910 go, i don't need them, i have downloaded enough aires and campsites throughout Europe to last me a life time. I do update it every 6 months though. So there you have it. Happy touring wherever you may go!
It would be best to go under the bridge, this way you get to see the full architecture of it, if you go over it, you can not tell it from any other bridge, well worth it
We have five of the little blighters and they can get a little lively now and again, that said they're never any trouble.
Normally we prefer to stay in the aires, and France has them in abundance [thank heavens] but occasionally we do stay in campsites for the reasons as mentioned by earlier posters.
So some more news on kids in France Passions please
------------- Patrick.
** Life is a journey, camping just makes it more interesting **
We spent 4 weeks in France last summer mainly cycling in the Loire Valley and moving on every night and we used both Aires and the wonderful France Passion scheme.
From the practical point of view, some of the facilities on the aires ie drinking water and waste disposal are a bit dubious but we didn't suffer from any dicky tummies or anything! Some locations are better than others too but as we only stayed for a short while on each it didn't matter to us.
The France Passion sites that we used were all excellent and although some were more remote than others, we had fun finding them but at the end of a day's cycling, all we wanted to do was eat and sleep when we arrived!
As far as children are concerned, I can't see that the FP sites would be very useful to you - they seem more suitable for stop-overs on route. BUT if money is an issue, the aires/FPs are just great. We only paid for 3 nights camping in a month in contrast to some of the fees we paid this year in England (3 weeks in Northumbria/Tyneside/Yorkshire).
Hope this helps but if you've any more specific questions, I'd be pleased to help if I can.
------------- Life's not a rehearsal..don't put it off DO IT NOW!
We alwways use the aires in France if we can as they are cheap and ideal for what we want. Personally, we have only used France Passion twice and both times had bad experiences. The first one we drew into had hookups with snails all inside the box. YUCK! The second one we felt we were being pressurised into purchasing various wines which were not made by the owner of the stopover. We did buy some eggs however as we felt that they had perhaps been laid by the owners hens. Not sure though as I never saw any hens. So now, we just stick to the aires but definitely NOT on the Autoroutes. I am writing this at present from a very nice Aire on the canal with WiFi. I always bring my laptop. Hope this helps.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: France Passion/Aires de Service.
