I've just booked Page farm CL thru the Caravan club, 4 miles from tunnel, easy access to the road so no messing in the morning and £9/night. Hopefully a better nights sleep than J24 services as last year!
We are local to these services, they are getting busier, however it seems the management know nothing about how run this site!! most units have shut down, leaving only Costalot coffee, kfc, burgerking, nut shop and whsmith even the ports info board has stopped working! There is no parking for trailers however I park in the coach park and never had hassle. Its worth stopping there if not just to cheer the staff up when they see a face!!!!
We stopped there on our way down - and everything was closed. The Costa Coffee shop shuts at 7.30 - but was actually shut at 7.00 pm! There's no caravan parking at all, and the toilets were smelly! There must have been at least six other people there - including the two shutting down the Costa Coffee! Won't be going back.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
The foreigners must wonder where they have landed?! We're not very good are we compared to France, not ventured further than France so can't comment on anywhere else but i'll bet its better than our services here! We gave up using motorway services and used a lorry park for our trip to Scotland. Better value and a cracking breakfast!
Another vote for Black Horse Farm, part of our trip to France.
Hadn't read this thread before we set off 2 weeks ago, got there far too early so thought we'd pull up at these services. As has been said, there was nowhere to park for a motorhome!! There was a HUGE coachpark, but of course we can't park there. We found a layby for an hour or so, where we could see quite lot of motorhomes drive in - and out again - in the services.
How ridiculous to advertise this as an "early arrivals" services, but then have no provisions for caravans/motorhomes to park up. Could only happen in England I suppose.
These services are appalling, they really are. Prior to stopping here after getting off the tunnel, we had stopped previously at lots of French services on the way up from the Dordogne. The last one I think was probably Aire de something other de Somme - its got a big wodden water tower and wind turbine in the car park - anyway, food there was fab and then to come to this monstrosity in Kent with its all American food outlets and something called the 'The Great British Breakfast' with a curly sausage and dried up beans on display. Avoid like the plague if what you eat matters!
Update..... we have just got back from france...we overnighted on these services 2 yrs ago on the coach parking area.... they have clamped down on this and there's no caravan parking or lorry parking area... on the way back this year we noted that the KFC closed at 8pm (starving kids needed food!!!) caravans had to unhitch and park in a normal car bay for sleep!! otherwise they had to park wherever possible......the upshot is I wouldn't use these services at all as they don't cater for holidaymakers as the "early port arrivals" signs indicate......someone missed a trick here by not offering overnight spaces for a nominal fee.
But there's a little hitch ... they have a height restricter and can only servedrive thro after 11pm (due to licensing rules - no walking customers)
So not that helpful for caravans and motorhomes unless you can reverse up to the last window or unhitch and drive thro (think we might go for either option if that hungry lol)
Hi Just noticed this thread.
Stopped here on way back from France on a Saturday at 11am.
As said before no signs at the entrance to show you where you can stop with a caravan. There is an small area on the outside edge of the carpark and another across the front of the services,which would give room to stop, but we had driven past both without realising we could have stopped there.
There are height restrictions in the car parking area so you cant use there.
Rather than drive round again as we were not sure if this could be done without going out of the services,we went into the coach area, as one of our kids desperately had to use the toilet. Knowing we shouldnt park there, we decided to stop at the far end of it, away from the coach bays. During our short stay we were amazed by the number of white vans/minibuses that turned up. They appeared to be using it as a drop off/pick up point for people who were not from the UK! It was well organized with a person going round with a clipboard, changing folk(and their belongings) from one vehicle to another. This was being done in full view of the holiday companies staff who were dealing with coaches, but noone did anything about it.
Just as we were about to leave we were approached by a gentleman, who was very polite, asking us to move as we should not be there. I explained why we had to stop where we did and told him that had there been a sign at the entrance showing us where to park with a caravan, we would have had no need to be there in the first place. His answer was that signs cost money, so that is why there arent any!!!! Also people in caravans didnt use the services to buy food, used their own facilities. I told him had K.F.C been open we would have used it, as it would have been very handy, got no answer to this.
Wont be stopping here again, which is a shame as it could be really good, much better than the services before this one (forget the junction number), where inconsiderate caravaners were parking over two bays, leaving no room for others. This is what happened to us on the way to the tunnel.
Will plan better and use a campsite in future.
Post last edited on 25/10/2010 11:22:27
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I agree it rubbish. Most of the empty units inside haven't bothered opening up and Burger King have now gone out of business. The staff in KFC could hardly understand what we were ordering. My kids had a great laugh at me trying to speak English very slowly so the man could understand what I was saying. What must tourists think of our country? This could be their first impression of the UK?
I have found that most services stations in the UK are rubbish compared to those of the continent and do not cater for caravans. At many service stations in Germany they will even provide you will EHU if you ask!!!
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: New M20 - J11- 24hr Services
