French & Spanish motorway rip-off's

syldale

Guest
hi all . what makes our blood boil is the cost of the tolls . going to the med and beyond is easy by motorway but because of the price we have to dance around the N roads and drive on bad roads which is not good for our campers wear and tear and m.p.g instead of a clear run i now it is nice to be off the motorways touring but going from A to B it is more practical . you see lots of Europeans driving cars up to lorry's churning up our roads and they pay nothing we should have some sort of price reduction all so i remember about 2003 plus i read that the French Government was dropping m/home tolls down to car prices to in-courage tourism bringing money in the country what happened to that? we and allot more people think it's unfair what do you think . happy camping
 
play the alan and bob game ... dont use toll roads .dont use motorways . dont use dual carriageways if there is a normal road close by. works for us. whats the rush. slow down enjoy the journey . its not a race. never go over 50ph. visit the villasges . best parking is in the villages . the french or spanish we dont worry about it. cant be bothered about germans or dutch . or any of the others . just enjoy the drive .try to take a different route each time . you never know whats round the corner could be the highlight of your trip. i prefer the n roads . you could stay here and drive up and down a few motor ways if thats what you like. have an adventure . get a map with lots of little roads on it and off you go. have fun we do. cheers alan.
 
So far, we haven't paid a cent on toll roads in Spain and france and don't intend to ever pay anything either.
We are more than happy to set TomTom to avoid toll roads and that way we get to see a lot more than the landscaped banks of motorways.
Guess it is one advantage of being in a mode where the voyage is actually the destination
 
We prefer to take the 'scenic' route most times, only ever been on a toll road twice, once was to get us out of Paris as we got fed up with the traffic & the other time there was no real choice in Spain & it was only a short stretch.
I can understand it if people are still working & are only able to grab a couple of weeks holiday, you want to get to your destination as quick as possible. If your retired or not working then what does it matter if it takes a couple more days :cool:. We are never sure where we are going anyway so our holiday is the journey itself.
 
motorway rip-off's

hi all . yes it's nice to take the scenic root we do but going from Calais to Spain for some winter sun France is to cold for many stopovers in winter we know got the tee-shirt for that so my point is it's a long way to take the scenic way all you want to do is get there . time is of no importance to us as we have been retired for 6 years now and not to mention all that gear changing clutch wear it's nice to put it in cruise and relax some times we think it's a scandal just done a trip to the mosel germany& Belgium don't charge . when people come to england they don't pay we do pay road tax and there form of tax isn't the same as ours . happy camping
 
yep , they did reduce the toll for motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes in france around 2003

previously they were group 3, and they are now in group 2

and syldale , how much do you pay when in belgium /netherlands /germany etc ?
 
Its not a fair comparison to compare French road tolls with British because, unlike Britain, France is a transit country. France has about 5 times as many Foreign registered vehicles on its roads as Britain does, because most of them are just passing through, clogging up the roads and contributing little to the French economy. Britain to Spain, Spain to Italy, Germany to Portugal etc etc. Britain has no such transit traffic (apart from a tiny percentage to Southern Ireland)

I use the national roads and, now I have a fuel consumption meter, have been surprised to find I get better fuel consumption in doing so. Because I am going slower, wind drag is far less, which apparently more than makes up for the other factors. I would only use the French motorways if I was in a hurry.
 
we also have to weigh up the differance with the aire de service facilities france as for us . and spain . it can well out way using motor ways. i n longer travel through france due to ther cost of fuel .i find it a great advantage to miss france out altogether . but travelling through it as many lovelly places to stop and i also believe they encourage you to stop in summer etc . i have been waved down directed into service centers and been given cold drinks and icecreams . imagin uk doing that i dont think so. i miss the journeys through france but have a great time travelling spain in stead. still dont use m,ways . life ,s for enjoying . if you dont like the countries then dont go there . if in a hurry then fly and get an apartment. they can be cheaper than taking a vehicle. have fun .cheers alan.
 
Hi Alan when you heading off ....you going to Maroc this time ... we are away in 3 weeks Portugal for a while then well ... anywhere .. might come accross you both again somewhere ... Val & Alan x
 
hi alnval. off in early nov .to santander .then down to med . possibly mid dec for maroc, plan is no plan. .as been discusion of going to timbuktu but who knows . will keepeyes open for you. need lots of sun and heat . cant put up with rain either. bob coming here next week or week after. get down to gib for mid dec we could have a convoy . look out maroc authority caos is on its way. ha ha . how awkward can we be this year .have fun see you soon .cheers alan.
 
motorway rip-off

yep , they did reduce the toll for motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes in france around 2003

previously they were group 3, and they are now in group 2

and syldale , how much do you pay when in belgium /netherlands /germany etc ?
hi lebesset. we didn't pay anything it was free the roads & motorways are bad to drive on in belgium. happy camping
 
Two points we dont have to use them

They are built privately as a business
 
When I was driving lorries it used to annoy me I was paying £3200 per year road tax to use the roads in Britain, then when I got to France had to pay again. But I didn't blame the French. The French were only charging me when I was using their road. The British were charging me when I was not using their road.
 
I don't know what the costs for French tolls are at the moment but they cannot be as expensive as the M6 toll around Birmingham
 
when we are on holiday we prefer to travel at a steady pace rather than a fast one.
Only pay tolls to avoid busy cities.Not all french motorways are tolls. We set the sat nav for a quick non toll free route.
 

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