# Why is the height of a motorhome a problem in europe



## henda (Sep 26, 2013)

we are about to buy our first motorhome, have had feedback on forum
about height restriction on french roads how do they check this.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Either you leave your roof behind on a bridge, or height sensors at a toll booth mean they charge you more.

Dave


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Nah, first I've heard . . . Obviously toll booths have height limits-as do garage forecourts but if an articulated lorry can get under - so can 99.9% of motorhomes . . . the only really dangerous place I've come across is the low (& I mean LOW) underpass in Rouen, there are some arched bridges which are only safe to go through in the centre of the road as keeping to the left (or right in Europe) would mean some severe damage to the top of a van . . . Generally speaking - just be aware,keep a mental & written note of the width, length & height of your particular van & double check before you turn it into a convertible . . . :wink:


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## uncleswede (Apr 16, 2010)

VicDicDoc,

Assuming you're not joking about what you've written in your signature, it means 'Everyone is entitled to my opinion'

Rgds
CD


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

uncleswede said:


> VicDicDoc,
> 
> Assuming you're not joking about what you've written in your signature, it means 'Everyone is entitled to my opinion'
> Rgds
> CD


Exactly !


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

*Re: Why is the hight of a moterhome a problem in europe*



henda said:


> height restriction on french roads how do they check this.


Hi henda

The main problem with van height on French roads (apart from the obvious hazard of low bridges) is in the cost of autoroute tolls.
A motorhome with 2 axles, under 3500kg and less than 3m high is charged at the "class 2" rate. If you exceed any of these parameters you'll be charged at a higher rate (and it can be a considerable amount).
All the automatic toll booths have a height sensor set at 3m and if you exceed this you'll be asked to pay the higher toll rate.


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

Charges depend on height of your vehicle and they have sensors to check:

Class 1 : Height less than 2 metres and the total weight is less than 3.5 tonnes. Most light vehicles such as cas, 4x4s, monospaces with or without a trailer that is less than 2 metres high
Class 2 : Height between 2 and 3 metres and the total weight is less than 3.5 tonnes. A class 1 vehicle towing a trailer/caravan that is between 2 and 3 metres high; most camping cars or utility vans; pickup vans with habitable space
Class 3 : Height is above 3 metres, 2 axles or the total weight is over 3.5 tonnes. HGV, buses and large camping vans
Class 4 : Height is above 3 metres, 3 or more axles, the total weight is over 3.5 tonnes. Also a Class 2 with a trailer/caravan which has a height of more than 3 meters
Class 5 : Motorbikes with or without a side car, 3 wheel bikes


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

All of these points are true - the sensors at peages are precise BUT if you try sometimes you can persuade the operator that you are Class 2 as a "Camping Car" - they can see even at the automatic ones as they have TV coverage. You can SOMETIMES persuade them....

There are restrictions on many bridges - so do ensure that you know your clearance height, there are also many overhanging things in towns such as flower baskets which can be low.

The Rouen underpass is well known and has been seen to cause disasters at times (a convertible MH is not popular), but there are similar things from my experience at Quimper with an entrance to a Hypermarket and at LeClerc/IKEA in Toulouse and a low bridge at Agen - so the restrictions are more common than you realise - drive safely and observe the well signposted warnings - there is always an alternative signed.

The 3.0m common height also frequently causes problems on site where they are often under trees and the allocated site may be impossible to get into - check before accepting it - we have encountered that many times and have refused pitches and asked for others.

Dave


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

with the exception of the tolls which as the other OP has said you can get away with class 2 if you have a polite conversation and try French

the height restrictions are the same in any country you drive accordingly

I have been to Europe many times in a tag axle high profile E769 with Sat dome on top no problems at all

The pitch allocation issue I agree with and sometimes trees can cause an issue particularly with dome sat system

Just asked politely to be relocated if possible


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## locrep (Dec 5, 2011)

I believe most of Europe has a four metre height limit for vehicles.

Dave..


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

There is no great problem. OK tolls may be a bit more expensive and there are some low bridges which you need to be careful of. You would have to keep an eye open for height restrictions anyway in any motorhome.

As Vic says, they have lorries in Europe too and they manage to get around delivering to almost every town and village perfectly well, Alan.


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

Superk said:


> Charges depend on height of your vehicle and they have sensors to check:
> 
> Class 1 : Height less than 2 metres and the total weight is less than 3.5 tonnes. Most light vehicles such as cas, 4x4s, monospaces with or without a trailer that is less than 2 metres high
> Class 2 : Height between 2 and 3 metres and the total weight is less than 3.5 tonnes. A class 1 vehicle towing a trailer/caravan that is between 2 and 3 metres high; most camping cars or utility vans; pickup vans with habitable space
> ...


Mine is a class 2. It's only the Camos dome that is class 3


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## Morphology (Jul 23, 2010)

Or just avoid Rouen.


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

locrep said:


> I believe most of Europe has a four metre height limit for vehicles.
> 
> Dave..


That would take the vast majority of trucks off the road, certainly NOT true..

In the UK our bridges have to marked ONLY if under 5 meters, 16'6"..

The only issue (apart from obvious low bridges) that a motorhome will encounter is when using automatic lanes at toll booth's..
The sensors will read your height and class you as a van or truck unless you press the call button and state your are "camping car"..

My van is both over 3500kg (4250) and 3mtr (3.1) but in manual toll lanes they always charge the regular class 2...


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## jonasw19 (Jun 11, 2010)

Tolls on motorways are as said before, we almost never travel on them. In the last two years and 14 weeks we have paid less than 10 Euro in total.

LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW then you can stop in time. Had to do that a couple of times.

If you have a suitable paper map, we have a Michelin one,it does give spot heights for obstructions.

Dont be afraid to upset your satnav or copilot. If you dont like the road divert dont go on it, the satnav may grizzle for a bit but it will get over it. As for the copilot..they can always drive instead of being Princess of the Passenger Seat.

LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW

Go on you will find some amazing places

jon


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

This is a local bridge.

Even though I know the height of my MH is 2.90 metres high I would still go the slightly longer route to avoid the 10ft 3in height of the bridge.

Just in case you should suddenly be confronted by a similar bridge do you know, off the top of your head, what 10ft 3in converts into metres?

I have the height, width and length in both metres and feet/inches written down and attached to the sun visor in my MH - just in case!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Google this phrase Maximum vehicle height in Europe and you can download a pdf giving max. dimensions for vehicles in each European country.

By and large the height limit for trucks is 4 meters. I would assume that there are exemptions for special loads, Very few motorhomes would be as tall as 4 meters, Alan.


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

tonka said:


> locrep said:
> 
> 
> > I believe most of Europe has a four metre height limit for vehicles.
> ...


I stand corrected.. !!!!
Seem's that is the case in many of the countries..  
Surprised me that has...

As mentioned, not many motorhomes going to be near that height..


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

KeithChesterfield said:


> I have the height, width and length in both metres and feet/inches written down and attached to the sun visor in my MH - just in case!


Excellent thing to remind everyone of, several years ago this suggestion was made on a thread - I downloaded it into Paint and modified it for our MH, it works well as an instant reminder.

It is easy to modify using Paint or similar programs. I printed it on card to about postcard size, laminated it and attached it at the top of the windscreen near the mirror.

This was one suggestion from Medallionman;

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-412400.html#412400


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

In France, If you have a large motorhome over 3500kG's. The Auto booths usually class you as 2. If you have a small campervan with a high roof. Oddly, it will try to charge class 3.

You would just have to push the operator button and plead.

Start with Bonjour....


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Is it only France that charges a higher fee for vehicles according to height?

Maybe they use height instead of weight because the equipment to check height is much cheaper???

Geoff


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

I can agree with Teemyob above, we travelled from Roscoff to the Med coast this year and did use several toll roads down south, the auto booths always calculated our Arapaho as class 2 despite the tag axle, > 3500 kgs and the height > 3mtrs.

Terry


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

teemyob said:


> In France, If you have a large motorhome over 3500kG's. The Auto booths usually class you as 2. If you have a small campervan with a high roof. Oddly, it will try to charge class 3.
> 
> You would just have to push the operator button and plead.
> 
> Start with Bonjour....


Better still, start with "Bonjour, madame" or "Bonjour, monsieur", It's polite etiquette to include the salutation as well, in shops, banks, etc as well as tollbooths. Sounds overly formal to us but it is expected.

Met a low bridge coming out of Leclerc at Metz. Had to reverse back up the hill against a continuous flow of irate French housewives in titchy little cars dashing home for midday grub... or whatever!


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## Superk (Aug 22, 2005)

Yes posting the rules brought back memories:
Class 3 : Height is above 3 metres, 2 axles or the total weight is over 3.5 tonnes. HGV, buses and large camping vans 
Class 4 : Height is above 3 metres, 3 or more axles, the total weight is over 3.5 tonnes. Also a Class 2 with a trailer/caravan which has a height of more than 3 meters 

With our RV we always made Class 3 even though we were towing a car (on all 4 wheels) until one day 8O when the young lady spotted the car and insisted on extra payments above Class 4 - she was charging Class 3 plus a car or it seemed like it. After explaining that the car had no chauffeur, the engine was 'tranquil' and it was a trailer or, 'remorque' the conversation disintegrated until I insisted her boss be called. Meanwhile as one of only two booths traffic had started to tail back into the distance. The boss, equally young was of the same opinion.
To cut a longer story short the gendarmes arrived in two cars and fully tooled up and we had the same interesting discussion until he put his hand on his gun and 'suggested' it may be best to pay  
Naturally I asked for a receipt but they couldn't produce an official one because the barrier was only going to go up once yet they were charging for 2 vehicles :lol:
It's all in the Katie book. Oh the memories.
Keith


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## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

The suggestion is that if you have a high Van (as is ours, 3.2M) you will be classed as class 3 or 4 automatically. Quite true.

In this case you press the "assistance " button and explain in your best attempt at French or English you are a "Camping Car".
By some miracle the toll charge will immediately be halved.
Happened every time last September.

Geant and some other supermarkets in cities erect height barriers at 2.4M this is designed to remove to satellite dishes from ***** caravans.

In Rouen Every time Miss Molly (our Tom Tom) says keep left we say keep right, having no desire to exit Rouen as a Coupe.

To summarise height is not generally a problem.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Don't ever try taking your MH, or even a Fire appliance or ambulance into the public parking area at Dawlish Warren in Devon....


I think it is a maximum of 2.1m - not really very high even for normal use, no minibuses, ambulance, fire service vehicles or delivery vans allowed through, although on the other side of the bridge there are numerous tourist establishments.....

So it is not just France where bridges can cause concern....

Dave


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## cater_racer (May 1, 2005)

My 4250kg Autocruise just breaks the 3.0 metres on the satellite dome, by a small margin. 

They sometimes look to see if it's a Tag axle. 

Never been charged anything but Class 2 on thousands of french toll roads.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I never really know the height of our van. I think its 2.9 metres but there is a dome on top. The dome base is set a few inches lower than the rails around the van though.

Ive been under a 3.0 metre bridge a few times but its a bit tense doing so. 

Dont use the toll roads much in France but when I do its hit and miss but usually manage to get Class 2 when you press the button.

some scary tunnels and overhangs over there though. 

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## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

Our experience is that there has been plenty of warning regarding low bridges but sometimes lack of concentration can cause folks to miss the signs.
As far as tolls are concerned I believe that camping cars/motorhomes up to 3.5 tons are charged as class2. U :x


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I spent a couple of months in France earlier this year - I didn't see any motorhomes with crunched lutons but I did see a goodly array of UK (RHD) motorhomes with mashed passenger-side mirrors. Not a pretty sight with all that Gaffa Tape holding them together, and I guess an arm and leg to replace.

So, I would say more likely to lose a mirror than a roof.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

There is MH parking next to the Rhine in Koblenz in a public car park. To get in and out of it you have to go through the arches under a railway line that runs parallel with the road.

The entrance is signed 3.5mtrs and the exit 3.2mtrs 8O! !!!! You can't use the entrance to exit as it is a long one way slip road off a dual carrageway.

We would be still there today if a kindly German hadn't explained that if we followed a track along the railway we would eventually come to a request level crossing where we could ring a non english speaker (in English) and explain our predicament.

Oh the joys  

Dick


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