Holiday Departures: The Best Motorway Service Areas in France... and Those to Avoid

Summer is here, school holidays have arrived, and it's time for the big departures. For drivers, or campervan drivers of all kinds, a good trip requires good motorway service areas: crucial stages of the journey. But from experience, not all are equal, far from it... Thanks to a study conducted by the TCS (Touring Club Suisse, a motorists' association), from which Le Figaro obtained the data, we now have a clear vision of the best and worst motorway service areas in France.

In concrete terms, the TCS carried out an evaluation of undeniable rigor: one of their experts traveled 14,000 kilometers across Europe, in a camper van, accompanied by a dog , in order to concretely evaluate the quality of the welcome reserved for users.

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The overall assessment is based on five key areas, each with a specific weighting in the final score. The presence of motorhome service stations is the most important criterion, accounting for 35% of the final score. Factors taken into account here include the safety of the facilities, the cleanliness and functionality of the waste disposal stations, lighting, the presence of cameras, the maintenance of the Euro Relais stations, and access to toilets and showers.

The access, parking and signage situation represents 25% of the score, taking into account motorway signage, dedicated motorhome parking, lighting, free parking , the possibility of overnight stays, the authorized duration, and free Wi-Fi. Recreation areas also weigh 25% of the evaluation, as does the condition of picnic areas, children's play areas, fitness equipment, dog areas, waste bag dispensers, landscaping, tourist information, and waste sorting.

The last two criteria, less decisive but revealing of the modernity of the equipment, are the rapid charging infrastructure (10% of the final score) which verifies the availability and proper functioning of the electric terminals, as well as the supply of gas bottles (5% of the final score) focused solely on the possibility of exchange.

A geographical analysis reveals some interesting trends. The A8 motorway, which serves the Côte d'Azur, has no fewer than six service areas in the worst ranking! This situation is all the more worrying given that this road is very busy in the summer. The A41, Route des Alpes, can also pose a problem, with two poorly ranked service areas. Conversely, the A7 and A9 shine in the top 10 best service areas.

But it must also be said that the evaluation grid explains why some areas obtain catastrophic scores: a major failure at the service stations, which represent more than a third of the score, can cause a area's overall ranking to plummet. In the meantime, you now have all the information you need to make the best choices during your summer trips.