HINTS & TIPS

This page contains items of information which don't have an appropriate home elsewhere. You will find: 'Aires de Service' - what are they?; Fuel Stations and paying for fuel; Strategic Fuel Stations; Roads without fuel stations; Where are the hypermarkets?; Dealing with 'péages'; Speed Limits; When you need mechanical help.

I hope that you will find it useful: it's aimed more at the first-time traveller to continental Europe than to the seasoned traveller who will have their own favourite places to stop for fuel and shopping, but there may be some information even they will find useful. I hope so!

There are many excellent articles on the web covering similar topics, especially on the dedicated Motorhome websites. What is contained here are my observations from travelling around parts of Europe in a motorhome. There's no warranty attached - the information was what I found when making particular journeys.

AIRES de SERVICE

This is the French name, in Germany they are referred to as 'Stellplatze', in Italy 'Aree di Sosta', but the German and Italian names strictly refer to a place where motorhomes may park, usually for up to 24 hours or in some cases longer. In French this would be an 'Aire de Stationnement' but this term seems to be seldom used, and in Italy/Germany the service point may not be next to or within the parking location.

An Aire de Service contains a large bollard known as a 'borne' which will dispense fresh water, may have electricity sockets and always has some means of disposal for waste water and toilet waste. This is usually a grating or chamber at ground level which is connected to the sewage system. Here is a typical commercial borne (photo left). There is another type referred to as 'artisanal' which is built from scratch using whatever style and materials the local commune decides.

The commonly accepted sign indicating a service point for motorhomes (in any European country) is thus (photo right)  Arrows or directions are an optional luxury! The service point may not be beside the sign, but 'in the vicinity'.

Useage: Fresh water may be free (hooray!) or metered and activated by insertion of a Token known in France as a 'jeton', in Italy 'gettoni', or by a coin - € 1 or € 2 is common. Hopefully the borne will have a sign telling you where jetons may be purchased locally - often at cafes and small shops. Electricity (if available) is usually similarly metered, with a fixed time connection. Waste disposal is not normally charged but I have encountered bornes where the trap door to the grating is locked until a token is inserted. Conversely there are bornes which dispense free electricity (not always safely). Many bornes now have a button which flushes the grating with clean water after use: it is most important that this is used and that the motorhome is carefully positioned in order not to cause overflow or pollution of the surrounding tarmac.

Access: not as obvious as it may seem. Bornes are not always sited where it is easy for the motorhome driver to place the vehicle suitably for waste disposal from fixed tanks and underneath outlets. Be prepared to use an extension hose, and there are some points where the motorhome may have to be parked at an angle or contrary to the obvious position, in order for gravity to make the waste flow.

Useability: a service point may be Vandalised / Out of Order / Closed - barricaded off / Impossible to find. If all else fails many campsites will allow a motorhome to use the fresh and waste water facilities for a charge, as does the Camping & Caravanning Club at its club sites in UK.

Where to find one? For France the 'Guide des Aires de Service' with map is invaluable and is published annually. For Germany the 'Reisemobil Bordatlas'. In Italy the 'Guida Campeggio' of the Touring Club Italiano lists 'Sostas' but my copy has very poor directions and locating them is 'hit-and-miss'.

FUEL STATIONS - PAYING FOR FUEL

Brands and logos are mostly as encountered in UK, with local addiitons such as AGIP in Italy and Repsol in Spain. The Czech Republic seems to have more independent fuel companies than most. Diesel is 'Gasoil', 'Gasolio' and usually cheaper than petrol in continental Europe, contrary to the UK experience. Fuel is always cheaper at supermarkets, as in UK. In rural areas it is more frequent to find 'attendant service' than is the case in UK, but I have not found that tipping for this is expected other than possibly in Italy. Many fuel stations in rural areas shut for lunch, which can last two hours, and France is a special case in that small supermarkets will almost invariably close the payment kiosk at the fuel pumps during the lunch break. Arrive before 12 noon or after 1430 to be sure of fuel, and on Sunday in France most fuel stations close at 1200 or don't open at all. There may be a single one in an area which opens and you will have to ask around, but the moral is: fill up on Saturday!

Payment, based mostly on French experience - if there is an attendant in the kiosk cash (notes) or major UK credit cards should be accepted, but beware signs which read 'Paiement 24/24' or 'Automatique'. UK credit cards are NOT accepted by the machines beside or above these pumps, and the pumps may be arranged in such a way that access to the kiosk is not possible from the automatic pumps. 'Paiement à la Caisse' may also appear where an outlet has several rows of pumps and this is the row to choose. Not all rural fuel stations are certain to accept UK credit cards - always carry enough cash for fuel to get you to the next big town. I know of one large ESSO filling station (outskirts of Ouistreham/Caen) which has a pump which will accept clean euronotes fed into the machine and gives fuel to that value; there are probably more - look for 'Espèces' or 'Euros'.

USEFUL FUEL STATION LOCATIONS

This will be an expanding list of cheaper Fuel Stations which are strategically located on main roads, with approximate timing to reach them from the main road (excluding jams). Most of these will be listed as POIs in GPS systems.

England

A34 Winchester - Newbury: Tesco supermarket at Abingdon, exit reads Abingdon South/Marcham, turn towards Abingdon. 1 minute

A46/A52 junction Nottinghamshire. SHELL Saxondale is usually the cheapest fuel in this area for those travelling from Leicester to Newark and the A1.

A64 York by-pass: Tesco supermarket at Askham Bar, on A1175 SP York from eastbound carriageway. Park&Ride. 3 minutes. TOTAL  station just off the A64 on the A1175 is usually also cheap and is nearer, but access is a little difficult - you have to cross to the other side of the road if going towards the city centre or continue on to the Tesco roundabout and double back.

A64 York by-pass: Sainsbury's supermarket at Monks' Cross Shopping Centre, northern end of the by-pass off the r'bout and well SP. Park&Ride. 2 minutes

M20 Ashford-Folkestone: Sainsbury's supermarket at J.13 of M20, the west side of the tunnel through the hill, follow SP A259 off exit r'bout, then Rt.at next r'bout. Can be seen from the motorway. 1 minute

M18 Rotherham. Morrison's Supermarket just off J.1/M18. Can be seen from the roundabout over the motorway.

France

A25 Dunkerque - Lille:    E.Leclerc hypermarché at Bailleul, access from northbound at J.10, from southbound at J. 2 minutes

D514 Ouistreham - Caen. ESSO fuel station at the roundabout where the dual-carriageway part of the road to Caen begins. It's open late and has (in 2002) one pump which accepts clean euronotes for automated fuel delivery. Very useful if you are off a late ferry from Portsmouth.

ROADS WITHOUT FUEL STATIONS

In most countries there are areas where fuel stations are thin on the ground. Some I have noted are listed here:

France

A26 northbound in Pas de Calais: the last fuel station if you are heading for the 'Port Rapide' at Dunkerque is at Aire de Ste.Hilaire-Cottes, a long 50km. before the junction with the A16. You can go to Cite d'Europe but AFAIK this still has a 2.1m height barrier for fuel and it involves quite a detour if check-in time is rapidly approaching. There is a BP station on the eastbound A16 but it is about 20km. beyond the exit for the Ferry Port and the next exit to allow return back to the westbound carriageway is another 4km. on at J.1. The Auchan hypermarket at Grande-Synthe is useful if it is not a Sunday or national holiday.

WHERE ARE THE HYPERMARKETS?

In France especially, knowing where hypermarkets are located can save money, especially on fuel. For me local markets and specialist meat/cheese shops are always better than hypermarkets for fresh produce and top-quality meat and cured meat products. But inland the wet fish displays in the large supermarkets are stunning and put the offerings of most UK supermarkets to shame. For branded drinks they are usually unbeatable.

Almost always built on the edge of towns, they inhabit what are known as a 'Centre Commercial', a 'Z.A.C.' or a 'Z.I.'. These are the signs which you will see on the main roads, but there is not a hypermarket at every one. All the groups are good at placing prominent roadside direction signs within several kilometres radius of their stores, though these can require interpretation e.g. 'Votre Hypermarché Cora première route a gauche' probably means turn left at the next significant road junction, not literally the next left turn. Having a passenger to keep an eye out for the signs helps enormously. The larger groups such as Carrefour and Cora, as well as Intermarché and E.Leclerc, have websites where a search can be made for their stores in an area that interests you. With fewer stores, Cora is the easiest as it uses an interactive map. Carrefour lists stores by departmental address, so you need a list of department numbers to research an area.

DEALING WITH 'PÉAGES'

France and Italy have an extensive system of toll motorways, Spain has some toll routes, Germany is still free. Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic require purchase of a 'vignette' at the border, which attaches to the windscreen, in order to travel on motorways.

With some exceptions a ticket is taken on joining the motorway; some emerge automatically from a machine, for some a button has to be pressed: remove the ticket and the barrier is raised. The toll stations on the autoroutes, in France at least, are well signed ahead with instructions to slow down. At busy times there are queues of vehicles waiting to pay. One of the ways of avoiding high costs in France is to know which sections are Free and only use these to get around major towns and cities. A good Michelin map which shows the free sections in a different colour helps a lot.

Important: there may be a choice of toll booths, even up to 10. Those which are open have green or blue arrows or signs, those which are closed usually have a red cross above them. It's worth slowing down in order to choose the best queue to join: the longest queues are often for the payment-in-cash booths. Other booths may offer Credit Card payment as well as cash ('Carte de Credit' or CC  in France), and yet more (most of these which I have encountered have a 2.1m height barrier) offer automated credit card payment. Some routes through tolls are restricted to holders of special frequent-traveller stickers, usually signed 'Télépeage' in France. Avoid these channels. Normal booths are easy - hand the ticket with cash or credit card to the person in the booth, the price for distance travelled is shown on a screen and the credit card with a receipt is handed back in less than 30 seconds. I have not yet in France found a major UK credit card to be refused at tolls. A few sections may be fixed price - signed ahead on the road 'Préparez 2.30 euro' or other charge and if you have the correct cash this is even quicker. The fully automated channels require the ticket to be inserted correct way up and round into one marked slot, a price is shown on the screen and an instruction to insert your credit card into a different slot, again the correct way round and up. I found this a little less than obvious due to vague pictures showing correct insertion, but UK credit cards are in my experience accepted and the queues for these automated booths are often much shorter. Instructions on-screen warn if the credit card needs putting in a different way round: 'Carte non lisible, re-introduisez' or other warning; only if all possibilities have been exhausted is the card not accepted.

SPEED LIMITS & REGULATIONS

Speed limits don't vary much from UK practice, in built-up areas 50kph is the norm, but there are important individual requirements which must be adhered to. It may take a little time to get used to reading the speedo in kilometres per hour.

In Netherlands cyclists always have precedence at marked crossings: you must stop!

In Switzerland pedestrians have precedence at marked crossings: stop!

Many countries have lower speed limits in certain 'traffic-calming' areas, 30kph is common - about 18mph.

In France the 'priorité a droite' - priority to vehicles joining from the right - rule was abolished years ago, but in rural areas and on minor roads it's as well to be prepared for a local driver to act as if it still applies.

French motorway limits are 130kph (often exceeded by nationals) but 110kph in rain. It is rumoured that some toll booths have timing devices which calculate time taken to travel the distance shown on the ticket, and that penalties are imposed if this shows the speed limit has been exceeded. Germany has 'advisory' speed limits on motorways, frequently ignored by nationals but best adhered to by foreigners. In addition cars can appear from behind very suddenly and rapidly in the overtaking lane and it pays to keep a constant watch on the rear-view mirror.

WHEN YOU NEED MECHANICAL HELP

Hopefully you won't but it pays to plan for the possibility. Ideally I try to note roadside signs advertising franchised dealers for my base vehicle whenever I am outside towns. The AA used to issue a small booklet with translations of many vehicle components into the main European languages. Many countries now demand that anyone outside a broken-down vehicle wears a reflective jacket: I keep two within reach. Some countries have requirements for a vehicle to carry a full set of spare bulbs. Spain requires that any driver who needs prescription glasses to drive carries a spare pair in the vehicle.

Ensure that your mobile 'phone is well topped-up with credit before leaving UK, and is not 'locked' against overseas use. Calling an international rescue centre may be a lengthy process. It may be possible to top up 'pre-pay' contracts via the provider's website from an internet connection abroad, you will need to know the password and 'phone number or account number. I find Tourist Offices best for this, and often free to use.

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