Calais Aire
I came across this on another forum, not sure if its of use to anyone? It will need to be translated unless of course your French is good.
David
Comments
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Interesting prices. 11 euros a night with water and waste but without electric hook ups or toilets and showers . Motorhome Aires will soon be as dear as campsites
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obviously, the charge is for the location of the aire...
very, very many of the the aires network sites are still free, especially those out in the countryside, so touring can still be done without 'payant' should this be desired.
those aires in tourist hotspots are becoming chargable, but its still a great system and one we are happy to make use of.
the MHers that use these probably arent looking for showers and toilet blocks, merely location and convenience, possibly on a dock at Calais....one ive not used.
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I stayed on the Calais aire next to the port entrance on my way home from France in October. The ground works for the new aire were well underway then and were located just to the southeast of the existing aire, on what I believe was the old Camping Municipal site.
The actual location is well situated for restaurants and seafront walks and there are three amazing value friteries within 100 metres. The only downside is that you get quite a bit of noise from ferry engines and ramps being lowered 24/7.
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I stayed on the Calais aire next to the port entrance on my way home from France in October. The ground works for the new aire were well underway then and were located just to the southeast of the existing aire, on what I believe was the old Camping Municipal
site.The actual location is well situated for restaurants and seafront walks and there are three amazing value friteries within 100 metres. The only downside is that you get quite a bit of noise from ferry engines and ramps being lowered 24/7.
Write your comments here...I think you must have been one of the last people to use the old Calais aire. It has now closed and a new one has opened at the end of the yacht basin on a large previously derelict piece of land. The old aire and campsite is being
converted into a fancy conference centre, so they will not want a load of motorhomes disfiguring their latest piece of municipal pride. There is also going to be a new municipal campsite built next to the aire, opening next year. Unfortunatly these facilities
are not on he beach(10 minutes walk away) and further from the array of restaurants there and in the centre. However, there is a promise of 'mobile food vendors' (aka greasy spooons) at the aire - I will reserve judgement until I have sampled the quality of
the frites! We always enjoyed the old aire but may now overnight at Cite Europe, saving us 11 euros.0 -
Camping Fort Lapin, just along the coast at Bleriot Plage and right beside the beach, was always our regular calling point with a caravan. We haven't been via Calais for a few years though the very recent reviews of that campsite are excellent - but that
site is 21 euros a night, so quite a bit dearer than the Aire.0 -
I wonder if it is coincidental that sites close to ports with lots of British customers seem to bump up their prices in line with the UK
I don't think that is the case, there are plenty of low price site close to Calais. I don't usually stay on Aires around Calais, outward I like to travel at least 50 miles before stopping for the night. Homeward, its comforting to be close to your departure
point and I prefer to use Camping Erables at Escales when it is open. This year in peak season it was 10.40 euros for the night without electric, 3 euros extra for electricity. They are not open all year unfortunately and on such occasions I have used the
Aire at Gravelines. It used to be 6 euros for the night.peedee
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Maybe I am wrong I havent used Calais for years but have supected the site use in Ouistreham that has several dozen Brits a night of pricing up to Uk rates at over €20 a night for what has been a pretty basic site.
You may be right but how many other sites stay open, or rather open especially, at 9.30 to 10 at night to allow you to book in?
I would be a bit nervous of staying on a campsite or aire in Calais.
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I would be a bit nervous of staying on a campsite or aire in Calais.
We stay at a campsite close to Calais 4 times a year, and have done for many, many years. There really is no need to be nervous about doing so. It is perfectly safe. It suits us, as going out we travel late afternoon, so that way we can have an early start next morning; going home we always book an early train, around 7-8am, so again, it enables us to do so with only a 10 minute drive to the tunnel.
It's a shame that some people feel that way about staying in the vicinity of Calais; I suspect the media has a lot to answer for, but the reality is that sites there are no more or less safe than anywhere else.
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we generally have not bothered with Calais crossings as its a long way to drive to Dover and we tend to favour the western side of France for our amblings....
however, we will be going to Germany/Italy later next spring and will use Calais. i still dont see us using an aire/site on the way out as we will park up somewhere close to Dover and take a mid morning crossing, so will get well into the trip before needing
to stop.on the return trip, i havent given it much thought but i know Gravelines is very popular and may prove convenient, we'll see
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Give Calais a chance. A short stay is worth it just for a meal at the Cote d'Argent restaurant - at the harbour mouth beside the old sea front Aire. Reviews are there on Trip Advisor.
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If you are using the tunnel I am not sure the Aire is of a particular advantage especially if you are coming from the west. Camping Les Erables, at Ecalles is a handy
stopping point and not much difference in cost to the Aire. I would think there is hardly any difference in distance to the Tunnel. There is also the Baie de Somme service area which is free but next to the motorway. The last couple of times we came back
that way we stopped overnight at a campsite in Rue which is right next to a Carrefour Market and about 60 miles from Calais.David
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Give Calais a chance. A short stay is worth it just for a meal at the Cote d'Argent restaurant - at the harbour mouth beside the old sea front Aire. Reviews are there on Trip Advisor.
The beauty of the Cote d'Argent was crossing the road. 250m is definitely a couple of drinks fewer - not the end of the world, ok in summer but not so much fun in winter.
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We stayed at the new Aire last week and 2 weeks ago. Very disappointed! We've used the old one by the port in the past, and we are regular users of the superb Au Cote d'Argent so the new location isn't conducive to having a meal there. We would have had to walk through a mud laden access road just to get to the paved area for the walk to beach/restaurants mentioned in a previous post. No doubt when the building work is finished the access will be cleaner.
The Aire itself is big and is accessed through an automated barrier; you pay the €10/night by credit card and at that time you're given a code which opens the exit barrier for you. There are 4 grey water drain points and 2 bollards giving toilet emptying points and access to drinking water which costs €2. These are outside the barriers so can be used without paying the €10. However when we were there no water was forthcoming so emptying the loo was a no-no.
I expect we'll give it another go when all the building is done but, like other contributors the parking at Cite Europe and the nearby campsites are a strong attraction!
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p4ggc
Thanks for the update, very useful. BTW I have edited your post as the same text was repeated.
David
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