Paying to travel on roads - tolls and route planning

Barbara · Jul 8, 2022

I have searched for related items and they seem several years old so maybe it would be a good idea to have updates. I have information on Spain where lots of roads no longer have tolls.

Tolls and vignettes - Traffic rules - Vehicles - Citizens - Your rights and obligations in the EU - Tu espacio europeo - Punto de Acceso General

Information about tolls: roads, fees and payment methods, violations, exemptions and more.

administracion.gob.es

It would be good if others could add information on other countries, for example in the UK there are a few roads that need to be paid to travel on. Maybe we could gather information and how to avoid them.

You need to pay for the Dartford crossing on the M25 although it is not expensive (£2.50 for a car, which my T5 is classed as or £2 if you set up an account) but has to be paid online. The River Thames can be crossed for free on the Woolwich ferry (if it is running) or the Blackwell tunnel, but avoid the Rotherhithe tunnel as you may get a fine.

Pay the Dartford Crossing charge (Dart Charge)

Paying the Dart Charge: costs, creating an account, paying a fine or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), applying for a local resident discount.

www.gov.uk

Ozzy Pete · Jul 8, 2022

The easiest way is just to add into your satnav “Avoid tolls” it’s always worked for us over many years. Sometimes they are unavoidable but normally only for short distances.

Barbara · Jul 8, 2022

Ozzy Pete said:
The easiest way is just to add into your satnav “Avoid tolls” it’s always worked for us over many years. Sometimes they are unavoidable but normally only for short distances.

Good idea.

I was thinking more for planning trips. I use sites like Mappy and Google maps to give me an idea if it is worth going one way over another, sometimes the extra time taken can save money but sometimes it is too long to bother for a small saving. Maybe I am a bit odd in liking to plan my route with either paper or online maps, printing out possible routes with distances, alternatives and places to stop. It could be because I started travelling though Europe before the availability of satnavs and had to plan with paper maps and yellow sticky notes.

Ozzy Pete · Jul 8, 2022

Barbara said:
Good idea.

I was thinking more for planning trips. I use sites like Mappy and Google maps to give me an idea if it is worth going one way over another, sometimes the extra time taken can save money but sometimes it is too long to bother for a small saving. Maybe I am a bit odd in liking to plan my route with either paper or online maps, printing out possible routes with distances, alternatives and places to stop. It could be because I started travelling though Europe before the availability of satnavs and had to plan with paper maps and yellow sticky notes.

To tell the truth it’s been years since we actually “Used” a physical map. We find we normally know our final destination and work from that. A map of the country is Always taken with us for both a backup and its gives a perspective as to exactly where you are, which a satnav does to a certain degree but a map is on a larger scale.
Everyone is different and you need to do what is best for you.

Azteccamper · Jul 9, 2022

Barbara said:
Good idea.

I was thinking more for planning trips. I use sites like Mappy and Google maps to give me an idea if it is worth going one way over another, sometimes the extra time taken can save money but sometimes it is too long to bother for a small saving. Maybe I am a bit odd in liking to plan my route with either paper or online maps, printing out possible routes with distances, alternatives and places to stop. It could be because I started travelling though Europe before the availability of satnavs and had to plan with paper maps and yellow sticky notes.

Whilst planning our recent trip in Europe I also used Google maps to show potential routes. You have a number of route options like avoid motorways, avoid tolls, etc. that help you find the route you fancy. I love playing with Google maps - great for finding campsites too.