2021 French Aires Survey

The French motorhome magazine ‘Le Monde du Camping-Car’ has recently compiled its annual aires guide & subsequently has completed a comprehensive survey of French aires. The main findings from this survey are as follows;

Number of completely free aires:

Of the 3,961 surveyed aires, 1,238 are completely free, or 1/3 of the areas in France.

What is the average price of an aire?

• The average price of services & parking is €9.81 (not including the 5-hour short stay offered by CampingCarPark).

• The average parking price alone is €7.40/ night

• The average price of filling a tank with water is €2.30

• Average price of an electrical connection: €3

There are a total of 766 aires in France that charge a combined parking & services price, the rest are either free or charge parking & services separately.

How many aires allow parking?

The number of aires that allow overnight parking (excluding campsites) is 2,968. Out of this number, the number of aires offering free parking is 2,011 (this compared to 1,993 in 2020).

What is the average parking only price?

Average parking only price is € 7.40/ night (compared to € 7.27 in 2020).

Have prices increased in 2021?

On average there was an increase of €0.23 for the all-inclusive parking & services price (representing a 4.4% increase). A 0.83% on just filling the water tank (i.e. € 0.02) & the average combined services price is €3.50 (compared to €3.37 in 2020).

Which are the most expensive aires in France?

The price of an aire generally does not guarantee quality, often it is down to the demand for spaces due to the popularity of the area or attractions nearby, this is shown by the fact that the most expensive aire in France is at Disneyland, Paris.

Thus the six most expensive aires are:

1) Disneyland (in Seine-et-Marne). €40 per night - but this is a theme park aire.

2) Les Belleville (in Savoie): service + parking package €26. A mountain aire, close to the ski resorts of Les Ménuires and Val Thorens.

3) Rennepont (in Haute-Marne): service + parking package €22. A private aire whose price includes electricity and wifi.

4) Villeneuve-la-Salle (in Savoie): service + parking package at €20. Another mountain aire, in the village of Bez, near the Serre-Chevalier station.

5) Beaucaire (in the Gard): service + parking package at €20. The Marguilliers private aire offers all the services, but also offers a price without electricity at €13.

6) Palavas-les-Flots (Hérault): service + parking package at €20. The Paul Riquet site is a good camping-car aire, with its 140 pitches and services including showers and pétanque pitches.

Which departments have the most aires?

1. Morbihan: 122

2. Charente-Maritime: 112

3. Finistere: 105

4. Vendee: 98

5. Côtes-d'Armor: 95

6. Dordogne: 94

7. Aveyron: 86

8. Gironde: 81