# European tolls question.



## LindsayH (Sep 22, 2018)

How do you solo travellers in RHD vans manage tolls and car park barriers in Europe? It sounds easy enough to avoid toll roads in France, so that's what I'll do, although barriers might still be a problem. But if I go to Spain or Italy I'm more likely to use them by the sound of it. The only toll road I've ever used is the M6. Are European tolls similar? Is there usually multiple payment options? Is it easy enough to work out what category you are? I've heard that you can get tags that automatically take the money from your bank account, does anyone have one?
Ta muchly.


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## phillybarbour (Sep 22, 2018)

Don’t use tolls that often, but normally just insert your ticket then insert credit card and off you go, pin not usually required.


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## slonger (Sep 22, 2018)

I ordered a tag for the motorhome from Travel without stopping on European Motorways | Telepeage | French Toll Road Tags | Spanish & Portuguese Tags | Saving You Time that worked well in France you just drive towards the barrier the tag makes a beep then the barrier goes up there is no stopping and swapping seats etc, you just get billed at the end of the month, in Spain I only had 1 toll to pay so didn't bother with the tag just inserted my credit card in the slot which saved messing about with change.


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## Fazerloz (Sep 22, 2018)

Sometimes having a litter picker at the side of you can be handy for retrieving tickets and pushing buttons at barriers.


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## colinm (Sep 22, 2018)

Many years ago whilst driving throu France had to get out walk round car and put money in the m/c then drive off, this set the alarms off, I just ignored them and carried on driving.


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## Robmac (Sep 22, 2018)

On a recent trip through France, I waited for the ticket to appear but it didn't.

I had been there a couple of minutes when another driver shouted over "look up". There is a higher ticket dispenser for lorry drivers and for some reason the small van I was in as a passenger must have registered as an HGV and the ticket was dispensed in the higher slot. I suspect it was because we had a roof rack with a couple of ladders on top.

This happened a couple of times.


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## yeoblade (Sep 22, 2018)

Fazerloz said:


> Sometimes having a litter picker at the side of you can be handy for retrieving tickets and pushing buttons at barriers.


That's something I've never called my wife!

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk


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## alcam (Sep 22, 2018)

LindsayH said:


> How do you solo travellers in RHD vans manage tolls and car park barriers in Europe? It sounds easy enough to avoid toll roads in France, so that's what I'll do, although barriers might still be a problem. But if I go to Spain or Italy I'm more likely to use them by the sound of it. The only toll road I've ever used is the M6. Are European tolls similar? Is there usually multiple payment options? Is it easy enough to work out what category you are? I've heard that you can get tags that automatically take the money from your bank account, does anyone have one?
> Ta muchly.



Slight pain for solo travellers but jump out , pay , back in van and off . Tried to train dog but he couldn't be ar*ed


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## spigot (Sep 22, 2018)

LindsayH said:


> How do you solo travellers in RHD vans manage tolls and car park barriers in Europe? It sounds easy enough to avoid toll roads in France, so that's what I'll do, although barriers might still be a problem. But if I go to Spain or Italy I'm more likely to use them by the sound of it. The only toll road I've ever used is the M6. Are European tolls similar? Is there usually multiple payment options? Is it easy enough to work out what category you are? I've heard that you can get tags that automatically take the money from your bank account, does anyone have one?
> Ta muchly.



Don’t know about Italy but it’s much easier to keep off M/ways in Spain than France.

If you want to see the country in which you’re touring, keep away from toll roads, like campsites, I avoid them like the plague.

As soon as one crosses the Channel, the roads appear empty compared with the UK.


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## mark61 (Sep 22, 2018)

When alone i pull up close and move over to passenger seat, ticket is either dispensed automatically or you push a button first. As mentioned when in a van ticket may come out the higher dispenser. 
Keep ticket safe, and put in macihine when leaving toll road. I often pay by card as it’s fater. No need to enter PIN..


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## jagmanx (Sep 22, 2018)

*You need some sort of system*

In Italy we paid as we went buy my wife had to open the LH window etc

NO GOOD for you

But they have a "Telepass system" Which you just drive through...

In Norway it was a Norpass or Autopass and you pay £30 in advance

No knowledge of France or Spain except to say we never use French Peage (Much to Expensive)

Italy and Norway were OK and in some ways in both countries you have little choice

Norway No choice near Trondheim

Italy alternatives are really bad and anyway tolls are reasonable

So I am sure you will manage

As you say pay as you go in a RH drive with no passenger is very difficult


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## antiquesam (Sep 22, 2018)

Before all of the fleet were fitted with the payment widget I would clamber over to the passenger window to collect the ticket or insert the card, and use the intercom to tell them I'm a classe two with a high load.


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## Clunegapyears (Sep 22, 2018)

Just remember to get out of gear and put handbreak on as you scoot across the seat to the left hand window!!!  I forgot the handbreak when I drove back from Nice solo ... started sliding away!


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## Deleted user 48797 (Sep 22, 2018)

Robmac said:


> On a recent trip through France, I waited for the ticket to appear but it didn't.
> 
> I had been there a couple of minutes when another driver shouted over "look up". There is a higher ticket dispenser for lorry drivers and for some reason the small van I was in as a passenger must have registered as an HGV and the ticket was dispensed in the higher slot. I suspect it was because we had a roof rack with a couple of ladders on top.
> 
> This happened a couple of times.



We're you charged the LGV rate if the ticket came out from the top spot?


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## witzend (Sep 22, 2018)

Don,t use any extension like litter pickers to reach card slot its a bu+++r to retreive any thing you drop Just take your time and get it rite first time


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## LindsayH (Sep 22, 2018)

Thanks guys, as always it's good to hear that others have encountered, and overcome, these challenges. My van only has 2 seats in the front so maybe this will make it easier to 'scoot over'. I like the litter picker idea. Oh, and thanks for the warnings about 2 different slots! I would have just sat there for ever satring at the empty slot getting more and more flustered!


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## yeoblade (Sep 22, 2018)

slonger said:


> I ordered a tag for the motorhome from Travel without stopping on European Motorways | Telepeage | French Toll Road Tags | Spanish & Portuguese Tags | Saving You Time that worked well in France you just drive towards the barrier the tag makes a beep then the barrier goes up there is no stopping and swapping seats etc, you just get billed at the end of the month, in Spain I only had 1 toll to pay so didn't bother with the tag just inserted my credit card in the slot which saved messing about with change.



As he said,

I have a SANEF toll tag for France Spain and Portugal, all  very simple just drive through with no worries. But the convenience does cost a little more. In Portugal there are 2 or 3 different toll systems to worry about if you do  PAYG or actually in ADVANCE as some don't take cash or cards at all. But others have worked out how to do it.


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## Fazerloz (Sep 22, 2018)

witzend said:


> Don,t use any extension like litter pickers to reach card slot its a bu+++r to retreive any thing you drop Just take your time and get it rite first time



Just because you might be incapable of using one doesn't mean to say everyone is. Have you ever tried one.?


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## mark61 (Sep 23, 2018)

Probably the best tip for the tolls is, don't go in behind a MH with a GB sticker on it, :lol-049: or any vehicle with a GB sticker really. 
Especially true when heading back, you'll be there for hours as they sort through all their euro coins tryng to pay a 50 euro toll with the smallest of coins.


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## Asterix (Sep 23, 2018)

Leap out and run to the machine,realise you don't have enough coins then run back to the cab in a panic to grab more while traffic piles up behind you and the horns start blaring as you run back with more,while being watched by the bemused dog in the front seat,then back to the cab to drive past the barrier while contemplating whether a smaller dog that doesn't get in the way would have been a better option for dealing with toll booths. Drive off at high speed and try to avoid tolls altogether,that's how it works for me anyway.


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## yeoblade (Sep 23, 2018)

mark61 said:


> Probably the best tip for the tolls is, don't go in behind a MH with a GB sticker on it, [emoji38]-049: or any vehicle with a GB sticker really.
> Especially true when heading back, you'll be there for hours as they sort through all their euro coins tryng to pay a 50 euro toll with the smallest of coins.


Yeap, that's what my wife did before Sanef tag. [emoji16]

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk


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## antiquesam (Sep 23, 2018)

mark61 said:


> Probably the best tip for the tolls is, don't go in behind a MH with a GB sticker on it, :lol-049: or any vehicle with a GB sticker really.
> Especially true when heading back, you'll be there for hours as they sort through all their euro coins tryng to pay a 50 euro toll with the smallest of coins.



Have you ever got behind an old French car? First they have to find the ticket, then sort out the coins between them, before finding they are 5 cents short and have to get a note out. It's a bit like getting stuck behind an old lady at a supermarket checkout when they show signs of shock that the cashier is asking for money.


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## shaunr68 (Sep 23, 2018)

I tend to avoid tolls but occasionally it can be cost effective, for example I paid €6.30 to cross the Pont de Normandie bridge yesterday, it would have cost more in diesel to go around the long way.  I have tried driving as close as possible to the booth and reaching over to pay through the passenger window.  This doesn't work as the dog travels in the passenger seat and goes ballistic at these funny people in booths who approach his personal space, especially as some of them wear hi-viz jackets which really set him off.  So now I just get out and walk around to pay.  There's no rush, the barrier won't go down until you have passed and I wouldn't worry about people behind getting impatient, the idea that one should hurry because there is a big queue of people waiting to be served is alien to the French psyche!


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## Tezza33 (Sep 23, 2018)

We have a LHD motorhome so no problem in Europe but my satnav is set to avoid toll roads anyway, the problem we have is in the UK, impatient drivers waiting behind me while I get out to pay for fuel, you just don't let it bother you and as someone else said in France they are more tolerant if waiting behind you


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## Vatsmith (Sep 23, 2018)

Don't do like I did on my first solo trip and pull up a few yards before the barrier to make it easier to get out and walk over to the ticket machine. Unless you drive up to the barrier it can't tell what sort of vehicle you are so it won't issue a ticket - no matter how many times you press the button or whatever language you curse it in!


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## yeoblade (Sep 23, 2018)

*Tag Didn't work*

This afternoon went into a Toll section near Rouen, barrier opened, drove on. Came to the end payment toll took a 'Tag' lane  NOTHING Happened :scared:
Panic, hazards on, reverse up a bit to try again. nothing -queue's getting longer.
A unmanned both as normal but I caught glimpse of a lady going in another both, shouted over to her, she came over and checked the system and said a lot in french I didn't fully understand, anyway gave here 10 euros and she sorted it.
A few horns were blowing in the que.
First time it's not worked.
My thoughts are maybe as it was a fixed price short section of toll the barrier opened but no ticket is issued as there is only one section and it didn't read the Tag on entry. Have to check my Tag account when home.


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## V1nny (Sep 23, 2018)

Every time we pull up to a toll in France we register as a class 4. If that happens just press the intercom button and tell them you have a Camping Car. 

On most occasions this resulted in a downgrade to Class 2, on a few occasions Class 3 and on just one occasion they insisted I pay for Class 4. The difference in cost can be significant.


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## mikejay (Sep 23, 2018)

yeoblade said:


> This afternoon went into a Toll section near Rouen, barrier opened, drove on. Came to the end payment toll took a 'Tag' lane  NOTHING Happened :scared:
> Panic, hazards on, reverse up a bit to try again. nothing -queue's getting longer.
> A unmanned both as normal but I caught glimpse of a lady going in another both, shouted over to her, she came over and checked the system and said a lot in french I didn't fully understand, anyway gave here 10 euros and she sorted it.
> A few horns were blowing in the que.
> ...



Used toll roads for the 1st time this year as we were limited on time to get to Spain so got the sanef tag. We did not stick the tag on because of the over hang but just as we found the right spot bottom of the screen the sensors swapped from being on the left to being up above in the centre. That's when it all went wrong missus is waving the tag about nothing happens cars behind beeping french guy gets out of car moaning in french. So i got out held the tag up and hey presto it worked. But have noticed i have a few tolls on my account that are missing the entry toll booth but they are low like 5euro.

Mike


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## antiquesam (Sep 24, 2018)

shaunr68 said:


> I tend to avoid tolls but occasionally it can be cost effective, for example I paid €6.30 to cross the Pont de Normandie bridge yesterday, it would have cost more in diesel to go around the long way.  I have tried driving as close as possible to the booth and reaching over to pay through the passenger window.  This doesn't work as the dog travels in the passenger seat and goes ballistic at these funny people in booths who approach his personal space, especially as some of them wear hi-viz jackets which really set him off.  So now I just get out and walk around to pay.  There's no rush, the barrier won't go down until you have passed and I wouldn't worry about people behind getting impatient, the idea that one should hurry because there is a big queue of people waiting to be served is alien to the French psyche!



I don't think there are any manned booths in France any longer.


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## Robmac (Sep 24, 2018)

Bigusdickus said:


> We're you charged the LGV rate if the ticket came out from the top spot?



I'm not sure.

I suggested that to my mate who was driving and he just shrugged his shoulders and said he wasn't overly bothered.


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## Wooie1958 (Sep 24, 2018)

Bigusdickus said:


> We're you charged the LGV rate if the ticket came out from the top spot?




The tickets normally come out of the top slot on the Péage booths with us but we only ever get automatically charged Class 2 despite being 4,100kg     :dance:

We put that down to being a low-profile      :idea:


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## antiquesam (Sep 24, 2018)

The machine decides what class you are by your height. I often drove a flatbed Mercedes Sprinter to Toulouse with a Rolls Royce aircraft engine cowl in a box 4 metres high. The peage always said I was class three. I always had to press the intercom to get them to change the class back to two.


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## shaunr68 (Sep 24, 2018)

antiquesam said:


> I don't think there are any manned booths in France any longer.


Perhaps not on the autoroutes, I can't say as I tend to avoid them, however I can confirm that there was definitely a real Frenchman manning a booth on the Pont de Normandie last Thursday.  Pleasant and polite he was too, took me by surprise!


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