# Aires via Motorways



## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

This year for the first time we are towing a car and going to the south of France therefore not being used to the teraine I have opted to go via toll roads and motorways.
We are expected to stop over twice on route and would like to use aires if possible.
I have the French Aires book but notice most of the aires are off the motorways or so it seems.
If we are on a toll road and come off to visit the aires how does the toll fee work or would we be charged again when we resume our journey on the toll rd.
The cost to get to S-o-F is quite expensive so don't want to be faced with increasing my cost through lack of knowledge.
Cheers
Terry


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## lifestyle (Apr 27, 2008)

Hi Terry

You Pay whenever you come off and then take a new ticket when you go back on.



Les


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Unless your in a hurry I wouldnt bother with the toll roads even if you are towing a car. The roads over there are much less crowded than ours and you will see much more by avoiding them. What I sometimes do is calculate on the sat nav or laptop the journey I want to do that day and get it to work out the time it would take using the tolls and then work it out again using the none toll route. If the difference is substantial I might use the toll road or just the section of it that makes the time difference but often the difference is not worth spending the money on the tolls if that makes sense, especially if your just travelling at 60mph.


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## BwB (Dec 5, 2009)

Be careful on the tolls. First time I went down to S/France in this van I spent €30 more on tolls than I did on diesel - using tolls all the way. I'm just over 3m tall which took us into a new bracket and they wouldn't let me through on the usual campingcar toll rate.

However, if you're happy to use tolls then why come off the motorway to use camping car aires? I have never had any problems with stopping overnight on the autoroute aires. The ones with service stations on them are usually well lit and have better toilets 

This might be different in Spain. How true this is I don't know, but I have heard that you may be charged for overnight stops when you get to the toll exit - based on how long since the ticket was issued. Can anyone confirm this?


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## ChaseTracker (Aug 22, 2012)

As Les said you pay to get off the toll roads and nead a new ticket to get back on. Got back from a 6 week trip France/Spain and on the drive back did not use a toll road, a few going down to get away from bad weather but the costs are too high for me to use normally.As for the aires we used many but not on the toll roads,wild camped as well as use the aires.
Have a good trip.


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## Morphology (Jul 23, 2010)

Be prepared for people to tell you that you'll be gassed, robbed etc if you stay on Motorway Aires, but we use them quite frequently and have never had any issues. 

There are two sorts the rest Aires (which just have a toilet) and the Aire de Services, which have petrol stations & cafes. Popular opinion seems to be that the ones with Petrol stations are safer (though busier).

Yes, you get charged when you leave and take a new ticket when you get back on which often means you end up paying more, though sometimes it can work in your favour.

For example, whilst heading north we have come off the A25 at Jn25 to stay at the lovely Aire at Geraudot then back on at Jn 22 north of Troyes and saved about £5 on the peage in the process.

Beware the refridge units on lorries that'll keep you awake all night if you park too close to them.

The Aire du Jardin Arbres on the A77 heading south from Paris is lovely with its attached Pinetum.

Morph


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## ChaseTracker (Aug 22, 2012)

As Les said you pay to get off the toll roads and nead a new ticket to get back on. Got back from a 6 week trip France/Spain and on the drive back did not use a toll road, a few going down to get away from bad weather but the costs are too high for me to use normally.As for the aires we used many but not on the toll roads,wild camped as well as use the aires.
Have a good trip.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Morphology said:


> For example, whilst heading north we have come off the A25 at Jn25 to stay at the lovely Aire at Geraudot then back on at Jn 22 north of Troyes and saved about £5 on the peage in the process.


Sorry to but in on this topic...

Morph, there are recent reports that this aire is now closed. 

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-129889-geraudot.html

I've updated the database entry..

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=display_results&csid=2060

Pete


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## cronkle (May 1, 2005)

Hi

If you are towing a car you will be Class 3 on the peages and it will work out quite expensive.

You might find this thread quite useful for avoiding some of the costs:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-136401-.html

There are a number of aires that are quite close to the motorways on any of the routes and if you download the POIs for those onto a sat-nav you can do yourself a bit of planning.

Good luck


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

BwB said:


> However, if you're happy to use tolls then why come off the motorway to use camping car aires? I have never had any problems with stopping overnight on the autoroute aires. The ones with service stations on them are usually well lit and have.


Some people have never been burgled either but it certainly happens. Autoroute service stations should be avoided for overnighting - take it from one who knows, and I do include France.

Ron


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

I think you should think long and hard about this toll thing. we never go on toll roads, the sat nav has no tolls entered in in it. We have traveled around Europe for many years, in the past towing but never pay tolls. A good sat nav the book called camperstop and its download in the sat nav. Just stop push sites and there you are all the sites and how far away they are look in the book and get all the information about then ie free ( the ones we use ) or cost and facilities. Whatever you do have fun


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

cronkle said:


> There are a number of aires that are quite close to the motorways on any of the routes and if you download the POIs for those onto a sat-nav you can do yourself a bit of planning.


Quite right Crinkle, and very useful they would be for anyone using motorways or toll roads. They can all be found on Parafoeter's site.

http://users.telenet.be/leo.huybrechts/snelweg.htm

Click on the appropriate country flag, then on the underlied route, and it lists loads of campsites, aires etc. just off the major routes.

Download POIs for the satnav from Archie's.

http://archiescampings.eu/downloadpage/

Hope this helps. Have never used them because we avoid toll roads like the plague . . . all you see is the tarmac stretching out in front, and you pay for the privilege of being bored out of your skull. :roll: Motorways are not much better, but we do use them - and find our stops with Autoroute in preference to any other method.

Dave 

P.S. There is an Archie's Campings App available for the Android (on his download page) but I haven't tried it.


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## prog54 (Nov 22, 2010)

Many thanks to all who contributed to my queries.
I am now thinking of my original route on non toll roads.
cheers
terry


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

prog54 said:


> Many thanks to all who contributed to my queries.
> I am now thinking of my original route on non toll roads.
> cheers
> terry


That's what I often do Terry.

Let Autoroute choose a route for us from A to B, then zoom in and drag the route to where we prefer, and on the sort of roads we like. Makes it a lot easier than going step by step in approximately the right direction. :roll:

Dave


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## dcummin (Jan 21, 2008)

im travelling to La Rochelle in the summer

avoiding the tolls for me adds over 3 hours driving time (that I assume is calculated at car speeds - just used google maps) - with my mh not being that economical im thinking it prob best to take the most direct route and pay for the tolls

pretty sure I wont get away with class 2 camping car though :-(


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

We tend to avoid toll roads in general. However, if we have a longish days traveling we tend to stick to the non tolls except around cities/big towns. Often they are free to encourage drivers to avoid town centres and there is less chance of getting lost or in the wrong lane to slow up the journey even more :wink: 

I stand to be corrected ( 8O ) but I seem to remember the toll ticket is valid for 24 hours so you could stop at a motorway aire without having to pay extra. 

If it were me, I think I would perhaps use the tolls then come off the motorway to stay overnight in a village aire/municipal campsite and then travel on the next day. Remember the junctions are a lot further apart than they are in this country.

Happy traveling which ever route you take.

Sue


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

This French driver found a novel way to avoid tolls at 125 mph. 8O


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

wakk44 said:


> This French driver found a novel way to avoid tolls at 125 mph. 8O


Eh? Sounds cock and bull to me. Why didnt he just take it out of gear or turn the ignition off?


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## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

Must admit I avoid toll roads in France as the others are fast enough for me.
We are off to Agen in April/May and I will not be using a toll road if I can help it. Last year we ended up using one by mistake and we didn't have the cash so had to use a credit card, we managed to hold up quite a few cars while we sorted it out.


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

Message to dcumming if your going to La Rochelle there is a non toll route through Caen Rennes and Nantes that is only a little slower with a couple of aire that are well worth the stop


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## nettyp (Mar 21, 2008)

*Aires via motorways*

We drive down to the Pyrenees and the Alps very frequently. We rarely use the autoroutes unless we are in a hurry. The best investment we ever made was the £25 (ish) that buys the annual France Passion guide. Many of the aires, apart from the motorway ones, are a bit small if you are towing. I prefer the peace of mind that goes with not overnighting on a motorway aire.

We have a 6.2m van and tow a smart car, usually on an A frame but sometimes on a trailer.
Also if you arrive late and there is not much room then the towcar means getting in is a no no.
The France Passion sites always say if they can accommodate longer rigs and how many spaces they have.
We find that the extra mpg achieve from driving a bit slower, the savings we make on the autoroute charges and the lovely countryside we see more than compensates for the extra time.
Autoroutes are only for when we are looking like missing the ferry!


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## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

We are heading down to S/E France in a few weeks and normally we just hit the autoroute and stay in 5th gear on cruise control for the whole journey.
We have 6 days to get down so thought about a non toll route but I have just put it in the satnav and it just seems roundabout after roundabout with most sections not even making double figures of miles between them.
To me this sounds like harder driving, more fuel and more wear and tear on the van.
The route with tolls is 717 miles with 701 being on the autoroute, and the 16 are leaving the autoroute and travelling to our house.
We are only class 2 and with my blue badge this should come down to class 1 so the tolls shouldn't be too high.
Viamichelin gives £44.59 in tolls which I guess is class 1 but I remember seeing a website that worked out the toll charges for different classes but cannot find it now, can anyone point me in the right direction?

James


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## jlo37 (Dec 8, 2012)

One other thing Petrol/Diesel is far more expensive on motorways toll roads than supermarkets. Usually start off on motorways but get bored quickly and head on to relatively traffic free b-roads and tootle.


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## swidy (Sep 11, 2010)

*avoid motorway aires*

Hi We were robbed at 02.30 in the morning 3 men one in the front of the motorhome two out side shining tourches i shouted they ran off but with my wallet and blackberry this was 3rd day of 30 day tour we used camp site every night after this, still had a good time but wont stop on motorway aires again.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

I don't use peage roads or free autoroute aire's.
I use RN roads, campervan aire's and wild camping.
Works for me


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## blondel (Jun 12, 2005)

JP said:


> We are only class 2 and with my blue badge this should come down to class 1 so the tolls shouldn't be too high.
> Viamichelin gives £44.59 in tolls which I guess is class 1 but I remember seeing a website that worked out the toll charges for different classes but cannot find it now, can anyone point me in the right direction?
> 
> James


I wouldn't bank on it 

The badge alone does not entitle you to a reduction. The vehicle has to be adapted for disabled (visibly more than just handrail). Even though we have hand controls we were often refused reduction and told we had to be French residents and have a special pass. The hand controls are fitted on the 'wrong side' for the attendant to see which does not help! We have written out what we are asking for and why in French but it has not helped a lot. We found most toll stations are automatic so unless you press the help button and discuss the matter it will automatically charge Class 2 - Unfortunately our French is not up to arguing over the intercom


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We use autoroutes IF we are in a hurry but the costs of doing so with the MH outweigh the fuel saved by "smooth driving".

The dual carriageway from St Malo to Rennes to Nantes is very good and not a peage. The peage section starts south of Nantes and continues south to Spain. There are a couple of aires on the section from Rennes to Nantes BUT recently they have been closing them for some considerable time "for renovating" - the same goes for some of the aire de repos on the autoroute between Niort and Bordeaux (A10).

If you come off the autoroute you do have to pay and then collect another ticket (unless you have a telepeage system - in which case it does the same thing automatically), but the premium is not excessive IMO.

Getting Class 2 for the MH depends on there being NOTHING on the top surface which might make it register even a cm above 3.0m.... you MIGHT be able to convince them down to class 2 if you are lucky and slightly over 3.0m but there is no guarantee..... If you are towing a car either on a A frame or a trailer then you will not succeed.....

I have never seen any reduction for having a blue badge - if such a thing exists it is well hidden in the T&C and may well only relate to the French system of having a disabled pass - a multi-page applicant done via the _Marie_, and with a multi-page form to be completed by a _Medecin Traitant_ - they are very unlikely to accept UK evidence to allow that IMO. It probably all comes down to "jobsworth" and the people that you (eventually) speak to via the intercom system are unlikely to have much leeway in making decisions.....

Dave


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## blondel (Jun 12, 2005)

JP
This link might clarify things
http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/vehicle-classification.htm
Right at the bottom it states
Category-2 vehicles adapted for carrying disabled people (as specified on registration papers) are considered as belonging to category 1.

Its the registration paper bit that is the problem!


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## SoKoTo (Nov 17, 2009)

Some people have never been burgled either but it certainly happens. Autoroute service stations should be avoided for overnighting - take it from one who knows, and I do include France.

Ron[/quote]

Fear of burglary has never stopped me living in a house! Ron claims to be 'one who knows', but doesn't tell us what he knows. I know that my van was broken into twice in four days in Spain, while parked up during daytime, and once on a service area in France an unsuccessful attempt was made to pick a lock, again during daytime.

I also know that we have spent many nights on Motorway service areas in France - along with Motorhomers from France, Germany, Netherlands .... - with no issues other than noisy lorries. Of course, there's always a first time, and I'll let you all know when it happens.

Concerning your route, depending on which line you chose, be aware that there is a long stretch of FREE motorway from Vierzon to Brive. Just off J37 there's an easy to access 'centre commercial' (Carrefour) where it's wise to fill up - just be careful of the height limiters if you're over 3m, - there is a way round. Just a little further south the Aire de Briance-Ligourd is brilliantly laid out for motorhomes and caravans with forwards-in-forwards-out parking lanes adjacent to picnic tables within hedged areas. But it's a toilets-only aire, and they're a bit ... French. Just further on (south) the Aire De Porte de Corrèze is a gem (if you can find your way in, and out again!) - clean loos and a lovely shop.

After Brive, if you leave the motorway to avoid the tolls the way ahead is increasingly hilly and bendy; progress can be very slow; you pays your money (or not) and takes your choice! If you do stay on the motorway you have the chance to visit Aire Jardin des Causses du Lot, another beauty whether you spend the night or not. Just stretch your legs with a walk down to the lake and enjoy the gardens.

Finally, if your planned route brings you to Toulouse, I should definitely pay the toll and use the motorway - the alternative is a real crawl.

Hope that helps; bonne chance / bon voyage!


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## sweetie (Nov 28, 2005)

*Re: avoid motorway aires*



swidy said:


> Hi We were robbed at 02.30 in the morning 3 men one in the front of the motorhome two out side shining tourches i shouted they ran off but with my wallet and blackberry this was 3rd day of 30 day tour we used camp site every night after this, still had a good time but wont stop on motorway aires again.


Do people really leave things like that in the front of vehicle .

The only way they would get my wallet or documents would be by lifting up 100k of blubber and a mattress :wink  

Steve


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Bet he was gassed Steve! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

*Re: avoid motorway aires*

Do people really leave things like that in the front of vehicle .

The only way they would get my wallet or documents would be by lifting up 100k of blubber and a mattress :wink  

Steve[/quote]

The trouble is THEY DO


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## sweetie (Nov 28, 2005)

Don,t lets go down the gas route Zeb  :lol:


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

sweetie said:


> Don,t lets go down the gas route Zeb  :lol:


Ha Ha quite agree


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## SaddleTramp (Feb 15, 2007)

You will miss some spectacular scenery and beautiful villages on the Motorways and the normal roads are far less crowded than here and the vast majority are great routes and nice roads.

We never travel via motorways and we tow a peugeot 308 on the back of an 8 meter MH total length 15 meter


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

sweetie said:


> Don,t lets go down the gas route Zeb  :lol:


No problem - it's nothing like an Autoroute, though you see even less! :lol: :lol:


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