Letchworth to Bergerac - best route ?

[jocie]

Have not been to France for a few years, and we are considering whether to visit our son & family around the last week of July when they are holidaying in Bergerac. I imagine the tunnel would be best but the AA route planner then shows a few toll roads (even in the avoid toll road option..) We have a 6 meter high roof Devon Aztec Panel van conversion, but I have no idea of the toll costs. Also would love advice about nice stopover locations en route - we don't mind simple stopover sites or aires or even wild camping (but realize the risks of motorway stopovers , and my gun is out of bullets ). :-)

[PJay]

jocie - 2012-07-06 2:49 PM

 

Have not been to France for a few years, and we are considering whether to visit our son & family around the last week of July when they are holidaying in Bergerac. I imagine the tunnel would be best but the AA route planner then shows a few toll roads (even in the avoid toll road option..) We have a 6 meter high roof Devon Aztec Panel van conversion, but I have no idea of the toll costs. Also would love advice about nice stopover locations en route - we don't mind simple stopover sites or aires or even wild camping (but realize the risks of motorway stopovers , and my gun is out of bullets ). :-)

 

6 Metre HIGH panel van?? Hope it's not windy

[Retread24800]

I am assuming that your 6 metre high Devon PVC doesn't have a double rear axle :-) and is charged the same as a car (Less than 3.00 Metres high) in which case, if you travelled from Calais to Bergerac using as many Toll roads as necessary the cost would be less then €50.00 so the bit round the Chunnel will be relatively peanuts. A tip though is not to go through the un manned toll booths, the operator will recognise that you are a Camping car and not an HGV.

Bon Vacance.

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

Aren't campers class 2 in France? I would avoid tolls and stick to N routes

[Brian Kirby]

JudgeMental - 2012-07-06 7:12 PM

 

Aren't campers class 2 in France? I would avoid tolls and stick to N routes

Nah! Avoid tolls and N roads, and travel on D roads. :-D

 

Much quieter, and you get to see bits of France as you go. Over 1.5 metres high it is Class 2. A number of good, toll free autoroutes for covering the ground, and the dual carriageway N roads aren't too bad, but the remaining two lane N roads are mostly unpleasant. D roads are fine, usually little traffic and good surfaces. Enjoy! :-)

[LordThornber]

Just get on the Autoroutes, spend a few quid, get there relaxed, quicker and hugely less tired/stressed.

 

When you go out for a meal, do you ask for the cheapest crappiest bottle of wine to compliment your meal?

 

Nah, course not, you buy quality don't you? Why drink house dogs**t when you can drink quality?

 

What's the point of saving a few quid?

 

To quote Radio 2's Chris Evans, "What are you going to do with it once you've saved it"? 8-)

 

Sultan Of Brunei (Rtd)

[jocie]

Thanks to everyone for your helpful replies. ( I meant that my mhome is 6 metres long of course, and not high. ) Mind you about 20 years ago in south east Spain we met an elderly Austrian couple on their way to winter in Morocco, and their motorhome was an extremely high adaptation of a Mercedes Unimog type vehicle , It took them quite a while to climb up a set of steps to get into their driver and front passenger seats . I will let you know what we end up doing and how we get on. :D

[Guest JudgeMental]

LordThornber - 2012-07-06 8:19 PM

 

Just get on the Autoroutes, spend a few quid, get there relaxed, quicker and hugely less tired/stressed.

 

When you go out for a meal, do you ask for the cheapest crappiest bottle of wine to compliment your meal?

 

Nah, course not, you buy quality don't you? Why drink house dogs**t when you can drink quality?

 

What's the point of saving a few quid?

 

To quote Radio 2's Chris Evans, "What are you going to do with it once you've saved it"? 8-)

 

Sultan Of Brunei (Rtd)

 

dont know..I used to think like this with the kids and short on time, but now as retired the cheaper alternatives make more sense. waste of money in a camper on tolls IMO, not as if you save much time, fuel and food and villages far more interesting if you avoid tolls....

 

different if you have a fast BMW or Audi

[Retread24800]

OK so Campers and Caravans are Class 2

 

l s’agit des véhicules intermédiaires ou ensembles roulants dont la hauteur totale est strictement comprise entre 2 et 3 mètres et dont le PTAC est inférieur ou égal à 3,5 tonnes.

So if your camper is under 2 m high not under 1.5 as stated earlier you could go at car rates

 

And attract a cost circa 50% higher than a car but the cost round the chunnel is therefore only 1.5 X peanuts ( or €80 to Bergerac)

 

I apologise to all and sundry but if I need an Autoroute then I need an autoroute and the odd €1.50 here or there seems to be irrelevant. And to miss a town centre seems to be one of those times and lets be honest Northern French towns are best avoided :-)

 

[LordThornber]

Eddie, of course it's horses for courses 8-)

 

Retired - take as you long as you choose, working - get there and get on with it.

 

Asking about cost - well to quote again from someone I knew well, "If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it"....

 

It rarely fails to amaze me though. folk will spend £XXX on diesel and tunnel/ferry crossings and then bugger about humming and arring about what £50, £70 on tolls???

 

Fair enough if you're on a long term trip and/or a budget (no thanks, would do without first).

 

We pay about €160 on our regular trip (return) to The Dordogne, but arrive relatively fresh and unstressed, no flaming roundabouts and chicanes for us. If that's your bag, well good luck to you.

 

The conversations points must be riveting, "yes the queue at roundabout 13,255 where we took a wrong 'un was quite challenging wasn't it Dear"?

 

To say nowt of more wear and tear on the vehicle, braking, gear changing and crappier MPG.

 

N roads, D roads, nope, leave it to them that need 'em.

 

Like Farmers :D

 

Martyn

[Guest JudgeMental]

while I admit you can get annoying stretches with 100 roundabouts, most N roads are fine and hardly any different then motorways. I agree with Brian, stopping for lunch, fuel,a bag of frites and shopping far more pleasant. That being said when we had the coachbuilt we stuck to motorways but panel van far nicer to drive, and a return to Spain probably 200€ so would rather spend that on something enjoyable

[Brian Kirby]

Retread24800 - 2012-07-07 12:10 AM.................So if your camper is under 2 m high not under 1.5 as stated earlier you could go at car rates.....................

Apologies Roger, you are of course right, the change point is at 2.0 metres height, and not 1.5 metres as I posted. In terms of motorhomes, mainly applicable to VW Transporters with "low-lie" roofs.

 

For the OP's benefit, I would just add that there are many more ways around town centres than using autoroutes. Many French towns have excellent by-passes, for example. But, if you just want to get from A to B fastest, the autoroutes are a delight compared to UK motorways. There is so little traffic on some, I have difficulty understanding why they were built! :-)

 

The A16 Calais - Boulogne is toll free, ditto the A20 Abbeville - Rouen, A16 Calais - Dunkerque, and ditto most autoroutes north-east of the A26 along the Belgian border. The two most useful toll-free routes south include the A20 Vierzon - Brive and the A75 Clermont-Ferrand - Pezenas. All other major autoroutes are toll.

 

For speed/ease I would stop near Calais on the first day, then on across-country to Abbeville, A20 to Rouen, then on via Evreux, Dreux, Chartres (mainly quite good dual carriageway) and Blois to Vatan, A20 to Limoges, then N21 via Perigueux to Bergerac. The main snags are at St Remy-sur-Avre, between Nonancourt and Dreux, where there can be a tedious traffic jam (for which I have previously posted a scenically quite attractive work-around), and Perigueux, where it is worth taking the N221/A89 and then back to N21 to avoid the centre. All major towns en-route are by-passed or have quite good clear routes through (Abbeville, Rouen, Evreux, Dreux, Chartres, Chateaudun, Blois, Limoges, Perigueux). The others are no big deal, and just punctuate the journey.

 

If meandering, I would depart that route once mostly off the Beauce plain, which is rather boring, somewhere around Chateaudun, and then just wander on via D roads. Simple truth is there are very few bad roads in France, and so little traffic generally that even the driver can look at the scenery while rolling!

[Dave225]

Do you not head south on Norton Way, turn left on to Baldock Road and then just follow the signs to Bergerac??????

 

Seriously, I would watch the weather and then make your decision. If the Jet Stream is going to stay where it is, as the experts seem to think, then France is not getting brilliant weather. Having just travelled up through France I can state that although it was mostly dry, there was a lot of cloud over most of the country except the Med coast. Ironically some of the best sunshine was in the very far north. Meandering along is fine as long as the weather is encouraging, if not then you may feel it is better just to get to your destination and in that case I would go the autoroutes. As mentioned by some the tolls are teeth grinding but compared to everything else, are probably bearable. You do get the use of aires to stop instead of hoping for a layby. I do admit the loss of availability of a goood Frites stall is a downer, but than again think of your waistline.

 

As also mentioned by some heading down to Rouen across to Chartres and then Orleans will lead you to the A20 which is toll free.

[Retread24800]

Just a quick note, it seems that I've been having a senior moment.

 I still stick to my advice to go through the manned barrier, automated toll booths have height sensors set at 2 and 3 metres thus distinguishing between cars (under 2M) Intermediates, (between 2 and 3 metres) and HGV's (over 3 metres high).

My van is about 2.8metres high (tyres and extra springs at rear ) to about 2.9Metres. in addition I have some top hamper, sat dish and Chimney and some people carry a load on the top too causing the 3 Metre sensor to trigger and thus issue an HGV charge (Class 4?), The operator will recognise this and pull your charge down to Class 2. Similarly if you take a roof rack of Duty free on top of your Range Rover Sport the over 2 Metre will trigger but the operator will allow you through at Class 1

Just to annoy the heavy goods campers ;-) please note that Class 2 only applies to single axle Campers and with a MGW (PTAC) less than 3.5T.

 

[tugga]

Hi Jocie

 

We live just up the road from you, near to Sandy and we travelled to France on Le Shuttle on 2nd June. We booked our crossing for 0950 and allowed an hour to get around the M25. We had no problems here and managed to get booked on the 0920 crossing as there was space.

 

At the other side we took the free motorway down to Abbeville and we stayed at Port le Grand, Abbeville (co-ordinates: N50*08'29" E01*45'45"). The owners speak a little English. The pitches are tiered and large, so your mh should be fine. Each pitch has its own tap, EHU and grey water drain. It wasn't that busy when we were there on 2nd June, but it may be in July. In case you fancy this stopover their email is: contact@chateaudestilleuls.com and it may be wise to book. We thought this to be a really easy first day journey, but then we didn't have any UK problems.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip.

[Brian Kirby]

tugga - 2012-07-08 8:30 AM...................At the other side we took the free motorway down to Abbeville and we stayed at Port le Grand, Abbeville (co-ordinates: N50*08'29" E01*45'45"). ................

Sorry, but just for accuracy. The A16 is toll-free from Calais to Boulogne (about 17 miles), but there is a toll from Boulogne to Abbeville (about 40 miles).

[Guest JudgeMental]

Brian Kirby - 2012-07-08 11:26 AM

 

tugga - 2012-07-08 8:30 AM...................At the other side we took the free motorway down to Abbeville and we stayed at Port le Grand, Abbeville (co-ordinates: N50*08'29" E01*45'45"). ................

Sorry, but just for accuracy. The A16 is toll-free from Calais to Boulogne (about 17 miles), but there is a toll from Boulogne to Abbeville (about 40 miles).

 

Yes but its not much, I think two sections about 8€ total, and much faster way to Rouen. Then avoid the newish A28 as it is automatic and expensive.

[Brian Kirby]

Again, just for clarity, the A28 Abbeville - Rouen is toll free.

 

It is the A28 onward south from Bourg-Achard (via A13 west - toll free to Moulineaux, then toll to Bourg-Achard) via Le Mans to Tours that is the toll section.

[Dave225]

Retread24800 - 2012-07-07 2:44 PMJust a quick note, it seems that I've been having a senior moment.

 I still stick to my advice to go through the manned barrier, automated toll booths have height sensors set at 2 and 3 metres thus distinguishing between cars (under 2M) Intermediates, (between 2 and 3 metres) and HGV's (over 3 metres high).

My van is about 2.8metres high (tyres and extra springs at rear ) to about 2.9Metres. in addition I have some top hamper, sat dish and Chimney and some people carry a load on the top too causing the 3 Metre sensor to trigger and thus issue an HGV charge (Class 4?), The operator will recognise this and pull your charge down to Class 2. Similarly if you take a roof rack of Duty free on top of your Range Rover Sport the over 2 Metre will trigger but the operator will allow you through at Class 1

Just to annoy the heavy goods campers ;-) please note that Class 2 only applies to single axle Campers and with a MGW (PTAC) less than 3.5T.

I suspect you will find that there are almost no manned barriers any more in France. They usually have machines in which you put your card or cash. We find them annoying because the amount you have to pay appears in very small print somewhere, not always in the same place on the machine. You then have to fiddle notes in the slot, or a card and then a PIN, all very time consuming when there is a queue behind you. We much prefer Spain where there is still at least 1 human to deal with. The other thing about France is that the tolls vary from road to road so 100 miles on 1 autoroute may costs so much but be different for 100 miles on another. We are getting to the stage where we really do not like France too much anymore and get across it as quickly as possible. Shame after many many years of good holidays.