Do I leave the A85 at Tours?

Jed 1966
Jed 1966 Forum Participant Posts: 8
edited August 2018 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Hi everyone,

I am going to be towing our van down to the Sarlat area soon and have looked at the route on route planner etc. My chosen route down to Limoges takes me off the A85 at junction 11 to go across country to shorten the route to Chateauroux. I'm not sure about this and having looked on Google Earth the roads on this section seem rather narrow in places. Is it a case of sticking to the autoroutes as they will be quicker in the long run. Any advice is welcome 

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  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
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    edited August 2018 #2

    Tours to Chateauroux on the D943 is perfectly OK. You join the A20 autoroute at Chateauroux and that is toll free down to Brive. 

  • Jed 1966
    Jed 1966 Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited August 2018 #3

    Thank you eurotraveller much appreciated

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited August 2018 #4

    We came back using the D943 in June, perfectly good road👍 We made a stop in the town of Loches, and at the time we were not aware of this fantastic old town and its sights, well worth a stop for a few days.

  • H B Watson
    H B Watson Forum Participant Posts: 183
    edited August 2018 #5

    Many roads classified as 'D' now used to be 'N's up to a few years ago when there was a big re-classification exercise. That said, as a rule North - South roads tend to be better than East - West roads, just like the UK. Almost everything spokes out from Paris.

  • Watendlath
    Watendlath Forum Participant Posts: 232
    edited August 2018 #6

    We go down to the Sarlat area quite often and always go Calais – Rouen – Dreux – Chartres – Orleans ( to miss the chaos of dragging through the city nip onto the A10 at Saran (J14) to continue onto the A71 and leave at J2) then D2020 to Vierzon and then the free A20 to Brive. The only minor bottleneck is at St Remy sur Arve, just before Dreux,  but the rest is usually free flowing. We prefer to travel on N and D roads and so our toll cost for the trip this year came to 2.6 euro for the bit around Orleans for a total distance of just over 700 miles.

  • Tigi
    Tigi Forum Participant Posts: 1,038
    500 Comments
    edited August 2018 #7

    We use this route via Chateauroux every year to the S of France simply as it is a good toll free road, good surface, straight and not too many villages en route. There are a number of speed cameras so bear in mind the new speed limit of 80Kmph will apply. 

  • Jed 1966
    Jed 1966 Forum Participant Posts: 8
    edited August 2018 #8

    Thanks for all your replies, really helpful and much appreciated 👍

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