# Toll free route Dunkirk to French Riviera (via Avignon)



## FoweyBoy (Dec 7, 2006)

I had a lot of help on here last year with a toll free route to the Italian lakes via Switzerland using variations of "Russel's route". I have tried searching "France Touring" to no avail.

The last time we went to the French Riviera we used the toll roads and ended up with a bill for tolls of about £100. Looking on the via Michelin website it gives a driving time of 11:09h on toll roads and 19:38h non-tolls - quite a time penalty for avoiding tolls. We usually do about 250-300 miles a day. So a 700 mile trip would take 3 days/2 nights.

Has anyone got a favorite non-toll route to the south of France :?:


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

Well we never use toll roads in any country and we often go down to the French Riviera. As for the route we use i couldn't tell you as we just put our destination in the sat nav and say no tolls and just sit back and enjoy the scenery. Also in the sat nav we have the download from the book camperstop and when we feel ready to stop just look in that for a free stop over. No need for maps and mary can enjoy the scenery rather than map reading.


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Have you tried using something like this?:

Via Michelin

Quite a few options on it. A good place to start your planning and then fine tune it from there.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I'm guessing your time is limited so your looking for the fastest and cheapest route. What I do is break the journey up into 100 mile or 200 mile sections and then do each route on the sat nav, google maps or via Michelin. You may find that all the time is lost on one or two sections but on other sections the difference in time between toll and none toll is minimal (ie 2 hrs as apose to 2:20 hrs) so it's not worth using tolls for that section. If I'm doing a 200 mile section and in a hurry and the toll is twice as fast as the none toll I'll us the toll.

Hope this makes sense. I hardly ever use them though as I'm seldom in a hurry.


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## FoweyBoy (Dec 7, 2006)

Damar1. You have a lot of trust in your GPS! I tend to cross reference Tomtom routes to road atlas and make alterations by inputting waypoints - takes a time! I have Camperstop book, but had forgotten about Poi downloads, though they do charge for them.

Tonyt. I mentioned via Michelin in my original post. Yes, I find it very useful for route planning.

Barryd. I like the idea of breaking the route down into sections to look for slow areas. I will try that. Time is not too much of a factor as we have 4 weeks, but like to get south asap as we leave mid-Feb!


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

Yes Foweyboy, I think you are right we doo put a lot of trust into the good old garmin, but in the last 5 years i think it only sent us wrong once. But for us the best thing we ever got was camperstop and the downloads, last year we traveled for about 5 months and found the book a great help, when you are fed up with driving just look on sat nave all the stopovers are on there look in the book and that gives you all the info you need. Before we leave we look at the map to get an idea where we wont to go, for us the sat nave and camperstop are the best thing we have ever invested in with regards to m/hing and we had our first van in 1969 ( not a m/h then a camper van )
.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

FoweyBoy said:


> Damar1. You have a lot of trust in your GPS!


More than we do, that's for sure! They will always get you there - but by what route?? How often do they take you via a route you would never consider if you had seen it in full beforehand, and been able to make an informed decision? 

That aside Foweyboy, have you considered using Autoroute on a lappie or netbook? It works well for us and has many other advantages as well as taking you on a route that you have tweaked to suit your individual needs. Not least is the pushpin facility where all the aires, campsites, supermarkets etc., can be shown on the map. It can even show all the ACSI and Camping Cheques sites, with a little balloon showing the page reference in the book if you want to check one in more detail as you approach.

If you have time, give this thread a read. It may be just what you need.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-946584.html#946584

If you are interested, don't waste cash on the latest version of A/R, even though it's not that expensive. Version 2010 is fine - and 2007 is more than adequate, although you may find yourself driving across a field now and then, when the mapping is not up to date. :lol: Both are quite cheap on eBay.

Dave


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## Philippft (Feb 16, 2008)

The information you are seeking is here:

http://about-france.com/travel.htm


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## damar1 (Sep 29, 2012)

I must say we have been and seen so many places by just using the sat nav. That is what is so good we find they do take you via a route you never consider, and there for you see so many places you would miss, by keeping to the big main roads .i appreciate other people like every thing mapped and planed out like a military operation but its each to there own.


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## iandsm (May 18, 2007)

*Toll roads*

For us it's a question of time, If we have plenty of it and no rush, then we tell the tom-tom to avoid toll roads, and as has been said, sit back and enjoy the scenery. If we want to be somewhere fairy fast, like south of France, then it's toll roads all the way. We don't mind spending £100 or so on tolls because we know we save that and more in the cost of diesel. We also like saving many hours driving too.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

damar1 said:


> That is what is so good we find they do take you via a route you never consider, and there for you see so many places you would miss, by keeping to the big main roads .


Problem is Damar, the bloody things always try to take you onto those main roads, motorways and toll roads that you (_and we_ :wink: ) dislike so much, even though you tell them not to! :roll:

Can only speak for us of course, but our main objective is to avoid those boring major routes, which is why I spend time dragging the Autoroute option off them where necessary, and onto the lesser roads that we so much prefer.

As for military planning - yes, up to a point. I like to have a plan . . . but have never yet stuck to it for an entire holiday. Within a few days we usually deviate, but the carefully selected minor road route(s) is/are always there as a fall-back if we want it/them.

It's what suits you, the individual, that matters. :wink:

Dave


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## FoweyBoy (Dec 7, 2006)

Zebedee. Yes I also use Autoroute for route planning, converting the route to Tomtom. We found Tomtom was more practical as a driving aid than Autoroute on netbook.

Philppft. Thanks for the link. Looks interesting - needs some time exploring the routes.

We usually try to plan our route to the first holiday spot. From then on its more haphazard. I do try to look for scenic trips to interesting places.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

FoweyBoy said:


> Zebedee. Yes I also use Autoroute for route planning, converting the route to Tomtom. We found Tomtom was more practical as a driving aid than Autoroute on netbook.


Agreed Fowey, but we seem to attract those bloody deviations like fleas to a mangy dog! :evil: Probably because we almost always take the scenic route.

In such situations the TomTom is worse than useless. It keeps trying to send you back to where you know the road is blocked - *but gives you no guidance at all for the heading you want*!!!

Mrs Zeb can follow the deviation signs, or (_more probably_) zoom out on the netbook and choose her own detour to include a nearby place of interest. We are delayed anyway, so why not make the most of it with a detour for lunch or coffee and a cake! :lol: Then she just drifts back toward the blue line on the map and we rejoin the pre-planned route_ (if we feel like it :roll: )_.

I confess the netbook was a pain in the backside until I made a little table for it. >> See here << (Thanks to Mike.)

Dave


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