Toll Free Route via Rouen - Thank You Valda
Just a thank you to Valda for her toll free route around Rouen which we followed when on holiday earlier this month. We supplemented it with a you tube video by Keith Chesterfield which gave an idea what landmarks to look for etc.
WE followed both ways but on the way back took the A16 Toll all the way rather than diverting off as we found this most boring and hard work and felt we could spend the hour saved better sitting in the sun at Ferme de l'Horloge in the sun instead
Anyone wanting to follow this route would highly recommend it, no traffic to speak of even though we came back through late morning Friday.
Here is the link to the you tube video if anyone is interested.
Mod Comment - Link edited to open in new window
Comments
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A nice response, and glad you enjoyed your holiday , but many of us go nowhere near Rouen. It's not compulsory !
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Gladly, but without knowing where you live or where you are going it's a bit of a puzzle.
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i dont know where in Essex Michael lives, but just for info and support AD's post....
Colchester to Dover is 2 hours.
colchester to Portsmouth is only 2hr 40m.
this allows you to get to Caen (or St malo) and cut hours (around 3.5 hrs) off the journey (to the western side, say, la rochelle) once in france....
might be an option?
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Wow we live in Essex but closer to m25 than Colchester by 20 minutes or so. I'm really surprised at so slight a time difference. Must have been when m25 moves and not at a standstill 😉😉. Shortest distance possible on m25 is our motto 😂. Love the crossing to Caen though, we tend to arrive close to Portsmouth for a night or two to ensure m25 is completed by time of ferry 😉.
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The inference was there are other/better routes...
Not thought of Portsmouth, always look at costs and time, 2 hours for us to Dover, we paid £117 return this year out Friday night at 20:15 back Saturday at 10:45. 3 hours saved on driving equates to about 6 gals of diesel so say £40 most. I suspect the Caen ferry is a lot more. but will look into it next time.
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As promised some alternatives to avoid Rouen, even from Calais.
For La Rochelle and the west coast, and for Perpignan and the far south too, you can go across the north of Rouen on the A29 as far as the Yvetot junction, then due south over the big Pont de Brotonne bridge.
For Provence and the Ardeche you can go down the A26 as far as St Quentin, and either leaving the autoroute there to switch to toll free roads, or continuing on it via Reims and Troyes.
But Rouen is a lovely city for a visit. I can recommend the Hotel Le Cardinal in the square by the cathedral.
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For Provence and Ardeche from Calais you have to go Reims and Lyon and suffer the extra tolls. Any other route doesn't make much sense unless you want to circumnavigate L'Hexagone.
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I would definitely support what Eurotraveller says about the Yvetot junction. I just did that again a few days ago and was a delight compared with experiences of others pitched around that the usual awful Rouen experience, although I suspect having used sat navs.
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We have done the Yvetot route when we were staying at Jumieges and there is nothing wrong with it but for anyone heading back to Calais it is a long way round compared to biting the bullet and heading through Rouen via the D18 from junction 22 on the A13. There will be a bit tolls as well.
David
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