Aires: the official stopover, explained

The anchor

An aire is a public parking area set aside for motorhomes. Some are a corner of a village car park, some hold fifty vehicles, and a lot of them are free.

Start here if the word is new to you

France

In France the word is aire, and the sign is a blue motorhome pictogram

About 2,070 French sites are tagged free in OpenStreetMap

Germany

In Germany it is a Stellplatz, and the etiquette is stricter than the sign suggests

About 1,041 German sites are tagged free in OpenStreetMap

Italy

In Italy it is an area di sosta, often run by the comune itself

Same idea, different paperwork

Services

The service point: fresh water in, grey water and cassette out

Free to park does not always mean free to fill

What do you want to know?

What an aire is How it differs from wild camping What the service point does How to behave on one

Start with the basics →

Guides

Everything you need before the first one.

Guide Read

What is an aire? Motorhome stopovers explained

An aire is a designated motorhome stopover, usually municipal, often free, and almost never a campsite. What that means in practice for a first-time visitor.

Jul 2026

Next step

See where they actually are

Reading about aires only gets you so far. The France map is the densest part of our data and the fastest way to understand the pattern: villages, lakes, edges of towns, and almost never a beauty spot.

Open the France map →

Not sure where to start?

Start with the rules.

Start with the basics → How this site works