french connection

[kopite]

Hi to all,i`m looking to go to the Atlantic coast next summer and just trying to work out the costing`s of the routes i know its a big ask but does anyone know the price of toll`s from calias or roscoff. many thanks

 

[JohnGriffiths]

Plot your intended routes using www.viamichelin.co.uk and it will tell you the cost of the tolls, as well as an estimate of fuel costs.

 

[kopite]

thanks John

 

[Firkle]

In the viamichelin options section you have the ability to set that you are towing a caravan so that it calculates the correct class 2 rate.

 

[RayS]

viamichelin is the site to use for tolls as has been suggested. There is a site for all the autoroutes, but it's easier to get michelin to do the work for you.
One other point - fuel is more expensive on the autoroutes - recently i found diffrerences of over 10 cents/litre relative to the supermarkets, so you may want to refuel near your stop off points rather than on the toll road.

From Roscoff it's not too bad, as you can get just to the south of Nantes without using toll roads - still on 4 lane - and then you can cut across to La Rochelle - the old road number is N173 and it is still possible to follow it all the way down to Bordeaux. The autoroute south of Bordeaux is toll free down to the Dax area.

 

[ValA.]

Don't forget to select 'with caravan (or trailer)' when using the route planning websites, as towing a caravan can cost half as much again.
Fuel cost differences can be much more than the 10 cents quoted by Ray. The cheapest diesel in the Pas de Calais area at the moment is 1.31 and the most expensive 1.52 - so 21 centre a litre with even bigger savings elsewhere! On a fill up that's quite a significant saving! There are similar savings on unleaded (SP95).
Fill up when you stop over for the night, which in our case, is well before we run out of fuel. We pitch up, set up, have dinner, and then find the nearest supermarket. We do our reseach beforehand using http://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/ which gives you the latest updated information about fuel prices.

 

[Raywood]

To get to the Atlantic coast we used Portsmouth Caen. We went overnight allowing a decent nights sleep and a sensible drive next day and no tolls. Even if it costs a little more and we never did the arithmantic we found it worth it just for the easier journey and lack of stress.

 

[TD42]

Just a tip,When using Via michelin or Mappy for route planning ,select luxury car as well as the caravan option as this will give a more realistic fuel costing