They are not on campsites as such but are laybys in france where you can pull over and stop overnight. Some are near service stations and some are not but still have toilets etc. I wish we had this system over here.
Thanks Brian, thats what I thought but I have just downloaded a load of poi`s to my Autoroute 2010 & one group heading is "Aires on campsites", seems a bit misleading but I will check a few out. Thanks again. Ed.
Aire in French just means area. The confusion arises because French motorway services are known as aires. You can stop on them overnight, but they are not the sort of aires you want if you have a motorhome.
You are looking for 'aires de campingcar' you will find these signposted as you enter a town. It is designated motorhome parking(motorhome=campingcar in French)& it will have a coin in slot service point for toilet emptying etc & sometimes ehu.
Aires on campsites would be motorhome parking at the front of a campsite outside the main gate but usually with ehu. You pay at the reception, but less than if you actually use the campsite. You can of course walk thru gate & use campsite showers/toilets.
Motorhome aires often have a parking limit 24-48hrs whatever. You will often find in tourist areas & on seafronts, areas of land that have become 'unofficial' aires with plentys of m/hs parked.
Some campsites have Aires for motorhomes for o/night stops,you can hook up to electricity and water for a nominal fee,lots of small towns also have Aire de Motorhomes where you can park free of charge for overnight stops some have water and electricity which have coin in the slot facilities.
Saxo1
I think you may have a list of Aires de Service within campsites which are campsites where you can empty your toilets and fill with water.
As has already been said the word means Area, but in France they have a number of Areas?Aires for motorhomes which vary widely, from just a car park to something akin to a full blown campsite with full facilities, there are even Municipal campsites that are used as Aires outside of the main French Holiday periods.
So its very difficult to identify exactly what listing you have but at a guess I think what I said at the beginning is very near correct, if you let us know where you have picked up the phrase from we may be able to provide a better answer.
This is in my opinion one of the best Aires listings there is have a look and compare what you have with what is listed on this site may help to make sense of it.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: aires
