Motorway traffic on A7 and A8

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Hi Folks,
When we go to the South of France in August we catch horrendous traffic (20kms) at the peage points around Orange.Does any one have a theory as to when and why? is it avoidable or do we just have to tolerate it? (I suspect Saturday is not the best day)
Any suggestions greatfully accepted!
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[ValA.]

You're right about the day (Saturday is not a good day to travel!!!), and probably the date - August is a busy time especially on that route down the Rhone Valley.
Where is it you're heading? Perhaps someone might know of a good alternative. Years ago you used to get recommended alternatives, via 'Bison Fute' - these days I think they still publish 'real-time' traffic jams, but no longer give out maps of alternative routes like they used to do. We used to follow the 'Bis' recommended routes regularly, and over thirty years of travelling up and down through France now have our own 'package' of routes we like to follow. However, we rarely go to the Riviera or the Cote d'Azur these days, preferring the quieter areas of the Languedoc - in which case we use the largely toll-free A75 where there are no hold-ups.

 

[cookie2]

Thanks Val.
We are going to go down to near Frejus again,2 years ago it was awful and we put it down to the fact that we were not to Lyon until 11.00 am . Last year we went to Vallon Pont D'arc (Mondial Camping...partly due to a recommendation from you,thanks!) but we had a blowout on the van the day before and couldn't get a tyre until the next am so it put us on the same road at the same time....never again!
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