Have your say on Motorway Service Areas

"I would say though that the we have traveled in Europe and found, especially at weekends, that it was impossible to park at any autoroute service areas"

Allan, we must be travelling different roads to you...perhaps at different times of the year?....but I can't say I've ever had a problem parking at a French or Spanish service are for a break...

weve used several different ones on our winter jaunt from Cherbourg down to no Valencia and can pick and choose with ease...

similarly, once over the border, the areas become less formal and quite large, and despite many trucks being on the road, it's never been an issue.

in fact, OH might say....go over there, out of the way in that big space....

having said that, I do know how hopeless our UK efforts are with all sorts of 'wrong' vehicles in the ''wrong' spaces and that it is more difficult to park a caravan safely than a shorter Motorhome...

The Donnington service area is almost always 50% or more filled with HGV’s, even when their dedicated area is only half full. Mainly I suspect because it is much closer to the facilities. 

I just checked on Google and both Donnington and Wetherby are Moto services. Wetherby has always been very good, there is normall a person in high vis policing it making sure the spaces are used sensibly. Pulled in last Thursday and was directed to the front of a drive through space and another MH directed in behind. Perhaps the parking bit is nothing to do with the Moto shops / restaurants bit.

I agree about weekends and over there service areas  and the only services that it seems many of the truck drivers use is the toilets,   but then in France? only perishable and fuel is allowed on the road so there are many other vehicles carrying other goods parked up 

Even when we have been on coach tours it has been a problem for drivers to find a comfort stop for the passengers and their legal stops

I have not used services, other than for fuel, for many years

We don’t unless we have to, particularly since switching to a MH. However, with 170 miles of A1 / A1M, including the slow haul round Newcastle, there was little choice. Other than less coffee at breakfast.😀

Allan, we must be travelling different roads to you...perhaps at different times of the year?....but I can't say I've ever had a problem parking at a French or Spanish service are for a break...

We certainly had problems when we had a caravan, particularly around lunch time, which we found best to avoid. It wasn’t just the lack of space. There would be a caravan sign that took you into a lovely parking area but with a ridiculous chicane on exit that we had to inch through. On our first and so far only trip with the MH we always found somewhere, even if we didn’t stop long as the only spaces were in the sun.

In France and Spain most are in the sun....

as I mentioned, it's likely to be easier with a MH than with a caravan in tow, but certainly in Spain, the areas are so large (and so informal) you would be able to park anything, anywhere.

the other thing is that, in France, why look for 'services' for a stop in a MH when every village has an aire for a lunch stop?

We have always Doncaster North (M18) good for caravan spaces.  They are through the HGV bit but have always been caravan spaces available, albeit with the odd car and van occasionally!!  These are, unusually, right near the service building too. 

"weve used several different ones on our winter jaunt from Cherbourg down to no Valencia and can pick and choose with ease..."

Hi BB, well maybe not different roads but certainly different times!

The two standout memories are in France on a weekend-great opportunity to see different single burner cooking techniques and sat dish positioning- and in Switzerland where, having had to drive through 3 services due to there being no spaces, we gave up and pulled off to have a rest and leg stretch.

The polar opposite was entering a services in Spain, between Zaragoza and Bilbao, to find just one truck-and when we came out there just our outfit in the whole parking area. 

...yes, our timetable lends itself to (even more) spacious roads and stopping places..especially Spain, as you say.

our late summer trips to Le Sud, again, work a bit differently...

as WTG mentioned, in winter it's a bit of a dash for the Spanish sun and a dawdle back home, dallying in Spain and France enjoying the weather, the sights and the room.

similarly, getting down to France in very late August (or early Sept) is definitely an amble...prior to reaching a 'destination' site for a long, well earned rest

the aires system gives plenty of freedom and availability to flit about ...

our UK trips this year (about 8 weeks so far, more later today and next month) haven't yet seen us 'resort' to service stations other than (rarely) for fuel....the long range tank is pretty good...but the ones we have passed have been pretty busy, as you'd expect.

i wish all those travelling some distance with caravans a vacant space!

enjoy your travels...