Guide contents · Chapter 8 of 14
Practical extras
Water, waste and gas
France makes van servicing easy once you know the system. Most aires have a borne de services: a service point for fresh water, grey waste and cassette emptying. The common brands are Flot Bleu (the blue towers), Euro Relais and AireServices. Some dispense water free, others take a euro or two in coins, a card, or a token (jeton) bought from the campsite reception, tourist office or nearby shop. Carry a few €1 and €2 coins and you'll rarely be stuck. Park4Night and Campercontact both filter for service points.
For gas, know this before you go: Calor bottles cannot be exchanged in France. Campingaz can. The blue 907 cylinders swap at supermarkets, garages and camping shops nationwide. For refillable LPG, the legal position matters: fixed tanks and permanently plumbed-in cylinder systems with an external filler point (an installed Gaslow, Gasit or Alugas setup) may be filled at GPL pumps. Portable refillable bottles (Safefill, or an unplumbed Gaslow) are prohibited at French pumps and routinely refused, so do not plan a trip around them. A Campingaz setup or a plumbed-in refillable is the France-proof choice for longer trips. For GPL pump locations and adapters, see the Roads chapter.
Laundry
France has quietly become brilliant for laundry on the road. Beyond the traditional town laverie automatique, self-service laundry pods now sit in supermarket and petrol station car parks across the country. Revolution Laundry machines outside Intermarché, Carrefour and Total stations are the ones you'll see most. A big drum wash typically runs around €5–10, dryers a few euros more, and most machines take contactless cards. Wash while you do the food shop; it's the most efficient hour of van admin in France.
Staying connected
Post-Brexit roaming depends entirely on your network, and increasingly on when you took the plan. As of July 2026: EE, Vodafone and Sky Mobile charge a daily EU roaming fee on most newer contracts, typically £2–3 per day, which adds up fast on a three-week trip, and Three has joined them, charging £2.75 a day on plans taken out or upgraded since late 2025 (some mid-2025 plans still include Europe). O2, giffgaff, Smarty and iD Mobile still include EU roaming at no daily charge, with fair-use data caps that vary widely by network, from around 5GB to 30GB a month. Check your own plan before you leave: policies change, and older contracts sometimes keep better terms.
If your network charges daily fees or you need more data, a travel eSIM is the easy fix: providers like Airalo and Holafly sell France or Europe data packages you install in minutes, and Orange sells a well-regarded tourist SIM. As for campsite wifi: be honest with yourself. It usually works near reception and fades to nothing at your pitch. Treat it as a bonus, not a plan, especially if anyone needs to work from the van.
Money on the road
Cards work almost everywhere now. Contactless is universal in supermarkets, fuel stations and most boulangeries, and the old "€15 minimum" card rule has largely disappeared, though the odd village bakery or market stall is still cash-only, so keep €50 or so in coins and small notes. Market traders in particular often prefer cash. American Express is patchy outside cities; carry Visa or Mastercard.
Tolls take cards and contactless at the barrier, but a toll tag (Ulys, Bip&Go or Emovis) is worth considering for a wide van: it opens the barrier automatically in the télépéage lanes and spares you the stretch across to a machine set at car height. One caution: some unmanned 24-hour fuel stations pre-authorise a large amount or occasionally reject foreign cards. If in doubt, fill up at staffed supermarket stations, which are also usually the cheapest fuel in France.
Travelling with a dog
AHCs have been required since Brexit; what changed on 22 April 2026 is that EU-issued pet passports held by GB residents stopped being accepted, so nearly every GB pet now travels on an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) from a vet, issued within 10 days of outbound travel, plus a microchip and a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before you go. For the return, your dog needs tapeworm treatment administered by a vet 1–5 days before re-entering the UK, which means booking a French vet mid-trip. Any cabinet vétérinaire can do it; book a few days ahead in summer and budget roughly €30–60. Rules evolve, so check gov.uk before every trip.
In summer heat, the rules are simpler and stricter: never leave a dog in the van, even briefly. Southern France regularly exceeds 35°C and a parked van becomes dangerous in minutes. During high fire risk, many southern forest massifs close to visitors entirely, dogs included; check the local prefecture's daily access map before planning forest walks in the south.
Health and pharmacies
Order a free GHIC card from the NHS website before you travel: it entitles you to state healthcare in France on the same terms as residents. It is not travel insurance. It won't cover repatriation or a full refund of costs, so carry proper insurance too. For everyday ailments, head for the green cross of a pharmacie: French pharmacists are trained to advise and can often sort a problem without a doctor. If you do need a médecin généraliste (GP), most towns have one who'll see visitors; you pay upfront (typically €30–60) and reclaim part with your GHIC paperwork.
Emergency numbers, from any phone:
- 112: all emergencies, works Europe-wide.
- 15: SAMU, medical emergencies.
- 18: fire brigade (sapeurs-pompiers).
- 17: police.
- 114: SMS emergency number, for deaf or hard-of-hearing travellers or when you cannot speak.
Breakdowns and the law
French law requires a fixed kit in every UK vehicle:
- Warning triangle.
- Hi-vis vest, one per traveller, reachable from the driver's seat, not buried in the garage locker.
- Headlamp beam deflectors, or headlamps adjusted for driving on the right.
- A UK sticker or UK-identifier number plate (old GB stickers no longer count).
- Documents: V5C logbook, insurance certificate and driving licence.
- No breathalyser: that requirement was scrapped, so ignore old advice.
Before you leave the UK, take out European breakdown cover and check the small print: some policies cap vehicle length, height or weight, and a 3.5-tonne motorhome needs a policy that says so explicitly.
Motorways are the exception to normal breakdown cover, and this surprises many first-timers. French autoroutes are privately operated, and only the operator's approved recovery firms may attend a breakdown there: your own provider cannot come to you on the motorway. Use the orange SOS phones (every 2km) or the SOS Autoroute app; a mandated tow truck will move you to a safe area off the autoroute, where your own breakdown cover takes over. The tow fee is government-capped: for a van between 1.8 and 3.5 tonnes, €186.72 at the 2026 rate, rising by 50% at night (6pm to 8am), at weekends and on public holidays. Above 3.5 tonnes prices are not capped, so check your policy covers a heavy motorhome. Decent European policies reimburse the fee, so keep the receipt. While you wait: vest on, everyone out of the vehicle and behind the barrier, triangle out only if it's safe to place.