Stopped holiday routes often below par

Champion July / August 2018

04 July 2018 Litter, toilet without glasses, tight parking, holes in the asphalt, a lot of noise and even rat poison. There is still much to improve at the crossing points along the holiday routes. Stops along the highways to the south leave much to be desired. This is what research ANWB shows, which will appear in the July issue of the Champion.

Just before millions of Dutch travel south, 127 highway stations in 7 countries were inspected by two popular roads to the sun. 28 stops are a traitor and only 25 stations are a recommendation. At other stations visited, you make a "reasonable" stop at most.

How to rated?

The 127 stations in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy were evaluated at about 60 points, such as the price of fuel, the number of toilets, the parking spaces and the presence of waste. The researchers found, among other things, rat poison in Raststätten in Germany, high fuel prices in Italy, big holes in asphalt in Belgium and many stations with noise, parking spaces or cars. dirty toilet. It also turned out that many parking spaces are occupied by trucks especially in the evening and on the weekends. There are many things that can make the difference between a pleasant and unpleasant stop.

Who stops and does not?

Because good stops are also there. Especially in France south of Lyon and Switzerland, researchers have found beautiful resorts, spacious and clean. Often provided with good gaming facilities, nice shops and good restaurants. At least as important is the well-kept green, the rest and the space to stretch your legs. Many of these recommended resorts are not directly on the highway, so you experience more peace and less noise. The German motorway stations have a slightly lower score on average: the area beats the Raststätte .

Prior to the survey, ANWB members indicated what they appreciate in a good point of arrest. In addition, "clean toilets" were the most mentioned. So you are often wrong in France and Italy: there are no paid toilets, and they are often much dirtier. In Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium you now pay almost everywhere for your toilet (often in exchange for a good one) and you can usually count on a pretty clean toilet.

Oil prices

. Luxembourg is still by far the cheapest, but you can also save a lot of money in German Autohöfe . These large petrol stations are close to an outlet and you often fill 20 cents cheaper per liter than directly on the highway. See also Fuel Prices Europe. However, there is often (even) less entertainment and facilities than along the highway.

The worst stop was Lario-Est in Italy, near Milan. A resort with expensive fuel, far too few parking spaces, messy shop, noisy highway noise and no relaxation options. The area of ​​Catalan French Village – near the Spanish border – was the best and most beautiful of all the resorts visited.

The ANWB intends to test the stops every year from now on

The 127 stops have been evaluated and are displayed on maps detailed. These cards can be printed or downloaded on tablet or by telephone from 5 July, they can be consulted on https://www.anwb.nl/binaries/content/assets/anwb/pdf/kampioen/2018/ k0708_test.pdf