Travelling in France - Autoroute or N route?
We use both. For long-distance travel we use A roads, for local travel and journeys under, say,100 miles we use the ‘N’ roads
Old-timers will recall the Route Nationale designation, which has now been superseded by Département routes. An up-to-date road atlas is a ‘must’ as the road numbers are being changed at the same time.
France is a big country compared with UK, and it’s easy to underestimate journey times. The Autoroute system, or Péage is an excellent means of getting to your target area. For example, if you’re heading to Aix en Provence from Calais *, you don’t want
to be stuck behind a tractor on the D943 when you could be whizzing down the A26!
The Péage, unlike our motorway system, is a toll system. This means that the French do not use the autoroute as an adjunct to the local roads. In UK much of the motorway traffic is local use. Where there is no alternative N road, the autoroute is free.
It’s also free going around major cities. Once you are on the Péage, you can easily cruise at 60 mph and achieve a high average speed. On some N roads, you will be hard-pressed to cover 30 miles after an hours driving!
Another advantage of the Péage is the frequency and high standard of the service areas,
Aires de Service. The ‘blue’ ones on the map are full service stations, the ‘green’ ones have toilets and picnic areas. On the N roads parking isn’t always so handy, and you doggy people may have difficulty finding somewhere to exercise your pets.
However, along the way you’ll be able to top up at supermarket fuel pumps, which are cheaper than service stations. (We plan our night stops to incorporate supermarkets which take UK debit cards)
The downside of using the Péage is the cost. However, there must be savings in fuel consumption and wear and tear on you and your vehicle. On our way home in April, we drove from Macot La Plagne to Langres in 6 and a bit hours, a distance of 288 miles,
including stops. On the road the only gearchanges we made were dropping to fourth on long hills.
The other drawback on the Péage is queueing at the tolls in July to mid August, especially at weekends and on the routes to the south coast. Tip: don’t get behind a troop of motorcyclists: their queue may look the shortest but they’ve all got to pay individually.
You can get a ‘Liber-T’ electronic pass ** which debits your bank account. Their website now has an English version.
Finally, we also use and love the Bis routes, and travelling at a leisurely pace from village to village. Google ‘Bison Futé’ *** for useful info. To plan and cost a journey on the Péage, try this site.
http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/routes.htm
*Distance: 1057.702km of which 1046.58 km on motorways
Time: 09H20
Cost: 229.31 EUR
Toll 129.7 EUR | Fuel 99.61 EUR
**https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/?gclid=CP7yhrPj8K8CFQQMtAodiTOWXA
*** Smart Buffalo
http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr/diri/Accueil.do
P.s. We were prompted to post these suggestions having met two sets of CC campers in France who had been dissuaded from using the Péage and had had to curtail their original plans.