Paying French tolls

[Freeley]

This may seem like a really stupid question to all you euro veterans but as its my first time i will ask anyway.

When it comes to paying tolls can you use a visa/credit card on all of them (and is it wise to with potential card charges) or do i need plenty of cash?
And if some of the tolls are unmanned do the machines take notes or only change.
And if they only take change where the hell am i going to get that amount of change from other than stopping at shops every 5 minutes ?????
Have checked out a couple of French toll sites but they seem a bit vague to me......i'm confused again :?

Oh and how much do you reckon it'll cost to get from calais to grindelwald ?!


Please help.......

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BerndRos]

My advice is to steer well clear of toll roads, enjoy the countries you pass through........as I did set the SatNav to avoid them.....

But if you can't.......change and notes are normally accepted....on unmanned booths........

 

[swigle]

Credit cards accepted - easier than rooting around for notes and change. I'd recommend getting a receipt every time used, so you can track your bills when they come in.
Fairly sure all exits have manned booths if you'd rather use cash - so no need for exact change.
Don't expect it to be cheap, but the toll roads are a quick way to travel a long distance. Roads are good and usually traffic free (cos everyone else probably avoids them due to the cost!)
But still MUCH better value that M6 toll!

Aires are frequent (every 10 miles?) but most have minimal services ( i.e. not like UK service stations).

Fuel prices are shown on the roadside for the next few service stations that do have fuel. Fuel is more expensive on the motorways than off, but not as exorbitant as on UK motorways.

 

[swigle]

And there's more ... (remembered a few other bits about toll roads) ...

Motorways round towns are not toll, so you can be on a toll road, have to pay as you get close to a town, and then once past the town the road becomes toll again.

For some toll roads you have to pay a fixed fee to get on, rather than when you exit (where the price paid is based on distance travelled). (maybe not in France but does happen in Spain).

 

[Freeley]

Ok thanks chaps helpful as always.

 

[NickE]

Oh and how much do you reckon it'll cost to get from calais to grindelwald ?!

Toll and fuel calculator from Michelin here: http://www.michelin.co.uk/services/viaMichelin/

Having recently covered a lot of motorway kilometres in France and Italy we:
1. paid in cash to avoid potential for exchange rate rip off (yes, unmanned booths took notes)
2. averaged 80 mph for hours on end
3. didn't get tailgated by 100+mph maniacs like in the old days

So, if you are in a hurry and you're happy to spend almost as much on tolls as you do on diesel, then French motorways should suit.

 

[BerndRos]

Tolls are so expensive, in March I had to drive from Milan to Paris in a day,so with reluctance took the motorways, about 700 miles and I think cost about 150 euros in tolls, hated it as felt a waste to not see the backwaters. Contrast this with an earlier trip from Turkey to Athens, 699 miles to my free camp in Athens centre and about 20 euros in tolls.

 

[GeoffB]

We used credit cards. Just after we'd left Austria we were told we should have had a 'vignette' in our windscreen to show we'd paid tax to drive on motorways, apparently we'd have been fined if Austro-plod had stopped us and found us without - watch out if you're going that way.

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

I use credit cards every time. Although you can now get the SANEF card in the UK, which means you can drive straight through and it just debits your account.

 

[m4rky]

Avoid the peage they are so boring - use the national roads instead as they are free and the experience far better

If you want help planning a route I'm sure that people here can help

 

[Harrythecat]

You can certainly use credit or debit cards on most toll roads but you will get ripped off on the exchange rate by the banks or credit card companies.

We use a eurocard. There are a number of them available. We use Caxton which is in the top three for value but not at the top currently.You could do worse than looking at the Moneysavingexpert website for the current best deal. You preload it before you go and know what interest rate you're getting. You can use it for everything else like petrol, hotels, food etc.

Occasionally the toll companies don't accept them in some areas (I've had problems around Savoie) so it is wise to carry cash and a credit card for back up.

 

[Stu]

We have the SANEF 'tag' for the tolls, very useful and hassle free.

 

[andys495]

Ditto to the above and I totally recommend it. Great if your alone (ticket machine is on the left) or your co pilot (front seat passenger) is fast asleep.

 

[Freeley]

We have the SANEF 'tag' for the tolls, very useful and hassle free.

Does this work on all tolls in france Stu, there are loads of different companies operating tolls aren't there?

 

[Stu]

Yes mate, your invoice will list the different companies.

It's not tied to a vehicle either.

 

[Stu]

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

 

[Freeley]

That looks interesting Stu is certainly an option, looks like it costs about 40 Euros with a 20 Euro refund if you ever send the tag back?

I'm thinking in this instance perhaps of taking a toll free route through belgium and luxembourg, is only about 30 miles extra by the looks of it.

 

[Stu]

It's not the cheapest option but by far the most convenient. The picture on people's faces when they've come hurtling past you before the Tolls and then 20 mins later they eventually catch you and double take as they overtake again. No fumbling for change/cards etc, no leaning out of the window trying to reach a machine or even having a machine on the wrong side.

As for non toll routes it depends if you're touring or looking to get somewhere.

 

[Californiaman]

Some of the good non-toll roads through Belgium are very good BUT some of the town are dreadful... really dreadful..

Try and hit Luxembourg with an empty tank. Last time we were there it was staggeringly cheap (but there were long queues!)

 

[GeoffB]

Some of the good non-toll roads through Belgium are very good BUT some of the town are dreadful... really dreadful..

Thought ALL the Belgian ones we went on were dreadful, we drove along the North to Bruges then to Calais, which might not be much of a sample though. They didn't seem to have discovered the concept of cloverleaf junctions on the Belgian autoroutes (or whatever they call them) we saw, you went on at x-roads with traffic lights. Soon after joining our first we had to halt at a red light so a farm cart could cross!

Next time we go to the continent we will make sure we avoid Belgium whenever possible, trouble is, it's in the way if you're going to Holland or Denmark!

While driving through it we played the "name 5 famous Belgians" game. We couldn't, without including Hercule Poirot - can anybody?

 

[Californiaman]

The greatest racing cyclist ever - Eddy Merckx!

Adolphe Sax (you can't help but learn all about him if you visit Dinant!)

Audrey Hepburn!

The only other one I can think of is Plastic Bertrand but that is scraping the bottom of the barrel!

Four... not bad...

 

[sidepod]

Another small problem we've found is the ticket dispensing machines can get confused with the height of the vehicle.
They are often two tier machines, the lower for cars, the upper for trucks.

Occasionally we were waiting for the ticket to pop out when it had already done so from the upper slot.

Now you know. No point adding to the frustration of the impatient Frenchy behind the Engleesh Ros-beef is there. :headwall

S.

 

[dfps]

Some so called Euro debit cards are not accepted at French tolls or French automated fuel stations.
One such card is Fairfx Euro card.
I was nearly left in a difficult situation on a French motorway in The South of France late on a Sunday night when there was no manned toll booth and my Fairfx card was refused.On almost an empty tank I rolled into a Motroway services only to find that I could not get any fuel with the card.

Fortunately I had a UK visa card with me to get me out of both sticky situations.
Unfortunately I got screwed on the exchange rate and card fees.

Moral of story---- not all plastic cards are accepted so please check beforehand.

PS : Fairfx seem to think its is ok for a EURO debit card not to be accepted at European tolls and fuel stations---the 2 main reasons most people need a card !!!!!!
Other Euro debit cards are available !!!!

 

[debarros]

OK. all good advice.

Now here is a tip if you use Euros and dollars a lot. CItiBank offers a debit card which can be linked to a Euro/dollar/pound account (no charge for using or changing the currency). There is no exchange rate to worry about as your card will run in the currency of your choice and there is no commission or use charge. Have not had any trouble using it on the French motorways or for that matter getting Euros from the French hole in the wall machines. (nor for dollars in USA and Russia either).

Worth a look.

 

[timhutch]

Yes mate, your invoice will list the different companies.

It's not tied to a vehicle either.

Do you use the Lorry lanes then? The tag lanes towards the left are too low......