How do you avoid the hefty toll fee on the French highways?
Some of the toll fee's on the French highways are hefty. I know that you can avoid them by taking the routes nationales, where some are almost like highways. I don't mind traveling a little bit longer to save money, but the 6 hours to drive 150 km I drove today to save 20 Euro was too much. Is there an easy way to determine when it is worth taking the secondary roads or when it is better to just pay the "péage".
Best Answer
You can see the rates from A to B on the French motorways website (enter the departure and destination cities in the box on the right). You'll get a map and a breakdown of the route. Beware of the route shown near cities, it tends to show unnecessary detours.
The route breakdown tells you where the tolls are, but not where you would need to exit and reenter the motorway to avoid them. A good paper map would show you where the tolls are. So should a good GPS.
That same website also has a flash map with links to the website of the company that manages each motorway. These sites usually have more detailed information, but it isn't always easy to use as you'll sometimes need to know the name of the rural municipality where the motorway entrance or the toll is located, and many of these sites are in French only.
Some sites let you find an itinerary that avoids tolls, for example Via Michelin.
Remember that if you take the secondary roads, you'll be saving fuel by driving slower but you'll also be driving more kilometers, assuming that you could do most of the trip on a motorway. It's difficult to have a general rule as to what would cost less.
Pictures about "How do you avoid the hefty toll fee on the French highways?"
How do you avoid tolls in France?
Alternative route avoiding all tolls : c) At Tours, do not join the motorway, just keep following the green signs for Poitiers. d) South of Bordeaux , see "To avoid tolls (southbound) here (left column, in A63 South of Bordeaux section). Then, rejoin the motorway, but leave again at Exit 10, signed Bayonne in green.Is it worth getting a French toll tag?
We got one last year and I would say yes it's worth it. Not only just for the lack of stress finding the right euros each time but just knowing its dealt with. And you just slow slightly there's a beep and off you go again.Should I avoid toll roads in France?
You shouldn't try to avoid toll charges in France if:You want to be time-efficient. You want a hassle-free journey, with help from a toll tag. You want to spend a good amount of time exploring on foot. You want to use safe and reliable roads.Which motorways in France are toll free?
Central route Paris \u2013 Limoges \u2013 Toulouse This route, via the A20 between Vierzon and Toulouse, is two thirds toll-free.French Toll Roads (Driving to Disneyland Paris)
More answers regarding how do you avoid the hefty toll fee on the French highways?
Answer 2
Got the following trick through other channels. You can save up to 20% by exiting a toll route multiple times. Apparently, the fares are not calculated based on the kilometers driven, but on specific trajectories.
Example: if you drive from Lille to Paris, you pay 15.60. If you exit and immediately re-enter the highway three times inbetween you pay 11 Euro.
Someone made a very handy map to calculate your saving: http://www.autoroute-eco.fr/autoroute.html. (French)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Brett Jordan, ROMAN ODINTSOV, Karolina Grabowska, George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com