Guest Had Enough Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I recently went tp Portugal. Like most people I prefer to use the motorway when transiting a country. I suspect that almost everyone on here, when going to the Channel, uses the motorways rather than driving down A roads and experiencing the great pleasure of driving through the middle of Birmingham and other cities. I like to do just the same thing in France and hate being forced off the motorways by exorbitant tolls. My journey to Folkestone, after three miles from my home, is all free motorway. The 300 mile trip used fifteen gallons or 67.5 litres at about £1.20 a litre, total cost for 300 miles was £81. We then drove from Calais to the Spanish border, a distance of 680 miles. If I recalculate the cost of that distance on UK motorways it would be £184. In France it cost me £300 an increase of £116 or for a return trip an increase of £232. Just taking our outward trip alone, this was made up of of fuel, which is cheaper, owing to lower taxes on diesel in France, at a cost of £137 against £184 for the UK equivalent. Toll charges in the UK were nothing, in France, just one way, they were €217 or £163. So in rip off France my travelling costs to the Spanish border and back were £232 more than in Britain, and in Britain it was motorway the whole journey. In Britain we didn't have to leave the motorway and struggle through central Birmingham as we had to struggle through Rouen, which doesn't even have a motorway to bypass it! My God, it's the 21st Century and you can't even bypass a major French city! Now of course we'll get the usual claims that we don't have to use toll motorways in France, but these claims will be from the same people who, if transiting the U.K. travelling to Dover, will choose motorways every time. But somehow, when in France and just wanting to get to Spain in winter for example, they suddenly discover the charm of northern France's featureless landscapes and wonderful industrial sites that they can admire whilst chugging along behind a codger in a micro car or a farmer in a tractor. Why do the French put up with all this? High food prices, exorbitant road tolls and massive unemployment. No wonder London is now France's sixth biggest city with hundreds of thousands of young people wanting to live in a country where they can prosper and not be ripped off every time they drive to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We just spent 10 days wandering back through France, the spring flowers in the small towns were delightful B-) .......... We only had to pay at one aire...... but 3€ is nothing to a man of my means ;-) ........ But I guess I'm fortunate in being able to take months off at a time........can't wait to be a fully qualified member of the idle classes :D ............. Only 9 years to go 8-) ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-04-16 10:33 AM We just spent 10 days wandering back through France, the spring flowers in the small towns were delightful B-) .......... After arriving at Dover, as a man with lots of time on his hands, did you enjoy the spring flowers of Kent as you wandered along through the very pretty villages of that county, or did you hit the free motorway immediately? Now let me guess! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Had Enough - 2015-04-16 10:52 AM pelmetman - 2015-04-16 10:33 AM We just spent 10 days wandering back through France, the spring flowers in the small towns were delightful B-) .......... After arriving at Dover, as a man with lots of time on his hands, did you enjoy the spring flowers of Kent as you wandered along through the very pretty villages of that county, or did you hit the free motorway immediately? Now let me guess! :D You mean use the congested A roads in the UK 8-) ................No thanks.....I much prefer the quiet French A roads.......less pot holes for a start *-) ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We thought last year that prices had risen considerably in France. Have they gone up even more? Crossing over early next month, and will wizz down to Spain, so will avoid French supermarkets, except maybe for fuel We can get to Spain in 2/3days driving, from Cherborug no toll roads(of which they seem to have made more ) Think we should charge for our motorways, to non uk vehicles (Have a card for Uk tax payers!!) PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 PJay - 2015-04-16 12:06 PM We thought last year that prices had risen considerably in France. Have they gone up even more? Crossing over early next month, and will wizz down to Spain, so will avoid French supermarkets, except maybe for fuel We can get to Spain in 2/3days driving, from Cherborug no toll roads(of which they seem to have made more ) Think we should charge for our motorways, to non uk vehicles (Have a card for Uk tax payers!!) PJay With the better exchange rate we found the prices in France on par with UK in general ;-) ............. Although Spain is much cheaper, average meal cost along the Calpe prom 14€ for 3 courses with wine + Aioli B-) ............Although we did get a 3 course Chinese with wine etc for 14€ for both of us......makes you wonder why a Chinese is so dear in the UK? :-S .............. Have a nice time ;-) ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Will be heading to Calpe Mar Dave. PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-04-16 12:23 PM makes you wonder why a Chinese is so dear in the UK? Perhaps the younger generation are less adept at catching stray pets - unless it is on a smartphone game? We like France and so what if it does cost a few quid more for quiet roads, sunshine, baguettes, pain au raison and easy parking generally as it will make very little difference come the final day of reckoning - except that the kids might have a couple of quid less inheritance to spend - is that such a bad thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 PJay - 2015-04-16 3:38 PM Will be heading to Calpe Mar Dave. PJay Excellent choice of campsite ;-) ...........You get a better class of camper on there.........now I've left (lol) ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Tracker - 2015-04-16 5:03 PM except that the kids might have a couple of quid less inheritance to spend - is that such a bad thing! It is..... Dad ;-) ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Have a thought for your Aussie cousins, Sydney was announced in the local papers this week as the dearest city in the world to live in. Yes we have tolls on our motorways and they are a rip off also. Our M25 equiv costs around £14 for a return journey by car from the northern suburbs of Sydney to the Southern end and return. MH's are considered the same as an HGV and pay almost double the car fee. I found Italy to be as expensive as France for tolls.I think the Swiss have found a good balance with a one off annual fee for use of all motorways. The reality is that all governments think motorists are fair game wherever you live. I also agree with Rich leave the kids less. I am trying hard to use up all their inheritance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 France has about 6 times as many foreign registered vehicles on its roads as Britain because it is a Transit country. People driving from Britain to Spain, Spain to Italy etc etc, wheras the only foreign registered vehicles on British roads have business here (apart from a tiny percentage in transit to Southern Ireland) So its not unreasonable for them to collect tolls from the traffic that is just passing through and not contributing towards the upkeep of the roads they use. The biggest users of the motorways are lorries - when I had one I was paying £3400 a year road tax in Britain to pay for roads I was not using, whilst I spent most of the time abroad paying for their roads in tolls. The equivalent lorry in France paid about £200. So who was ripping me off - Foreign governments charging me for roads I was using, or the British Government charging me for roads I was not using? But people who advocate road tolling in Britain miss the point that, because we are not a Transit country like France, it would just be a very expensive and counterproductive way of collecting taxes from our own economy. PS: I spent so many boring hours on Continental motorways I am only too happy to avoid them now and meander down all the roads I never got to see in the lorry :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 The majority of French motorways are run by private companies, just as the single toll motorway we have around the M6, they charge for the services they provide, doesn't seem a difficult concept to understand. As for Rouen, yes it is slightly irksome that there is no bypass, but then again there is no bypass around the M25. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I didn't find France a rip off at all, campsites were only 13 euros a night with electric at the end of August, and one was in St Malo town, we toured for 10 days and were only charged for a car park once, in Cancale, everywhere else was free. I found the main roads stress free and easy to travel along, and found everything good value, but I would think if you only use toll motorways and their services for food and fuel it could be expensive. a little like some of our Motorway services, but I bet they don't charge to stop for a rest like our services do. Lynne x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-04-17 9:37 AM The majority of French motorways are run by private companies, just as the single toll motorway we have around the M6, they charge for the services they provide, doesn't seem a difficult concept to understand. D We all understand the concept, which is that the rip-off French government allows private companies to fleece drivers if they wish to travel more quickly and safely on their roads. In Britain there's only one toll motorway but here's the difference - if you don't want to pay there's a free motorway that just takes a little longer. I didn't notice free motorways running alongside the toll ones that we used in France. So in France, if you want to drive as you and everyone else does in the U.K. when you're going a long distance, say to Dover, you get fleeced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Well if I ever start a thread "Rip off UK sites and CLs" I'll let you know, unlikely though as we don't do the UK, we just nip over to France use their n roads, the odd peage, or free motorways where they exist ( incendentally all the motorways are free in Brittany) and don't moan about it at all, why, because I simply know that is how France is, and if you want to avoid tolls there are other alternatives, and every peage I've ever come across has free sections that allow the user to avoid major cities if you're using n roads, but in the grand scheme of things, with lower diesel prices is it really such a big deal, you have a superb system, and I'd have thought you'd be the first to acknowledge that good things invariably have a price tag to go with them, you usually do, like bottles of wine at twenty quid a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-04-17 8:08 PM with lower diesel prices is it really such a big deal, you have a superb system, and I'd have thought you'd be the first to acknowledge that good things invariably have a price tag to go with them, . Exactly - Traffic density on French motorways averages less than one third of that in England, so you can drive faster, and there is GOOD FREE UNLIMITED parking every 10 km - compare that to English motorways!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-04-17 8:08 PM .. but in the grand scheme of things, with lower diesel prices is it really such a big deal, you have a superb system, and I'd have thought you'd be the first to acknowledge that good things invariably have a price tag to go with them, you usually do, like bottles of wine at twenty quid a go. The lower diesel price nowhere near covers the cost of tolls. Good things have a price tag! CC sites are excellent but you and others on here can only moan about them. But this has been fun. I like France and think it's probably the best country in Europe for motorhoming, mainly because it's massive, is warmer and has far more motorhomes visiting than anywhere else in Europe, so they cater for them. But I get heartily sick of people such as you who can only find fault with the UK. Slagging off CLs whilst extolling France Passion and in almost every thread finding an excuse to knock Britain. Well, just for once I thought I'd point out one big disadvantage that France has, which is hugely expensive toll roads and it's been amusing as usual reading from those who use nothing but motorways here in crowded Britain, but in France somehow prefer not to use their nice emptier ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Had Enough - 2015-04-18 12:00 AM But it's not about money is it? Goodness me no! :D You all love fighting your way through French cities and following tractors along boring and flat roads in northern France. It's all part of the holiday. *-) You need to get off those toll roads more often Frank, and retire so that you can enjoy a slower pace of life ;-) ...... Given the choice between a French N road or a British motorway, I'd take the French option every time B-)...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-04-18 7:43 AM Had Enough - 2015-04-18 12:00 AM But it's not about money is it? Goodness me no! :D You all love fighting your way through French cities and following tractors along boring and flat roads in northern France. It's all part of the holiday. *-) You need to get off those toll roads more often Frank, and retire so that you can enjoy a slower pace of life ;-) ...... Given the choice between a French N road or a British motorway, I'd take the French option every time B-)...... Yes, silly me. I should have known. French N roads never have jams, never have diversions that take you twenty miles out of your way, sail through the cities without a single traffic light and when they bypass villages don't have roundabouts every two miles. They're an absolute joy. And do you know, when it's pouring down in France it's more pleasant than when the sun is shining in the UK.? And we know of course that all the people who use N roads do so because they hate the French motorways, because if they used them they'd miss queuing behind tractors and going up and down through the gearbox fifteen times when going past most towns. Most of all they love the higher risk of an accident on non-motorway roads because they're adventure-loving free spirits. It's nothing to do with paying tolls, honestly guv! Finally, thank you for your advice (once more) on my life style. I've actually been retired for ten years and am only a consultant for my firm. That takes about an hour a month. The reason I don't go away for three months is that I have a very busy social life and a lot going on here in England and prefer to get back to my various interests and friends. I hope that I never become the kind of person who can sit doing nothing on one campsite in Spain for several months. That may suit many people but for me it would be the most boring kind of hell and something only to be contemplated when I'm so old that I've no friends left and nothing else to do. I've recently stopped at one place for a full week, and once even for two, but I can't see it ever getting longer than that. There's too much to see. Of course many people are old mentally. Although they're young in years they have already given up on life and are happy to act as though they are ready to pop off. Not me thanks. I don't want to slow down. But once more, thank you for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Regardless of cost ease of mind must be the preferred method. (for French toll roads to a destination) Private surgery for me last month was the preferred method. (for swift access to a satisfactory conclusion) If one has the means then use it, its the better way. Will PS. Adding the phrase 'Rip Off' can surely apply to any country and any given part of it such as 'paying tips' in the US or 'golf' in Japan. My guess is that overall its fairly equal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Had Enough - 2015-04-18 8:31 AM But once more, thank you for your advice. Don't mention it ;-) ..............My spleen venting service is my way of serving the community :D ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Frank will doubtless correct me if I'm wrong, but I strongly suspect his tongue was firmly in his cheek when he titled this thread 8-) Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 LordThornber - 2015-04-18 4:21 PM Frank will doubtless correct me if I'm wrong, but I strongly suspect his tongue was firmly in his cheek when he titled this thread 8-) Martyn Yeah we know Martyn ;-) ............But we're still house training him over here in chatterbox :D ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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