France - to use tolls or not?

[UFO]

At the end of August we wil travel from Calais to Chamonix. We will meet up with our family in Chamonix and from here start our trip - destination Montenegro.

We usually avoid tolls, as non-toll roads are more scenic, we are not in a hurry and try to drive no more than 2 hours a day.

This time we arrive in Calais midday on 25 Aug and need to be in Chamonix midday 29 Aug. The plan is to drive each day as much as is comfortable and then find an overnight spot.

So I am wondering whether to use toll roads. According to Google Maps the non-toll option, also avoiding driving through Switzerland, is 12 hours 33 minutes and 904 km. The toll option is 8 hours 21 minutes and 904km, so saving around 4 hours. According to ViaMichelin tolls will cost 91€

I understand most but not all tolls can be paid with a credit card, so Bip&Go could make it simpler. Fees:
In France € 1.90/ month of use
In Spain and Portugal +€ 2.50/ month of use
In Italy +€ 2.50/ month of use (we will travel through Northern Italy out and back, not sure whether we will need to use toll roads)
Badge activation (upon subscription only) 14€ (10€ if France, Spain, Portugal only)

I know there is no 'right' answer but would be intererested in the thoughts of seasoned France travellers.

 

[colinm]

In 44 years of driving in France have only ever used toll roads twice, once on a dash back, and once to cross Millou bridge.

 

[jacquigem]

We used to avoid tolls, but if you want to get somewhere fast then it think it is worth using . Saving an hour or two on thr road must save you some fuel . Mitchelin route planning Web page can give you some advice. Also we have a 14 year old van so missing out onn non toll roundabouts must be worth something.
Pros and cons I think but we use tolls to get to the area we we want, then maybe non tolls when exploring.

 

[Scotia]

Ye will get better fuel consumption as well using the non toll roads or I did with not such a heavy foot.. We used blip n go but found on one toll the barrier did not open so Christina spoke to the lady and explained we had blip n go. No no no class 3 no blip n go, she soon turned into a mare. After 3 / 4 minutes arguing stating we had been using it the last week I switched the engine off, the toll they wanted was 89 euro after a short wait and a long queue behind us the barrier opened don't know yet if we have been charged or not for that trip. After that episode we chose to use the back roads so to speak we were not in a hurry so no problem.

 

[Boris7]

Chamonix without tolls is more than doable, but in 4 days with no more than 2 hours driving per day AND no tolls AND no NOT going into Switzerland dream on, just don’t work.

 

[yeoblade]

A bit of both may suit, I use tolls on the busy parts of my route to our French house, 6 times/yr around Poitiers and Rouen area. But generally avoid, always pay by card. Remember toll charges indicated on viamichelin are for cars, not class 2 vans.

 

[runnach]

Remember toll charges indicated on viamichelin are for cars, not class 2 vans.

We pay our first peage section by CC, to make sure we are charged at class 2. Then bip and go after clarification.

 

[RichardHelen262]

We never use tolls, as you miss too much, as France has so many fantastic places to discover,
Even when we go down to Altea Spain we do the tunnel and then non toll all the way down,
From Yorkshire to Altea takes us two and a half days

 

[mark61]

According to the Sanef calculator, class 2 is around €125.

Would be toll free route for me, through Belgium, Luxembourg, France.

 

[alcam]

At the end of August we wil travel from Calais to Chamonix. We will meet up with our family in Chamonix and from here start our trip - destination Montenegro.

We usually avoid tolls, as non-toll roads are more scenic, we are not in a hurry and try to drive no more than 2 hours a day.

This time we arrive in Calais midday on 25 Aug and need to be in Chamonix midday 29 Aug. The plan is to drive each day as much as is comfortable and then find an overnight spot.

So I am wondering whether to use toll roads. According to Google Maps the non-toll option, also avoiding driving through Switzerland, is 12 hours 33 minutes and 904 km. The toll option is 8 hours 21 minutes and 904km, so saving around 4 hours. According to ViaMichelin tolls will cost 91€

I understand most but not all tolls can be paid with a credit card, so Bip&Go could make it simpler. Fees:
In France € 1.90/ month of use
In Spain and Portugal +€ 2.50/ month of use
In Italy +€ 2.50/ month of use (we will travel through Northern Italy out and back, not sure whether we will need to use toll roads)
Badge activation (upon subscription only) 14€ (10€ if France, Spain, Portugal only)

I know there is no 'right' answer but would be intererested in the thoughts of seasoned France travellers.

Also saving you 2 days at 2 hours a day .
Your main destination is Montenegro ? Personally I use toll roads to get to my main destination then meander .
Think of all the roundabouts you'll miss

 

[witzend]

I can't understand anyone that prefer the non toll roads with all the traffic restrictions. Theres beautiful views from the toll rds large quiet aires if you pick the ones with no services for lunch breaks

 

[Glass man]

We have just driven from Zurich to Bordeaux.
On Sundays lorries are not allowed to drive unless they are carrying time critical goods. ( news papers or extremely perishable ) Bliss! To our surprise very few HGVs were about on Saturday. This makes driving a real pleasure.
Some new Toll gates do NOT have any method of payment, you have to pay online within 72 hours or stop at an Aire on this type of road and pay at a machine. With a Tag the payment is registered when you drive through which you do without slowing down.

 

[Wooie1958]

We never used to use toll roads but after realising that the Pyrenees / southern France was by far our favourite area we started using them.

Bip&Go courtesy of a link from GMJ meant we both got a credit on our accounts and the wife didn`t have to lean out of the cab windows anymore so that was also very beneficial to my health in the earache department.

TSB happily paid the Bip&Go bills, i believe other banks do not.

We then got down to our preferred area quicker and could stay longer before having to come back to blighty

 

[SquirrellCook]

Don't be scared of Swiss tolls, Under 3.5 tons 40 Swiss Francs for the year.

Mark

 

[rugbyken]

i use toll roads to get where i’m going and then loiter, because of the time saved i don’t mind spending a couple of minutes 5-6 times to pay tolls my van is left hand drive & i use my revolut card very simple and easy , certainly getting around towns & urbanisations it’s worth using tolls and the french do love roundabouts and speed cameras as you say at 2 hrs driving that’s 5 days on motorway or 7 days off personally i find it easy to do 3 x 1.5 hr sessions on a motorway so 3 days ? easy

 

[UFO]

Chamonix without tolls is more than doable, but in 4 days with no more than 2 hours driving per day AND no tolls AND no NOT going into Switzerland dream on, just don’t work.

On this quick-dash-through-France trip we will certainly be driving more than 2 hours a day. After Chamonix it is be back to no more than 2 hours a day.

A bit of both may suit,

Yes, this makes sense. I think we will see how far we get in the first couple of days and then use toll roads if we need to speed up.

We never use tolls, as you miss too much, as France has so many fantastic places to discover

Unfortunately no time for discovering on this part of the trip, but any other time we will be in dawdle mode.

According to the Sanef calculator, class 2 is around €125

Good to know, thank you.

Your main destination is Montenegro

Our ultimate destination is Montenegro. It will a slow 6 weeks through; Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro before we start the return leg.

some new Toll gates do NOT have any method of payment, you have to pay online within 72 hours or stop at an Aire on this type of road and pay at a machine.

Good to know, thank you.

 

[UFO]

Thank you all for sharing. Definitely there is no one-size-fits-all. We will start off on non-toll roads and see how far we get in the first couple of days and then use toll roads if we need to speed up, using a credit card to pay either at a pay station at the start of the toll road or at a motorway aire.

 

[Drover]

First time for us using bip and go....only problems was in France.. we are 3.1 mtr with sat dome ..pressed button everytime and got class 2.. bib and go set for motorhome but the French are a pain.no problems in italy or Spain.

 

[jann]

We don't use tolls unless it's to bypass a large city.

 

[witzend]

TSB happily paid the Bip&Go bills, i believe other banks do not.

We use a Prepaid Post Office card for our ATMB tag which we preload in Euro's so no exchange rate charges. PO card is used for 90 % of our spending abroad can be loaded any where any time via the phone app