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We have bought 'All the Aires in France' (3rd edition) and also got the ACSI camping site Europe disc, but I'm afraid they do not make sense to us. One big problem is that virtually all of the camp sites are closed when we will be going in mid-November.
We will be going to Portugal for the winter months where we have a static caravan on the Algarve. We have never been in the mh before as we have always flown across, but would really like to use our mh in Portugal as opposed to leaving it virtually abandoned in the UK
We wanted to plan a route from Calais to Salamanca, and then find overnight stops on the route, but the disc tells us to find the camp sites first, so we will be using camping car aires and then plan a route. How do we do this if we don't know where any of the aires are, as none of the aires are on the disc, only camp sites?
The idea is to go across in say 4/5 days, as we plan to travel only in the mornings, but, of colurse, we are going to need overnight stops. The problem is....where?
We planned to cross the border into Spain and spend a night in San Sebastion and then on to Salamanca where we have found a camp site which is mentioned in the CCC book 'Winter Sun'.
Have any of the well-seasoned France travellers got any help?
Hi.
We stay at Buchy Aire,just outside Rouen,then down to Palencia,another lovely Aire. Wether you can get to Buchy,will depend on time/how tired you are,but we have pulled in at 23.oohrs,(quietly) and there has always been lots of room,Palencia aire,is just off the town centre,over the river,towards the hospital,on your right,if you have a growler,both aires have dog walks a plenty,Palencia,you can walk on a riverside pathway and back,and walk over the bridge into town for pavement cafes,5 mins.Buchy,two mins to town square and French sticks,LOL to die for.
Watch your speed in Spain and Portugal they really are looking for your money,but enjoy yourselves and i can recommend both these sites as top notch. Water and Loo emptying points at both Aires,water free at Palencia.
Gearjammer
Near San Sebastian there is a good campsite at zarautz, just off the motorway and easy to find. Been there a couple of times, excellent views over the sweeping bay below.
Although we live about 50 miles north of Bordeaux, when we arrive at Calais on the way back from the UK we go:
Rouen
Evereux
Dreux
Tours to Poitiers Sud on the A10
onto N10 Angouleme and then home.
We then went last winter to the Algarve and went:
Bordeaux
Use the motorway to get round Bayonne
St Jean de Luz
Irun
Vitoria Gasteiz
Miranda
Burgos
Palencia
Valladolid
At junction KM225, just north of Salamanca, there is a small campsite that is open and is beautiful, has about 20 pitches behind their restaurant. http://www.campingolimpia.es it was 15€ in Feb 2011.
Salamanca
Then straight onto the A66 straight down to Seville and then turn right onto the Algarve.
This is the route we will take again this coming Winter.
Having done the trip down to Portugal 6 times now we find the best route and stops are as follows.
Calais to Rouen with a stop at Buchy, a nice free aire
Buchy to Nuilly Pont Pierre which is just north of Tours, a free aire by the gendarme
Nuilly pont piere to Biaritz, the aire at Plage Milady is about 10 euros
From Biaritz we usually drive straight to Salamanca and stop at Hotel Regio but if you need a stop there are free aires at Vittoria and Burgos.
You will find all the aires listed in Camping car infos.
Having done the trip down to Portugal 6 times now we find the best route and stops are as follows.
Calais to Rouen with a stop at Buchy, a nice free aire
Buchy to Nuilly Pont Pierre which is just north of Tours, a free aire by the gendarme
Nuilly pont piere to Biaritz, the aire at Plage Milady is about 10 euros
From Biaritz we usually drive straight to Salamanca and stop at Hotel Regio but if you need a stop there are free aires at Vittoria and Burgos.
You will find all the aires listed in Camping car infos.
RD
We stayed at Hotel Regio a couple of times, expensive for what it was, but last year there was a lot of work going on so someone told us about Camping Olimpia a few miles north of Salamanca and we were pleasantly surprised how nice it was and spotlessly clean.
Thanks for all the help, guys, but can anyone give us a route after arriving at Calais, either via the tunnel or from a ferry, to take us down to Salamanaca with stops every 4 or so hours at either camp sites (that are open in the winter), or at aires?
We have never driven abroad before with a rt hand vehicle and my wife who does the driving is apprehensive about 'driving in the gutter'. After a few mniles of this she says she will have acclimatised but we still have no idea of which specific route to take with the overnight stops.
Hi Johnathan.
It is 1354km.to our place in Portugal,we go the same way as posted on this thread. I think you should go onto "Via Michelin" type in Calais- Rouen 2hr/06min,Rouen.Rouen-Bordeaux. 8hrs. Bordeaux-Palencia.5hrs/30mins........etc.
These times are a bit ambitious,so add more!!,when you have done this,get your Aires book out work out your daily mileages and look for your stoppovers then.
Just a tip,it is in the morning you are most likely to wake up,and then set off on the wrong side of the road,also if you back into a side street to turn around,at first you may be a bit disoriented and set off wrong side,HOWEVER!! this may never happen.
If you have not got a sat-nav,print the route off of Via Michelin to help you,and take notice of the route given above,(Rouen/Bordeaux/san sebastian/Valladolid etc,its the way the Portugues truckers go,plenty of rest areas,go for it.
Ted.
PS Randoneur? route,way to go!
Hi Johnathan.
Just thought of these, "Municiple" camp sites in France,we have never used these,but by reading accounts of people who have,some are of a very high standard.
A member has been able to locate a site with them all listed,so if we can appeal to them,or someone who knows how to bring them to the computor screen,lol,this will give you an even greater choice.Hope this helps.
Ted
Hi Johnathan.
Just thought of these, "Municiple" camp sites in France,we have never used these,but by reading accounts of people who have,some are of a very high standard.
A member has been able to locate a site with them all listed,so if we can appeal to them,or someone who knows how to bring them to the computor screen,lol,this will give you an even greater choice.Hope this helps.
Ted
Problem with Municipal sites in France is that come end of September most of them are shut.
We just drive for the length of time that we want and then get the book out and find an Aire (not motorway Aires) closeby. It is only for an overnight stop so not really a problem. Normally set off about 9am stop for lunch about 1pm have an hour break and then set off again and stop about 5pm for the night. As long as we are en-route as they say not a problem. We have the French Aires book, ACSI Book [MHF Link] and Le guide officiel Aires de services camping-car, we find that using the 3 books we always find sosmewhere to stop.
As far as the route is concerned just write down in a list the main towns/cities on the way so that when you see the next name signpost you follow that. e.g. Calais - Rouen - Evereux - Dreux - Tours - Poitiers - Angouleme - Bordeaux - San Sebastian - Vitoria Gastez etc, don't go into these places, by following the signposts you are able to skirt the town/cities using the bypasses for each one. Sounds a bit complicated but it isn't. Always mark your route on your map (being your first trip) and then you can look ahead for each place.
We bought a whole of France Map that was plasticized and it means that we can use a marker for the route and then wipe it off after, we also now have an map book of France that is also plasticized. They are a bit expensive but we have found them worthwhile.
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