Vanlife and motorhoming in France is an awesome experience. There is all kinds of stunning scenery and iconic historic villages; castles, beaches and cities – and everything in between. And although free camping is technically a grey area we found some great free campsites in France (I’ll tell you about Aire’s in a minute) that we want to share.
It’s worth getting off the beaten track motorway and looking a little further to find some of France’s lesser known but equally surprising parks with your motorhome.
And there’s also the story of our first night in France when we were woken after midnight by the police. (We NOW know where to park and where you might get robbed).
And THAT is why we want to share our favourite (safe) parking spots and free campsites in France that we can (now) recommend.
A little bit about France
- Land area: 357,588 km²
- Population: 67.75 million
- Language: French. (Some people do speak English though they might not always be forthcoming if they do! Don’t be shy to ask).
- Currency: Euro
- Credit/Debit Cards: Credit cards are accepted at larger chain type stores, supermarkets and service stations.
However we do recommend keeping cash on hand as occasionally some places don’t accept Visa.
- Shop Opening Hours: Many larger shops and supermarkets are completely closed on Sunday.
In the smaller towns shops often close for lunch (from 1-3pm).
Service Stations: BP, Eni, Esso, Carrefour, Total, Shell, Avia.
- Service Station Opening Hours: On the major highways and autobahn service stations and highway stop areas are open 24 hours.
In smaller towns and cities service stations are only open 8am-8pm.
- Rubbish and Recycling: Recycling is big in France.
Inside supermarkets there are recycling stations that take bottles (glass and plastic) where you feed them into a machine and it tallies up a total refund for the recycling you receive.
- Laundry Facilities: Laundromats are readily available (easy to locate through Park4Night app).
It costs around 5 Euro for a washing load and 3 Euro for 15 mins of drying.
Finding free campsites in France
This is the best app for finding free campsites in France:
You can download the app on your phone and search all kinds of parking lots (day/night), campsites, free motorhome areas and motorhome service areas and paid parking.
We recommend paying the small fee to Park4Night to upgrade to the membership level.
The app offers a paid Park4night+ version:
- €2.49/month; or
- €9.99/year.
What are Aire’s?
Aire’s are pretty much the German equivalent of Stellplatz. These are designated motorhome parking areas that are often free or low cost and safe parking options for overnight.
They are a great option for parking for the night in France and are a safe place to overnight (with likely plenty of other motorhomes around).
- Tip: On the Park4Night app these kind of Aire’s or free campsites in France are most commonly shown with the small green motorhome icon.
NOTE: These Aire’s are designated motorhome parking areas but they are NOT the same as the free highway stops along the main motorways and autoroutes.
As we learnt quickly (at midnight, on our first night in France) these kind of motorway parking stops are not free campsites in France. And they are NOT safe!
Our story of being woken by the police…
Somewhere south of Monaco on our first night in France in our motorhome; we parked for the night at a highway stop (exactly as we had done for two weeks of motorhoming in Italy).
Just after midnight we were woken by the police knocking on our door and telling us this was not a safe place to stay the night.
They told us to drive on and take the second exit on the motorway and park outside the Highway Gendarmerie Station (police).
And so we spent our first night in France parked outside the police station…
Don’t make our mistake!
And why we can now recommend the TYPE of free campsites in France to look out for.
French Aire’s are designated motorhome parking areas. Most often they are in smaller towns a little way off the highway and motorway and more commonly away from the toll roads.
An Aire may have just four or five parking spaces (like the free Aire in Montmarault). Or they can have a small fee for a safe parking space (like the Aire we stayed for a week in Contis just by the beach).
Unfortunately, especially in the south east and Mediterranean coast of France; the region is notorious and known for robberies to motorhomes.
We didn’t want to believe it and didn’t think it would happen to us if we chose somewhere safe to park. But as you know, our theory wasn’t valid and we were welcomed to France by the gendarmerie! (Don’t make our mistake).
- Tip: Look for a safe free campsite in France or a paid Aire (the fees are nothing like paid campsites which start at 30 EUR per night) behind the safety of a barrier arm.
France has many great options once you know where to start looking!
WHERE WE STAYED – Aire’s and Free Campsites in France we recommend
The following are some of our favourite free campsites in France that we found during our travels by campervan in Europe during 2022 – 2024.
Some of the free campsites in France are places we have visited more than once and certainly are all places we can recommend for your Europe roadtrip.
AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES, Lyon
BELLVILLE: Aire de Camping Cars Belleville-en-Beaujolais
- Location: Belleville-en-Beaujolais
- Type: Free Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #40
- Cost: Free
- Facilities: Motorhome services, water, drains and dump station
About: Beautiful small motorhome parking area with only 6 parking spaces. Short walk to supermarkets, weekend market and McDonalds.
OCCITANIE, Toulouse
BEZIERS: Domaine de Veyrac
- Location: Lie dit de Veyrac, Route de Bessan (D28 Marseillan)
- Type: Private Car Park for Campers
- Park4Night: #16188
- Cost: 7 EUR
- Facilities: Parking, motorhome services, power
About: A beautiful small private vineyard with parking space for 8 campers. The friendly lady owner comes around each evening at 7-8pm to collect 7 EUR payment and brings with her a glass of their vineyard wine to welcome you.
We can recommend as a safe and friendly park heading north of south through this busy region.
NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE, Bordeaux
CONTIS: Saint Julien en Born
- Location: 259 Avenue du Phare, Contis Plage
- Type: Paying Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #8197
- Cost: 10 EUR (14 EUR June – Oct)
- Facilities: Motorhome services, power, toilets, washing sinks
About: Beautiful shady parking spot underneath the pine trees. Short walk to Contis Plage and the town centre.
A great place to stay near the beach with all facilities and close to restaurants and shops. (We stayed here multiple times!).
LAC DE LEON: Leon Lake
- Location: 1180 -1334 Route du Puntao, Leon
- Type: Paying Motorhome Aire
- Park4Night: #492
- Cost: 12 EUR / Free Daytime
- Facilities: Parking, motorhome services, public toilets
About: Peaceful grassy camping area close to the lake and small restaurants/ice cream shop.
Lots of places to park and easily accessible to large vehicle. Shady during the day.
DAX: Saint Paul les Dax
- Location: 40990 Sant Paul les Dax
- Type: Paying Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #370600
- Cost: 13.50 EUR per night
- Facilities: Motorhome services and rubbish/recycling
About: 49 parking places and large spaces for vehicles. Basic car park with motorhome services but without toilets.
Short walk to huge commercial shopping area. Handy to Dax train station if you need.
DAX: KFC
- Location: Quai du 28E Btn de Chasseurs, Dax
- Type: Free Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #1546
- Cost: Free
- Facilities: Motorhome services and rubbish/recycling
About: Only 5 places and outside the KFC but beautifully positioned car park above the Dax River and free place to stay. Well placed to visit the city.
AUVERGNE-RHONE-ALPES, Lyon
MONTMARAULT: Montmarault
- Location: 12 Rue du Batardeau
- Type: Free Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #226660
- Cost: Free
- Facilities: Parking, water, motorhome services and rubbish
About: Small motorhome parking area in the beautiful village of Montmarault.
Only four parking spaces and 2 EUR for water. Short walk into the village for bakeries, supermarket and colourful weekend market.
MONTMARAULT: Montmarault
- Location: 4-10 Rue de Turenne, Montmarault
- Type: Free Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #2323
- Cost: Free
- Facilities: Power, water, motorhome services
About: Small shady carpark beside a children’s playground. Only four spaces but very quiet and clean.
All services nearby and a short walk to the centre of the village with bakeries, shops and a colourful weekend market.
GRAND EST, Metz
METZ: CLC Carpark
- Location: Woippy, 173 Route de Thionville
- Type: Free Motorhome Area
- Park4Night: #255266
- Cost: Free
- Facilities: Motorhome services (buy a token for water)
About: A handy free and safe parking space outside the CLC motorhome shop and service centre.
Water and drain available but pressure very slow for water. Get a token for water from inside for 1 EUR. A little bit of street noise but a convenient stopover.
Looking out for free campsites in France
If you are on the move through France in your motorhome the best advice we can give is to look out for the green free motorhome parking areas on Park4Night.
These are often smaller towns and with limited parking spaces so it works best to get there earlier in the afternoon (not late at night).
Enjoy France! And do make the most of the specific, safe and free motorhome parking areas and Aire’s.
Useful links for your travels in France and beyond…
These are the companies we use while traveling fulltime as a family and that we would recommend to anyone planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation and it’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- Hostelworld – The largest inventory of hostel accommodation in the world.
- Skyscanner – This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.
- GetYourGuide – Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world including everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – Safety Wing offers convenient and affordable insurance plans that can be tailored to digital nomads and long-term travellers. They have cheap weekly and monthly plans that are possible to book even when you have already left home.
- World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home).
Read more about travel in Europe and Morocco by motorhome.
- Taking your motorhome on the ferry from Spain to Morocco.
- Imsouane: Camping, parking and the famous Imsouane surf wave.
- Getting a SIM card in Morocco: And how to get unlimited data!
- Morocco motorhome services: What are motorhome services really like?
- Getting LPG in Morocco for your motorhome.
- Finding free campsites in Germany.
5 thoughts on “Finding free campsites in France (and being woken by the police).”
Appreciate all the great advice. renting a campervan in Italy and driving it to England via France, Spain and Portugal and looking forward to utilizing all your great advice and resources mentioned on your site. Thanks from Canada.
Hi Jacquie great to hear from you. And have an awesome time vanlifing in Europe! Sarah 🙂
Thanks that was really helpful, we are off an 17th so am looking forward to it. Already member of par4night.been using for 4 years but only UK till now Regards Frederick
Hi Frederick great to hear! Wishing you a fantastic time! And do let us know how you get on – or if you have any extra questions re Park4Night and Europe and finding free camps! 🙂
These are definitely our top spots. France is amazing if you do it right. These are some great examples of how to make the most of France ??