An aire de stationnement is where you sleep, an aire de services is where you fill with water and empty your tanks, and an aire d’accueil camping-cars is usually both. “Gratuite” (free) almost always refers to the parking, not the service point. And the sign at the entrance, not the name of the aire, tells you what you can actually do there.

French law does not define any of these. The government said so in a written answer to the Assemblée nationale, published in the Journal officiel on July 1, 2014: these spaces “ne font l’objet d’aucune définition réglementaire”, they have no regulatory definition. It did set out the working distinction that communes use:

  • Aire de stationnement (parking area): a space reserved for parking, open to motorhomes day and night. This is the one you sleep at. Above 50 spaces, the commune needs a development permit to build it.
  • Aire de services (service area): a technical installation, the borne, where you empty gray water and the toilet cassette and fill with drinking water. On its own it does not promise you a place for the night.
  • Aire d’accueil camping-cars (motorhome welcome area): no fixed meaning. It is a name the commune picks, and behind it you will find one, the other, or both.

Verified October 10, 2026.

On the ground, the line blurs. At Caulnes in Brittany, the tourist office calls the site the “Aire de service du Lavoir”, yet it lists 10 unmarked spaces where you park free for up to 24 hours. The name says services; the listing says you can sleep. See the Caulnes aire.

Our French place records show the same pattern. Of the 650 aires with “aire de stationnement” in the name, 144 list a dump point. Of the 620 named “aire de service” or “aire de services”, 424 do. Treat a stationnement as a parking space first: arrive with a full water tank and empty waste tanks, and plan the service stop separately.

What “free” covers

Of the nearly 3,000 French aires on our France map, just over 1,000 records state a fee. Of those, 682 are free, 34 are free to park with paid services, and 310 are paid. So where a commune publishes a price, free is the norm, but it is the parking that is free.

Caulnes is the textbook case. The parking is free, the borne is not: 2 euros to empty, 2 euros for 15 minutes of drinking water, 2 euros for 3 hours of electricity, cash only, all from March 15 to November 15. Elven in the Morbihan goes further: the mairie writes that “le stationnement est gratuit” and that the water is free too, on a 26-space aire open March 15 to November 15. See the Elven aire. Both verified October 10, 2026.

Two habits follow. Carry coins, because many bornes take tokens or coins and Caulnes takes cash only. And do not count on a borne in winter: at both Caulnes and Elven the season ends November 15.

The other “aire d’accueil”

If the sign says “aire d’accueil des gens du voyage”, it is not for you. Under the law of July 5, 2000 (loi n° 2000-614), that name means a site a commune provides for the mobile homes of Traveller communities. Drive on and look for the commune’s motorhome aire.

How to read the sign

The sign at the entrance answers the three questions that matter. Read it in this order:

  1. The word. “Stationnement” or a posted time limit (24h, 48h) means you can stay the night. “Services” alone, with no marked bays, means a borne: fill up, empty, and move on.
  2. The stay limit. The commune sets it, and the sign beats whatever an app says.
  3. The price and the dates. A price for the borne, one for the night, or none, and the months it is open.

Away from aires, a motorhome is still a vehicle. A mayor can restrict where it parks with a reasoned arrêté municipal (local order), but according to the government answer published in the JO Sénat on March 26, 2020, that ban cannot be general and absolute outside exceptional circumstances. Verified October 10, 2026. If a sign bans motorhomes from a car park, the sign wins. The difference between parking and camping is covered in wild camping in France.

For how to find the free ones, read our guide to free aires in France, and before your first night, aire etiquette. Everywhere, the sign at the entrance and the mairie beat any website, including this one.

Sources

  1. Written question no. 1773, answer published in the Journal officiel on July 1, 2014, Assemblée nationale
  2. Stationnement des camping-cars, written question no. 14376, answer published in the JO Sénat on March 26, 2020
  3. Loi n° 2000-614 du 5 juillet 2000 relative à l'accueil et à l'habitat des gens du voyage, Légifrance
  4. Aire de service du Lavoir, Caulnes, Dinan Cap Fréhel Tourisme
  5. Aire de camping-car, Mairie d'Elven

When a source is not in English, follow the link for the official wording.