wobbly box overnight parking on A25/A27

AndyB_11

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I know this is a strange question for a bike forum but quite a few on here have wobbly boxes and we are going to watch bike racing at Spa so it's kind of bike related.

We're off on Thursday evening and should be clear of the tunnel by about 11pm local time and we'll be using the A25 then A27 heading towards Lille then Mons and want to stop for the night about an hour into the journey so has anyone done similar and got a suggestion regarding where to park up for the night? There are the obvious aires on the motorway but by that time they'll be full of trucks and dusky little fellows trying to bag a lift to the UK so I'd sooner avoid them hence asking the question. I can see us pulling off the motorway and just stopping on any piece of hard standing I can find because we'll be up and away again by 8am but if anyone has done similar before and can recommend a stopping place then I'll be glad to hear it.

We'll be doing the same route two weeks later when we go to Chimay so it's going to be a learning curve for us but if I can remove the low point in the curve by following advice it'll stop me getting my ear bent for the first 100 miles in the morning :D
 
So you'll be looking for somewhere about midnight? Not sure what you mean by a wobbly box (apart from in a medical context.)
My suggestion would be for an Autoroute Aire to be honest. Some towns have Aires for motorhomes, but my guess is that the decent ones will be full by that time.
 
we just parked up in the motorway services and went to sleep, no issue at all. you wont have any trouble with people at the services if there are any they will only be on the side of the motorway going to the port not away from it.
 
You're less likely to have a problem with wobbly box/caravan if you stop at a service area. Aires that are unmanned are not ideal.
We've parked up for many hours over night on Service areas in various countries and never had any issues in 30 years.
 
Cheers guys. I'd been favouring motorway services rather than the unmanned type because we can grab a croissant in the morning before heading for the circuit though my wife earlier sent me a link to an unmanned one telling me that it looks ok and should be quiet. I don't think she's worked out that those smaller stops are usually just a loop road with a load of parking spaces right on it with nowhere to even try and avoid the 5am start that most trucks seem to make.

Alan, by wobbly box I mean a coach built motorhome though you've probably guessed that by now :D
 
The old French/Belgian border just past Lille has a huge parking area, used to be for trucks waiting for paperwork etc. always plenty of room there, and as someone has already mentioned your'e going the wrong way to worry about the hitch hikers
 
The old French/Belgian border just past Lille has a huge parking area, used to be for trucks waiting for paperwork etc. always plenty of room there, and as someone has already mentioned your'e going the wrong way to worry about the hitch hikers

I'd forgotten about the old border crossing and it's big enough to be highly unlikely to ever be full.

Unless a miracle has occurred I think there'll still be a load of road works in the area as well so I'll be more than ready to stop and throw a few beers down my neck before crashing out for the night.
 
i usually park at the uk side of the tunnel, around 11 pm then go across early train ,
its well policed and plenty of room to get a few hours with the m/h and bike trailer,
 
i usually park at the uk side of the tunnel, around 11 pm then go across early train ,
its well policed and plenty of room to get a few hours with the m/h and bike trailer,

I have always done it the other way round, and stopped at first or second services I come to in France or Belgium as I always think that their services are better than ours, but its probably just that they are different and once over the channel I am "on holiday"
 
I find it much easier to drive an hour longer in the evening than get up an hour earlier in the morning and even though it's really 6am according to my body clock I'll have no problems getting out of bed at 7am local time, making a brew and setting off. We'd have gone on an earlier crossing but I'll be at work in the north west until 2pm then I've got to drive home, throw a bag of clothes into the motorhome and off we jolly well go :D

My wife has decided that she'll sort the bed out while we're in the tunnel then it really is only a case of stopping wherever we feel fit to, unwind for 30 minutes then sleep. No doubt she'll be asleep in minutes while I'll still have my driving head on but I'll just read my kindle until I drop off.
 
Well it all ended up a bit of a fiasco because of being diverted off the motorway and me not feeling tired so we stopped in the first service area after going past Mons. By the time we stopped I was tempted to just go straight through to the circuit but Mrs B wasn't keen on that idea because she quite correctly thought we'd get there at about 03:30 and I'd decide it was time for a relaxing beer or two.
 


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