FAO Val A

[LOVEtoTRAVEL.]

A few months ago you gave us directions to reach S of France using mainly non toll roads. We have found the instructions very helpful- thank you. One query we have is..You say that the roads in the Rhone Valley are slow & there are some narrow sections going through some villages. Does this apply to the whole section from just south of Lyon to Avignon or is it only a specific area? We would appreciate your knowledge about this area as this will be the first time we have used non toll roads to go to the south of France & our caravan is fairly long. (7.29m shipping length ) Thanks in anticipation. If anyone else has any information we would appreciate hearing from them.

 

[ValA.]

Hi, if you're using the old N roads, then various places have narrow areas (or did last time we were down that way) and increasing amounts of traffic calming to encourage traffic out of the villages and on to the autoroute. The best way to see these for yourself (rather than rely on my description) is start from Vienne on Google maps, and follow the N7 route down the Rhone Valley. Vienne is the end of the free section of autoroute which takes you through Lyon.
Le Peage de Rousillon is one town where there is a quite narrow section, with traffic calming and one way streets with bollards separating two lanes of traffic as is Saint-Rambert-de-Albon. If you want to see more details, then use Street View to see the details. You can follow the road down and see each village, and examine the details for yourself using Street View, then decide whether it's worth paying for that section and using the autoroute. I think it's probably easier to see these things for yourself, rather than listing everywhere you might find a hold-up.
My OH has nerves of steel, but I always refused to tow on that section and we sometimes used to break our budget and spend some money on tolls if we got fed up.
Having discovered an alternative, and easier route, to the Med at the western end, that's now our route of choice - down the free A75 which is autoroute, but doesn't cost a penny!

 

[LOVEtoTRAVEL.]

Hi again Val, Many thanks for such a speedy reply. We have spent the last 40mins on googlemap! Our mouse is extremely sensitive- it's quite an art to keep steady. Your idea of the A75 is a good one for going to the Western Med. but as we are going to Avignon & on to the Gorge du Verdon we were thinking it seems a long way round?
We're off next Monday so trying to get the fine detail done now.Once again, thank you.

 

[LOVEtoTRAVEL.]

Hi again Val, Many thanks for such a speedy reply. We have spent the last 40mins on googlemap! Our mouse is extremely sensitive- it's quite an art to keep steady. Your idea of the A75 is a good one for going to the Western Med. but as we are going to Avignon & on to the Gorge du Verdon we were thinking it seems a long way round?
We're off next Monday so trying to get the fine detail done now.Once again, thank you.

 

[RayS]

As a fellow fan of Haut Provence I've spent quite a lot of time on how to get there. Apart from the cost, going through Lyon can be a complete pain, while the non autoroute south from Lyon is very congested and not good towing. Next time I'm going to try coming south from Roanne area to St. Etienne, back up the free autoroute towards Lyon then grit the teeth and pay the money down to Sortie 12 just south of Roussillon, then east on D73 and D119 to Moirans noth of Grenoble, round Grenoble on free atuoroute and then south to either Sisteron or Gap before south again to our favourite site near Lac St Croix.
You need to study the autoroutes just north of St. Etienne as some are new and are actually toll while shown as free on some maps. The area is also in the corner of all 4 map sheets in my atlas which doesn't help either.

The road south from Grenoble to Sisteron is reasonable given it's though a hilly area.

Next tranche to sort out is route from either Caen or eurotunnel to Roanne - but seems we are about to get a few more wet days to do this in.