France Wildcamping

Do you mean to avoid the aires ?, I found a few of the chateau car parks were ok for overnighting if you were planning a visit next morning ,at least that’s what I would have said if ever asked but I never was.
 
Done loads of wilding in France especially in the mountains. Its generally allowed except where it isnt. :D This is usually made pretty clear with the no motorhomes sign. France is the only place however I got moved on twice by the Rozzers. Ski resorts in summer are usually a safe bet in the mountains as nobody uses their massive car parks, many actually have Aires. Generally though its all to easy to seek out a rural Aire anyway thats pretty nice. The Camping Car infos site was always good for finding wild spots.
 
guerdeval said:
Do you mean to avoid the aires ?, I found a few of the chateau car parks were ok for overnighting if you were planning a visit next morning ,at least that’s what I would have said if ever asked but I never was.
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We enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.
 
Sharon the Cat said:
We enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.
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I haven't heard that anything has officially changed. If you are over 3.5 ton you should get the angles morts sticker and worth getting the crit air sticker in case you stray into a city.
 
Sharon the Cat said:
Thanks, we don't need the angles morts sticker and the crit'air is already on the windscreen.
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We did some 61 days in Eastern France last Summer and only used a formal site on one occasion, because we couldn't find an aire. Many of the smaller towns were offering free aires with EHU with a polite request to buy your bread and pains aux raisins from the local boulanger! Not too hard to avoid bending that rule! We paid a little over £378 on Aires and site fees for the overall 95 nights we were away, and about £185 was Rally and Site Fees in UK

Steve
 
There have been reports of some municipal mayors prohibiting overnight parking in their jurisdiction. This seems to have been the case in locations where CampingCarPark or AireResevations are now running pay Aires for the locality.
I can’t think of any off hand, but they tended to be in honey pot locations, rather like the restrictions on Il de Re etc.

Davy
 
As stated above, OK unless there's a prohibition, posted either at the location or by signage at entry point to commune stating that there are restrictions and to contact the mairie for details. The WildCamping Location App is excellent for finding attractive wilding spots in France and I use it in combination with the CampingCar-Infos Android app (free trial period and then €5 for 3 months or €15 for 12 months). Both rely on users' feedback to ensure that they are up-to-date.
 
We have wild camped on occasions in France, but no need because of the amount of aires,
Avoid aires in popular tourist locations and you will often be on your own.
 
TeamRienza said:
There have been reports of some municipal mayors prohibiting overnight parking in their jurisdiction. This seems to have been the case in locations where CampingCarPark or AireResevations are now running pay Aires for the locality.
I can’t think of any off hand, but they tended to be in honey pot locations, rather like the restrictions on Il de Re etc.

Davy
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And yet, on 3 of our stops in Eastern France last year, we were directed to a quieter spot away from the designated Aire, once to the Churchyard [water tap pointed out to us], once to a spot at the rear of the Church because there was going to be a lively Wedding Reception on the Saturday night, and the local hairdresser [who I had asked for coins to use the freshwater refill], phoned the Marie at home on Saturday afternoon to establish whether the payment remained suspended!]; and once to a 3 bay [or 4 if you ignored the marked lines!] Aire alongside the Recycling Facilities. People could not have been friendlier, they appreciated our sub-schoolboy French competence, they wanted to practise their English, and we had some very pleasant chats.

Steve
 
marchie said:
And yet, on 3 of our stops in Eastern France last year, we were directed to a quieter spot away from the designated Aire, once to the Churchyard [water tap pointed out to us], once to a spot at the rear of the Church because there was going to be a lively Wedding Reception on the Saturday night, and the local hairdresser [who I had asked for coins to use the freshwater refill], phoned the Marie at home on Saturday afternoon to establish whether the payment remained suspended!]; and once to a 3 bay [or 4 if you ignored the marked lines!] Aire alongside the Recycling Facilities. People could not have been friendlier, they appreciated our sub-schoolboy French competence, they wanted to practise their English, and we had some very pleasant chats.

Steve
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That's the essence of France in a nutshell!

Just like the UK in fact. Oh no, I've got that wrong. Better to suggest the prohibition of overnight parking altogether!
 
We wild camped on a boules court once in the centre of a very quaint and quite posh village in south central France. It was getting dark and I was lost. Drove into this lovely village and stopped to consult the sat nav. Some local came out of his house and just said park on the court. 😁 So we did. Nobody batted an eyelid.

Imagine doing that on a village green in the Cotswolds. 🤣

The French I think have a much higher regard for motorhomes than Brits do and are much less territorial.
 
I was over there a few weeks back, no issues anywhere.

Just be sensible seems to only advise needed.
 
Didn't one of the former French presidents legislate the right for anyone to stay in any public place (presumably without causing a nuisance or obstruction)? Or something like that?
 
Sharon the Cat said:
We enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.
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We've never had any issues but we also stayed inland, specifically in the south of France region. I suppose as long as you're not blocking an entrance, you're good to go :cool:
 
Glad to hear that things haven't changed too much. On one of our previous trips we were lost so headed to a church spire on top of a hill. After a terrible effort at asking in French whether anyone would mind if we parked opposite the shop, the shop owner must have phoned the maire. He arrived in his car and proceeded to show us where to park, where the loos and water tap was. The English locals (3) were all called to come and meet us in the bar that night and the maire even came and bought us a drink the next night.
Coulimer should still be on the WC app, along with others we submitted. Perhaps we'll return on this visit.
 
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