# Do we stick to autoroutes and parking



## railway (Jun 10, 2009)

Hi all, its our first time heading to France this August in our new M/H and I just have a few questions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Firstly when driving down through France would you advise staying on autoroutes or getting onto quieter roads. Also what is the story with parking in towns and cities in France.Do they have park and Ride facilities in the cities or what do people usually do for parking oin towns in France? Thanks everybody and I know you wont put us wrong!  8O


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

Personally I don't use the autoroutes.
I don't see the point of travel on these as I don't think you see little towns and sights etc.

If you have the aires book/sat navs there are plenty of places to park.

One our first outing we just had the aires book, but found ourself 'somewhere' at 2am, having thought we'd try to cover as much distance as possible.
With weary eyes we just parked up in a little village... behind a lorry, thinking I'd be woken by the truck leaving at early hours.... 
Didn't wake until 8am... looked out of the window had my first Bonjour from an old Frenchie doing his garden...  Never even heard the lorry leave.

You won't find it hard to park-up in France, it's a doddle... once you've done it once... you'll be sorted.

There are many towns like Bayeux, where the 'aire' only a couple of minutes [walking] from the town's main drag, so no need to park n ride.

If you've got push bikes why not take them...??

hth

w


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## stephenpug (Sep 18, 2008)

don't think about it just do it you will love it the French are so laid back about parking you will wonder why you ever worried but i do advise all the aires france book and put avoid all toll roads in your sat nav then you will see the real france


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

It all depends what you want from your holiday, are you doing a long journey to get to a specific place in a time scale, Autoroute.

If you are going a fair distance but you have enough time you can use a mixture of Autoroute and N roads.

If you don't have a destination to get to and you want to go into the small towns and you want to stay a while have a coffee laze about. then N / D roads.

It really is down to you, to decide what you want to do. Its no good me or anyone else telling you i do this we do that. We are not on your holiday.

Just remember It is your holiday, do what you want and enjoy it.

Steve


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

One thing we have noticed this year ( ie 4 weeks ago) is that the N roads are very much busier and the toll roads correspondingly less crowded. Toll roads in France are expensive but, in terms of constant fast speed, well-thought out and plentiful places to rest, good road surfaces and few road works and freedom from constant roundabouts and busy town centres you do get value for your money.

As to seeing the real France: no, you don't see each little town and village but you can stop and see those at leisure in the evenings and afternoons and you can travel further in a shorter time on the toll roads so getting deeper into France without spending too much time doing so.

In terms of saving on fuel I suspect you do so on the toll roads but you will not recover the money you paid out to use them.

We use a combination as and when it suits us and don't feel that we miss out. 

The French have parking for motorhomes well sussed and either you can park in the car parking - which will have spaces for larger vehicles or,as we usually do, stay at the nearest campsite and use the excellent public transport in to town. They seem to have got the idea fixed that people who stay at campsites want a bus stop outside and plentiful buses. Why can't we do that in UK? Some towns have P&R facilities too.


G


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*G*



Grizzly said:


> One thing we have noticed this year ( ie 4 weeks ago) is that the N roads are very much busier and the toll roads correspondingly less crowded. Toll roads in France are expensive but, in terms of constant fast speed, well-thought out and plentiful places to rest, good road surfaces and few road works and freedom from constant roundabouts and busy town centres you do get value for your money.
> 
> As to seeing the real France: no, you don't see each little town and village but you can stop and see those at leisure in the evenings and afternoons and you can travel further in a shorter time on the toll roads so getting deeper into France without spending too much time doing so.
> 
> ...


Very well worded G, just as I was about to reply (ie Toll roads in France are expensive but, in terms of constant fast speed, well-thought out and plentiful places to rest, good road surfaces and few road works and freedom from constant roundabouts and busy town centres you do get value for your money.)

Rather than avoid Tolls, try a mixture.

™


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## philsil (Jul 24, 2007)

If you use the route planner on
www.viamichelin.com

the cost of tolls is calculated for you.

For belting from A to B autoroutes work really well.

the A75 south of Clermont Ferrand is free (except going over the Millau Viaduct) and has some good scenery. Altitude and keeping up with the lorries will hammer your fuel though


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Look for brown signs with Camping Cars on them they are for mh parking as well

Dave p


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## CaGreg (Mar 28, 2007)

Hi there,

We have just returned from a month in France. If you use the N/D roads, do be prepared for hundreds of roudyabouts. The French love putting them at every junction and it can be a bit tedious if you are trying to make time. We used the Toll roads on just two of the journeys, though we used non-toll Autoroutes at times. 
If you have a Satnav you can set it to just take you on non-tolled motorway.

We only spent four nights in campsites, the rest was spent on Camping Car Aires, or wildcamping. In every town, city you will be given helpful information on MH parking at the tourist office. The French want to help you, they want you to enjoy yourself. How novel!!

One morning on Ile d'Oleron, a man came to our van and asked us had we stayed all night. When I said yes he said that he hoped he hadn't woken us earlier when he arrived to go fishing. He said he had been as quiet as possible. 

Buy your diesel in the large supermarket petrol stations, not on the Autoroute ones, there can be fifteen to twenty cent or more in the difference between them. All towns have signs marked ZC which is the Zone Commercial, the equivalent of a shopping centre and that is where you will find the cheap diesel, Carrefour, Super U, E. Leclerc are some names to look for. 

You can usually get into one of these just a km or so from the main road and the Satnav will probably be able to direct you if you look for Shopping in the Points of Interest.
It's great over there, fun and easy, no hassle.
Have a great time.

Ca


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

Ca, you put it so well, it nearly brought a tear to my eye, what a wonderful country France is for us campingcarists, it's so lovely to feel wanted.
BTW, I just can't resist saying that we are in the middle of re-packing the mh and doing the last minute stuff before we head for the ferry Tuesday week for a SIX MONTH trip


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## CaGreg (Mar 28, 2007)

Jean-Luc said:


> Ca, you put it so well, it nearly brought a tear to my eye, what a wonderful country France is for us campingcarists, it's so lovely to feel wanted.
> BTW, I just can't resist saying that we are in the middle of re-packing the mh and doing the last minute stuff before we head for the ferry Tuesday week for a SIX MONTH trip


Well, I can hardly resist saying, Bon Voyage and I hope all goes well for you. Am I jealous?? Well just a tiny bit.

Ca


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

One thing not mentioned is to avoid overnight parking on autoroute aires and service stations as you will be at risk from the low life breaking in. I know that someone will now say that they have used these for x number of years without problems but the risk is too well documented to be ignored. Also I speak from experience, and it ain't nice.

This is not to be confused with town and village type aires where problems are rare.


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