If you are driving through France and need a place to stretch your legs, use the facilities, and maybe get something to eat or gas for your car, where do you go? Especially if there is not a decent-sized town for miles?
The answer: an aire.
What is an Aire?
An aire is what English-speaking countries call a rest stop, motorway service area, lay-by, or something similar. Aires are generally clean, convenient, and well-maintained (though beware of the occasional squat toilet.)
Like rest stops, there are different kinds of aires in France.
Aire de Repos
This is the most common type of aire, set along the country’s autoroutes, as well as on some of the busier secondary roads.
Aires de repos always have toilets, fresh water, and separate parking areas for cars and for tractor-trailers, and often include other services like picnic tables, vending machines, and electric vehicle charging stations.
Aire de Service
These are larger than the aires de repos. In addition to the services provided by the smaller aires, they have a service station and at least one restaurant or self-service dining option. Most have charging stations for electric vehicles, and many include shops, showers, and dumping stations for camping cars.
Aire d’Accueil
These are aires created especially for camping cars and motor homes. By law they are established for the use of gens de voyage (itinerant travelers), but anyone can use them. A helpful source for finding other places designed for campers is the app park4night.
Spending the Night
Travelers are welcome to sleep in their vehicles, though aires tend to be busy and not very quiet. Travelers should also be aware that autoroute pay tickets are only valid for 24 hours, effectively creating a limit of one night’s stay.
How to Find an Aire?
Aires are marked with special blue signs along the side of the road.
- The top section shows the name of the aire
- The middle section shows the distance to the aire
- Below that are boxes showing services provided beyond the minimum (toilets, parking, and water.) For example, a fuel pump indicates a gas station, a crossed knife and fork indicates dining, and a teeter-totter indicates a children’s play area. Electric vehicle charging stations are indicated by a drawing of a car with a plug coming out the back. Sometimes the specific names of the gas station and the restaurants will be shown.
- For aires de service, below the boxes is the distance to the next aire de service. This is helpful for drivers deciding when to fill their gas tank.
Keith Van Sickle splits his time between Provence and California. He is the author of An Insider’s Guide to Provence, One Sip at a Time, and Are We French Yet? Read more at Life in Provence
