Toll roads in France

[Salty Spuds]

Thanks for the tips so far.
Liking the scenic non autoroute method. My boy racer days are way behind me now!
We have no time constraints so can amble our way down south. Planning an overnighter around 3/4 of the way down, might even go steadier and do 2. That way we can see a lot more. I’m sure the van will thank me for it!

Main plan is a few days in Normandy via the Chunnel to pay homage to the brave guys and to see the sights.
Drive south to Carcassonne as the Mrs wants to go.
Carry on then spend a few days in Northern Italy before the long haul back to get the ferry in Rotterdam to Hull before the hell that is the M62! Still gotta be easier than driving up from the south coast.

Unless you have a specific need to use the Chunnel, Newhaven/Dieppe is a much better route into Normandy & is our crossing of choice.

 

[Molldog]

Unless you have a specific need to use the Chunnel, Newhaven/Dieppe is a much better route into Normandy & is our crossing of choice.

Good point. Which is cheaper? (Said the tight arsed Yorkshireman!)

 

[Bav]

Newhaven/Dieppe

What's the crossing time on this route @Salty Spuds, and what's the damage £-wise for a LWB camper in mid-season?

 

[Molldog]

What's the crossing time on this route @Salty Spuds, and what's the damage £-wise for a LWB camper in mid-season?

You coming with us @Bav

 

[Salty Spuds]

What's the crossing time on this route @Salty Spuds, and what's the damage £-wise for a LWB camper in mid-season?

Crossing is 4hrs, price varies enormously, with little rhyme or reason. You can get a 20% discount if you’re over 60. We’ve not crossed since we turned 60, but costs have varied between £90 & £200. You have to ring them & book over the phone for the OAP discount. The early (5am-ish) crossing is usually the cheapest & gets you into France mid morning. You can camp overnight in the terminals at both ends, so we usually travel down the night before. Park up in the terminal & get the early ferry. They do an excellent full English on the boat. If the crossing is quiet & you ask nicely at the reception on the boat, they will often give you a key to a spare cabin to get showered.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Also interested in that - I love the speed of the Eurotunnel especially as I live about 40 minutes away straight down the M20, but I'm always up for cheaper options especially if they cut off a couple of hours in northern France!

 

[Molldog]

some years ago we did the crossing on the Super Sea Cat. They certainly packed the vehicles in!!!

 

[Salty Spuds]

Crossing is 4hrs, price varies enormously, with little rhyme or reason. You can get a 20% discount if you’re over 60. We’ve not crossed since we turned 60, but costs have varied between £90 & £200. You have to ring them & book over the phone for the OAP discount. The early (5am-ish) crossing is usually the cheapest & gets you into France mid morning. You can camp overnight in the terminals at both ends, so we usually travel down the night before. Park up in the terminal & get the early ferry. They do an excellent full English on the boat. If the crossing is quiet & you ask nicely at the reception on the boat, they will often give you a key to a spare cabin to get showered.

Mid May is currently showing around £112 each way, knock some discount off that & you’re looking at sub £100 each way. Plus you save a couple of hundred miles of driving.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Super Sea Cat.

Also known as “The Vomit Comet”….

 

[Bav]

Crossing is 4hrs, price varies enormously, with little rhyme or reason. You can get a 20% discount if you’re over 60. We’ve not crossed since we turned 60, but costs have varied between £90 & £200. You have to ring them & book over the phone for the OAP discount. The early (5am-ish) crossing is usually the cheapest & gets you into France mid morning. You can camp overnight in the terminals at both ends, so we usually travel down the night before. Park up in the terminal & get the early ferry. They do an excellent full English on the boat. If the crossing is quiet & you ask nicely at the reception on the boat, they will often give you a key to a spare cabin to get showered.

Great info - thanks. Re the 'over 60 discount', can you get that if one of you is over and one isn't? (Asking for an elderly Mrs! )

 

[Salty Spuds]

Great info - thanks. Re the 'over 60 discount', can you get that if one of you is over and one isn't? (Asking for an elderly Mrs! )

I believe so

 

[TallPaul_S]

Hmm, just looked at all 3 options for the 22nd March to 29th March (I have a week off then and if the weather is looking good, might bugger off south to Hossegor for a week).

Dover Calais Ferry £277
Le Shuttle £290 (why would you use the ferry at this price?)
Newhaven Dieppe £210 (as large car under 2.7/under 7m - my caravelle is a classed as a car)

Newhaven crossings are only twice per day, if that so I'd need to do the late 11pm friday crossing (next one on Sat isn't until 5pm, I'd be halfway down france by that time if taking the calais route).

Add on the extra hour to get to Newhaven and it doesn't work out that much better for me. £80 saved, but an extra hour travelling on the UK side (2 hours less on the EU side, so 1hr less overall). And getting into France at 3am UK time...

The shuttle is just so damn fast and easy, and not that much more expensive...

 

[Lanky]

This is a neat online calculator.
It shows you the cheapest and fastest ways to get somewhere. It also calculates fuel cost if you are prepared to put in MPG and fuel prices.

Europe Toll Calculator – Tolls, Fuel, Vignette, OBU, Toll Tags - TollGuru

Looking for tolls near you? Calculate tolls, fuel costs for trips across Europe. See Toll plazas, Toll charges, Toll bridges,Highway Tolls, Vignettes rates, Toll tags, OBUs and compare routes to plan a perfect trip!

tollguru.com

 

[Thidwick]

Thanks for the tips so far.
Liking the scenic non autoroute method. My boy racer days are way behind me now!
We have no time constraints so can amble our way down south. Planning an overnighter around 3/4 of the way down, might even go steadier and do 2. That way we can see a lot more. I’m sure the van will thank me for it!

Main plan is a few days in Normandy via the Chunnel to pay homage to the brave guys and to see the sights.
Drive south to Carcassonne as the Mrs wants to go.
Carry on then spend a few days in Northern Italy before the long haul back to get the ferry in Rotterdam to Hull before the hell that is the M62! Still gotta be easier than driving up from the south coast.

Excellent. Then your challenge (should you choose to accept it) is to spend nothing at all on toll roads for the duration of your trip. Ok - so occasional toll bridges excepted.

 

[Green Giant]

Do you get charged as category 1 at the tolls ie 2 meters and under, or cat 2 which is 2-3 meters? I’ve never taken our van on the French tolls, only the car, our van is 2.1 high, so do you think if I fitted our low profile cross bars to the roof I could argue our van is 2 meter class 1… I don’t think having items on roof change the class?
Ps I was flashed last year but didn’t receive a ticket

 

[TallPaul_S]

Do you get charged as category 1 at the tolls ie 2 meters and under, or cat 2 which is 2-3 meters? I’ve never taken our van on the French tolls, only the car, our van is 2.1 high, so do you think if I fitted our low profile cross bars to the roof I could argue our van is 2 meter class 1… I don’t think having items on roof change the class?
Ps I was flashed last year but didn’t receive a ticket

I got charged both on my trip, bit with an emovis tag you can go on your account afterwards and put in a load of adjustment requests and they get changed to the correct category afterwards.

It should be based on the roof height. My van has a roof rack and had a bag on top so that's probably why it got classed wrongly a few times.

 

[Stay Frosty]

We did Poole to Cherbourg last year and booked again for a rematch in mid June this year, the Mrs says it's £374 return so slightly cheaper, this is for a T6 camper, the chestnut brown one...

And leaving leaving sunny Sandbanks below, weather was better here than in France above, bugger!

 

[Adi-66]

I always use the via Michelin website / app, you can log your car fuel type, mpg and loads of other good stuff and it works out the tolls / fuel spend and route!

It’s very handy and pretty accurate on the fuel Calcs too.

 

[Squaddie]

Have a Daughter who lives near Limoges ,and Visit her every Year as well as a month or two touring ,and we have never yet used a toll road, simply because we want to see France and not the Banks of a motorway,Granted not as fast but why be in a hurry in such a beatiful place , we have a Campervan (sprinter) so can park for free in the Many many Aires available in France some with free water some with free electric but you can always empty your toilet for free.

 

[Molldog]

We’re all booked!
Tunnel crossing outbound, 2 weeks round France and Italy, coming back via Switzerland, Belgium and Netherlands to catch the Rotterdam/Hull ferry.
Excited much?
What are the rules with gas bottles on the Chunnel and ferries? Do they need to be disconnected?