To Autoroute or not to autoroute ...?

[Vernon B]

Those with 3.5t plus ‘vans heading across the water might like to use the following website to get some indication of the toll charges involved in being categorised as a Class 3 vehicle on French Motorways.

 

www.autoroutes.fr/en/preparation/routes.html

 

Unlike the viamichelin site recommended by the CC this does allow you to select Class 3 vehicles by clicking “2 Axle Trucks” in the “More Options” window.

 

I’ve done a check using roughly the route we take from Calais to Perpignan in March. We use this because it gives access to a couple of all year sites and uses the largely un-tolled A75 at the southern end. The website allows you to specify two “stop-over” towns so I used Chartres and Clermont Ferrand.

 

This produced toll charges of 123.60 euros, of which a fat 66.30 was taken up with the 300 km stretch between Allaines and Clermont Ferrand. By contrast a <3.5t ‘van would have paid 77.40 euros in total. So what we might call the “fat boys' premium”, the difference between Class 2 and Class 3 charges, is 46 euros or about £40 for a trip of almost 700 miles. So we’re looking at an extra 5.7p per mile or roughly an additional half tank of diesel.

 

Is the baseline charge of 77.40 euros plus that 5.7p a mile a price worth paying?

 

Very much a personal choice of course and at least the French road network gives you a choice. For my part I’d be looking to save 21.70 euros by circumnavigating the Millau Bridge and some of the rest by teasing a few more mpg out of the Frankia – even if I just might nudge the speed above the 90 km/h limit on a few down hill stretches.

 

V

 

[Mr. Grumpy]

We regularly travel from Calais to the Vendee. We are under the 3.5 tonne limit but only use the autoroute on the way home to circumnavigate Rouen when we leave the vet to over night at Cleres. The journey down takes two days with an overnight near Le Mans and no autoroute (peage) at all. It's all part of the holiday so if the weather is good we'll take longer and deviate en route to take in new sites. A steady 90kph sees us averaging 30+MPG but if fuel keeps going up at it's present rate we may have to stay nearer home.

[Brian Kirby]

Interesting, Vernon, though I think you're kidding yourself a bit about the choice.  :-)  Ones van is either weighs 3.5 tonnes or less, or it weighs more.  Unless you have one of each, therefore, there really isn't any choice over whether you would pay E123.6 or E77.4 for that trip.

IMO, the choice, in truth, is whether you accept that route, or take a different one that avoids toll roads and hence the costs, but spend a bit longer (I think one day would do it) en-route, with possibly a little more fuel being used as well.  Over £100 in French tolls one way, makes the total for the round trip (assuming same way back) more than you pay in a year for UK VED.  That, is expensive!  :-)

[Guest JudgeMental]

Mr. Grumpy - 2011-02-08 1:40 PM

 

We regularly travel from Calais to the Vendee. We are under the 3.5 tonne limit but only use the autoroute on the way home to circumnavigate Rouen when we leave the vet to over night at Cleres. The journey down takes two days with an overnight near Le Mans and no autoroute (peage) at all. It's all part of the holiday so if the weather is good we'll take longer and deviate en route to take in new sites. A steady 90kph sees us averaging 30+MPG but if fuel keeps going up at it's present rate we may have to stay nearer home.

 

If you avoid the new A28 pay section from Rouen to Le Mans (E402 I think) costs for tolls reasonable enough. some of the new sections are very expensive, if you can avoid these, journeys can still be reasonably fast......

 

So I think a mixture of both the best way, as sometimes avoiding motorways can be a real bind if in a rush and on limited time....If you have all the time in the world entirely different

[Brian Kirby]

OK, here is a toll free route.

Calais – A16 – Boulogne

Boulogne - D901/D1001 – Abbeville

Abbeville – A28 – Rouen

Rouen – A13 – Incarville

Incarville – D6154/N12 – Dreux

Dreux – N154/N1154 – Chartres

Chartres – N154 – Artenay

Artenay – N20 – Orleans

Orleans – D952 – Briare

Briare – N7/D907 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – A77/N7/D907/D2009 – Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand – A75 – Beziers

Beziers – D609/D6009/D900 - Perpignan

Against your proposed route, which this closely shadows, with speeds reduced for motorhomes, Autoroute calculates the above would take about 3.25 hours longer driving time (arriving 17:00 on day two, in lieu of 13:45 on day two).  Depending on your departure time from Calais, both Chartres and Clermont Ferrand remain viable overnight stops, given that your preferred two stops extend available journey time to three days.  No tolls = cost of one good dinner for two saved!  :-D

[Vernon B]

That's interesting Brian - might give it a closer look. Was hoping the post might throw up a few suggestions.

 

V

[sheer lunar-see]

our van is over the 3500kg limit, and we often argue the point that we are class 2, campervan, the opperators never argue the point, have never asked the weight of the van, just alter the charge and let us through, posh English voice speaking Franglais seems to work. (lol) (lol)

[mirage]

Up until 2 years ago we had an A Class 3880 Kg van which was 6.25m long 2.96m high. For the five years we owned it and not inconsiderable mileage on French Motorways we only ever paid Class 2 Tolls never even asked to pay Class 3. I am not familiar with your Frankia`s size but the more likely way of falling for Class 3 tolls appears to be if you exceed 3m at some automated toll booths, where your height is measured at the pay point.

I must admit now I`m retired and have plenty of time I avoid tolls like the plague.

[Vernon B]

sheer lunar-see - 2011-02-08 9:40 PM

 

our van is over the 3500kg limit, and we often argue the point that we are class 2, campervan, the opperators never argue the point, have never asked the weight of the van, just alter the charge and let us through, posh English voice speaking Franglais seems to work. (lol) (lol)

 

Yep that used to be the case for us too. Visually our 'van would pass the test of being a 3.5t unit and as a consequence we were usually charged the Class 2 toll at manually operated booths. Unfortunately these are increasingly becoming few and far between and as we are just over 3m high we get "caught". Truth is of course the 'van is indeed a Class 3 vehicle so there's no argument.

 

Chances are the French have been operating toll roads since Roman occupation so they've become experts at the technology for taking your money. My gripe is that they seem to have created a situation where vehicles that should be using these roads, and not minor roads, are penalised for doing so. French logic or what?

 

V

[catinou]

mirage - 2011-02-08 9:57 PM

 

Up until 2 years ago we had an A Class 3880 Kg van which was 6.25m long 2.96m high. For the five years we owned it and not inconsiderable mileage on French Motorways we only ever paid Class 2 Tolls never even asked to pay Class 3. I am not familiar with your Frankia`s size but the more likely way of falling for Class 3 tolls appears to be if you exceed 3m at some automated toll booths, where your height is measured at the pay point.

I must admit now I`m retired and have plenty of time I avoid tolls like the plague.

 

We found the same when we changed from our Autotrail with overcab bed "lump" to our A class Burstner. When we have plenty of time we always use the route given by Brian (cheap fuel at Le Clerc nearish to Chartres and really good choice of roadside restaurants PLUS no tolls!) If we do a "quick run " to check the house, about 1.5 hours north of Clairmont Fernand, over a weekend and normally by car, it is always Autoroute all the way. ;-)

[Corky 8]

Whilst on the Subject of 3.5t, I have noticed quite a few of the Aire,s given in "All The Aires in France" are on Streets /Roads with 3.5t restrictions,  Given that most Motorhomes were 3.5t or under, Has anyone had their M/H Vin plate checked at any Aire, My M/H is 3.8t, slightly over the 3.5t limit ,should I be put off trying to use such Aire,s so as not to run foul of the local police if they ever do such checking, the Aviano I had was 4.0t but the Burstner stick on Vin plate next to the front wheel arch read 3.5t the one under the bonnet read 4.0t . Your experience most welcome.  Dennis

[Vernon B]

Hi Corky this is one of those situations where one would have hoped that a bit of common sense (from the police) would apply providing your 'van doesn't exceed the plated MAM of 3.8t But who knows most of our police have long since given up on common sense. Might be worth finding out what the penalty is for doing this before chancing your luck.

 

V

[whisturx]

Hi Bob,

 

Glad to see you avoid the Millau Viaduct. We crossed in May going South and paid 9 euros . I think it was my smile !! Returned in June and had a "jobs-worth" who demanded the log book which unfortunately shows 5 tonne so we were stung 29 euros, which is artic rate(Group 4) !!

Never again,so we now go down into Millau.

We use Brian's route if heading that way.

[Vernon B]

Hi Ian. Two things strike me about your experience.

1. It's your tag axle that puts you in Class 4 and unfortunately that's pretty difficult to hide - so I'm not sure why the said gent had to look at your log book.

2. Although your smile made a difference going down I'd have thought you'd have been even better off with a right hand drive 'van meaning Lynda would have to handle those exchanges!

V

[eric hobson]

Hi like Brian,s route. Similar to the one we use but surely not toll free as you have to pay to cross Millau bridge. Brian do you detour through Millau and then back onto Autoroute to Beziers?

[Mel B]

sheer lunar-see - 2011-02-08 9:40 PM

 

our van is over the 3500kg limit, and we often argue the point that we are class 2, campervan, the opperators never argue the point, have never asked the weight of the van, just alter the charge and let us through, posh English voice speaking Franglais seems to work. (lol) (lol)

 

I know you, and others, seem to be condoning this course of action, ie telling outright lies, or not telling the truth, whichever definition you prefer, but what would happen if you had to stop for whatever reason, on the motorhome and the police turned up ... or they were doing spot checks as you came off - if you have clearly told porkies I wouldn't warrant your chances of getting off lightly! :-S

[Brian Kirby]

eric hobson - 2011-02-17 1:30 PM Hi like Brian,s route. Similar to the one we use but surely not toll free as you have to pay to cross Millau bridge. Brian do you detour through Millau and then back onto Autoroute to Beziers?

You have that choice, if you want to avoid all toll charges.  Depends on whether time, or the cost of the Millau toll, is the greater priority.  I've never driven the whole route in one hit, though I've probably travelled most of the bits on various occasions.  I just stitched it together in Autoroute for Vernon's benefit, to show an alternative to spending £200 return on tolls.

[Patricia]

Brian Kirby - 2011-02-08 3:54 PM

OK, here is a toll free route.

Calais – A16 – Boulogne

Boulogne - D901/D1001 – Abbeville

Abbeville – A28 – Rouen

Rouen – A13 – Incarville

Incarville – D6154/N12 – Dreux

Dreux – N154/N1154 – Chartres

Chartres – N154 – Artenay

Artenay – N20 – Orleans

Orleans – D952 – Briare

Briare – N7/D907 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – A77/N7/D907/D2009 – Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand – A75 – Beziers

Beziers – D609/D6009/D900 - Perpignan

Against your proposed route, which this closely shadows, with speeds reduced for motorhomes, Autoroute calculates the above would take about 3.25 hours longer driving time (arriving 17:00 on day two, in lieu of 13:45 on day two).  Depending on your departure time from Calais, both Chartres and Clermont Ferrand remain viable overnight stops, given that your preferred two stops extend available journey time to three days.  No tolls = cost of one good dinner for two saved!  :-D

I follow most of this route quite frequently but I think you might find a toll to pay on the A13. I therefore go as far as Rouen as Brian describes, then go through Pont-de -l'Arche and join the A154 down to Artenay. Much of this route now is dual carriageway with improvements still being carried out. I join the A10/71 at Artenay to avoid Orleans and leave at Olivet. The cost of €5 is well worth it both for time and diesel saved avoiding the nightmare of stop/start Orleans. Then I wander down to Vierzon (usually an overnight stop here at the Buffalo Gril) and continue on the "Nationale" to the Foret de Troncais. Back on to the A71 ( continue on the "N" road) down to Clermont-Ferrand (€12.80) then A89 (€3.20). These prices are all Classe 2 - if I was Classe 3 I would stay on the "N" roads all the way. The Millau bridge however, although not cheap, saves an awful lot of diesel and toll on the vehicle and the view is superb!

[Guest Peter James]

Funnily enough my fuel consumption meter tells me actually use more fuel on the autoroute. The extra speed and wind drag must cost more than the stopping and starting on the old road.

Seems easy going to sit there at about 70mph but put your hand out of the window to get an idea how hard the engine must be working to overcome all that wind drag!

[Vernon B]

This is a follow-up to Brian Kirby's suggested toll free route from Calais to Perpignan which I took advantage of during a trip last month. Unfortunately it would appear that while I've been away someone or something has taken over this website and it is no longer possible to use the "Quote" facilities when replying to posts. Anyway those interested in Brian's suggestion will find it below by paging down.

 

In the event I chose to use a "modified" version of Brian's route between Chartres and Clermont Ferrand. This involved taking the N154 from Chartres thro to Orleans then the N60 E60 east to connect with the partially tolled A77 at J18. This becomes the N7south of Nevers and then the N9 into Clermont Ferrand. This route is in contrast to my usual route down the A10 and A71.

 

I have to confess that quite a few of my previously expressed concerns were realised along the N154. Although this single carriageway road is generally in good repair it carries a high volume of HGVs and I'd prefer not to be around if a breakdown occurred since there appeared to be little prospect of finding somewhere to pull over without bringing the whole traffic flow to a grinding halt. Nor was there an adequate number of filling stations in the first 100 miles - infact the few I saw were at supermarkets and these had 2 metre height barriers. Oh and just as we were settling down to making reasonable progress up popped one of those dastardly "Deviation" signs that was carefully devised to take you round the house and down side streets with double parked vehicles before getting you 1km down your original route but having completed 10km!

 

But it all came good - no that's not fair - it all came very good!

 

On reaching the N20 things, or rather the whole "package", improved dramatically, and we enjoyed France at its very best and despite a slow start we made good time down to Clermont F. As importantly we saved an unbelievable 80 euros on our Class 3 tolls which allowed us to enjoy not one but a couple of night's dining out on your reputation Brian.

 

There's no doubt we will use this route in the future but we will start with a full tank of fuel and be mentally prepared for the tedium of the first eighty miles. The only thing that might change our minds would be the risks of venturing out on the N154 in the very high winds and very heavy rain that was around in March last year.

 

So thanks for the suggestion Brian - I owe you a pint or a glass of something sometime.

 

V

[Derek Uzzell]

Vernon B - 2011-05-07 6:00 PM

 

This is a follow-up to Brian Kirby's suggested toll free route from Calais to Perpignan which I took advantage of during a trip last month. Unfortunately it would appear that while I've been away someone or something has taken over this website and it is no longer possible to use the "Quote" facilities when replying to posts. Anyway those interested in Brian's suggestion will find it below by paging down.

 

Not sure why you had trouble using the Quote facility. Brian's toll-free route can be found (twice, plus Patricia's follow-up observations) by scrolling upwards towards the top of this thread.

[Keith T]

We recently returnd from a shortish trip to france, the furthest point was les Sables d'Olonne, and we had a couple of specific places to visit en-route.....mainly used the Tomtom for general routing, and had the option of excluding any toll roads. This worked well, and over 1400 miles some excellent routes, including long straight D routes as well as N roads.

We also find that in practice on runs of up to say 200 miles at a time (day) there's not much riddference in overall timing as we tend to gain a little on non-peage routes, but don't make the ';scheduled' time on Autoroutes as we do not travel at the max speeds permitted.

We also try to do quite a bit of major mileage on a sunday when there tends to be very little traffic of any sort on the roads!...unlike UK!!

[scramblers]

Brian Kirby - 2011-02-08 3:54 PM

OK, here is a toll free route.

Calais – A16 – Boulogne

Boulogne - D901/D1001 – Abbeville

Abbeville – A28 – Rouen

Rouen – A13 – Incarville

Incarville – D6154/N12 – Dreux

Dreux – N154/N1154 – Chartres

Chartres – N154 – Artenay

Artenay – N20 – Orleans

Orleans – D952 – Briare

Briare – N7/D907 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – A77/N7/D907/D2009 – Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand – A75 – Beziers

Beziers – D609/D6009/D900 - Perpignan

Our son lives in Barcelona, so Brian's route is one we know well.As other's have commented, my motorhome also has a higher mpg off the autoroutes than on them as well as offering better views (essential for the better half who gets bored on the autoroutes).If you have a Sat Nav simply set it to avoid Toll Roads. I find that out of main towns/cities this takes you along the RN roads that may run parallel with the autoroute and then back onto the free section of the autoroute when approaching cities/towns. The downside is that I have to go through some small towns/villages which adds to the journey time but it is travelling through these small places that adds to the better halves' enjoyment.It's a win/win situation - higher mpg, no toll charges and the wifes' happy.

[scramblers]

Brian Kirby - 2011-02-08 3:54 PM

OK, here is a toll free route.

Calais – A16 – Boulogne

Boulogne - D901/D1001 – Abbeville

Abbeville – A28 – Rouen

Rouen – A13 – Incarville

Incarville – D6154/N12 – Dreux

Dreux – N154/N1154 – Chartres

Chartres – N154 – Artenay

Artenay – N20 – Orleans

Orleans – D952 – Briare

Briare – N7/D907 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – A77/N7/D907/D2009 – Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand – A75 – Beziers

Beziers – D609/D6009/D900 - Perpignan

Our son lives in Barcelona, so Brian's route is one we know well.As other's have commented, my motorhome also has a higher mpg off the autoroutes than on them as well as offering better views (essential for the better half who gets bored on the autoroutes).If you have a Sat Nav simply set it to avoid Toll Roads. I find that out of main towns/cities this takes you along the RN roads that may run parallel with the autoroute and then back onto the free section of the autoroute when approaching cities/towns. The downside is that I have to go through some small towns/villages which adds to the journey time but it is travelling through these small places that adds to the better halves' enjoyment.It's a win/win situation - higher mpg, no toll charges and the wifes' happy.

[lennyhb]

Have to agree with the general opinion, the N roads are a much nicer way to travel and once you get to know the road system not that much slower particularly with the new speed limits if your van is over 3500kg.

The old days of car/caravan hurrying to the destination doing 300 - 500 miles in a day have been kicked to the sidelines with a Motorhome. I start winging if I have to do more than 150 miles in a day, I usually have a destination in mind for the day if we don't make it so what it's what Motorhoming is about & there is always another French village to discover.