When we return from France this year we dock at Portsmouth at 7pm, by the time we clear the ferry and border force its likely to be 8 to 8.30pm. We live in Yorkshire and our storage place is open 8am to 8pm, so there is no way we can get there and leave the van that night. Equally we will be too late to check in at a uk site to stay overnight.
So we will drive over night a bit, but will be tired. I know service stations only allow 2 hours max. I don't fancy this either, nor do I fancy trying to sleep in a lay by somewhere.
My question is do we have Aires that we can drive into for a few hours to sleep safely? Ir any other ideas?
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just find a site not to far from the port, and tell them when the ship docks and i am more than certain they will have dealt with this many times before and have a late arrival area for you to park in, you dont even need to unhitch, just legs down and plug in the ehu and just use a jug for the water you need saves filling the water system just to empty it the following morning
Two CMC sites near Portsmouth have Ferry Pitches, Rookesbury Park and Morn Hill. You could contact both sites to see if they will allow a slightly later arrival (usually 8.00pm) I appreciate that it doesn't get you that much nearer home but at least you could start of fresh in the morning?
If it's of any further help, Park Farm CL which is about 3 miles from the M6 at Stafford allows late arrivals with prior permission. You do need to be a caravan club member. I'm sure there will be sites nearer.
Thanks everyone. We are caravan club members. We looked at ferry pitches at rooksbury, all full for the date we want. Will check out Morn Hill site. I am just glad me and hubby tow and we can take it in turns over night, about 6 hour drive home so maybe services couple of times for couple hrs is the way, not comfy, but something.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 13/5/2024
If it's of any further help, Park Farm CL which is about 3 miles from the M6 at Stafford allows late arrivals with prior permission. You do need to be a caravan club member. I'm sure there will be sites nearer.
totally the wrong direction for them going back to yorkshire
Just look at the websites of the service locations on the road you will be travelling. Most will allow free parking for 2 hours but longer than that you have to pay.
If you are travelling up the A34 take Peartree Services (Oxford) as an example. It says If you're a caravan owner, you can make the most of our designated caravan and motorhome parking for up to 24 hours at an additional cost. No pre-booking is necessary - simply pay at one of our till points when you arrive on-site. Its not cheap though - some charge £20-£30.
We had booked to stay here a couple of years ago (then left the caravan in France so didn't need to), at Warsash, about 20/30 mins from the port.
https://www.diblespark.co.uk/
As I recall, they were fine with a late arrival, just asked that we set up quietly!
Probably worth a phone call.
Otherwise you could always join the motorhomes overnighting at Port Solent (all perfectly legitimate but no facilities at all) - just follow the signs to the marina and then as you get to the car parks, there is a sign for Motorhome parking (or you'll see where they are!).