How Long Does It Take To Drive Across France

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About-France.com - the connoisseur'south guide to France

Driving through FRANCE to Espana

Covid-19 info. May 2022 : Espana'southward state edge with France is open to road and rail traffic. This is non expected to modify in 2022 unless a huge surge in infections leads to general European travel restrictions.

When driving through France, don't forget to conduct a yellow fluorescent jacket... All vehicles driving on French roads are obliged to bear a yellow fluorescent jacket, that must be put on if the driver has to get out in an emergency. (In Spain, information technology's ane per passenger). The jacket must be stored in the machine, not in the kick, and be easily accessible. Failure to carry the obligatory jacket may lead to an instant fine of up to 130 Euros, if stopped past police force.
► See French rules of the road for full details on French driving regulations.

Important: default speed limit on single-carriageway French roads is now 80km/hr

►ALL ROADS Due south LEAD TO Kingdom of spain ......

It's a long drive from the UK to Espana, and drivers heading south demand to plant their priorities in terms of time, speed and cost. Motorway tolls between Calais and the Spanish border can vary between zero and over 100 Euros, (over 160 € for campervans) depending on the route chosen. Yet unless time is no object, paying a few French pike tolls makes sense ; information technology will fifty-fifty normally work out cheaper on fuel than slavishly avoiding all tolls, given that finish-start driving through urban areas is very heavy on ruel consumption.
Trying to avoid all tolls is more often than not a pointless exercise even for motorhomes or campervans; driving hundreds of kilometres on wearisome roads with numerous towns and villages to negotiate is non the all-time fashion to cross France, unless you want to keep stopping to visit the sites on the way. In that location are more economical ways of driving to Spain than that.
There are 4 main routes south through French republic, and all of them lead to Spain. They all include long stretches of toll motorway, but three out of four also include long sections of road that are not toll roads.

Time, altitude, tolls - compare the routes UK to Espana:

Eastern route or western road ? :
Eastern routes are recommended for visitors travelling from the U.k. to the Costa Brava and anywhere on the Castilian Mediterranean declension north of Valencia. They cross into Espana south of Perpignan, at the border at Le Perthus / La Junquera and continue towards Barcelona.

Western routes
These are recommended for travellers aiming for cardinal or southern Spain or Portugal. Routes to southern Spain via Bordeaux and Irun are actually shorter than those via Lyon and Perpignan. Western routes cross into Spain due south of Biarritz, at the edge at Irun and go along towards Zaragoza, Burgos or Bilbao.
Distances indicated below are from Calais to the Castilian border.
Times are liable to exist considerably longer on peak vacation Saturdays (July August), particularly on routes E1, E2 and W2

E1 ► All motorway, avoiding Paris. : Leave Calais on the A 26 following signs for Reims. Then follow down through Reims, Troyes, Dijon, Lyon, Valence, Montpellier and Perpignan, to the Spanish edge at Le Perthus.
See Route guide - Calais, Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Mediterranean
Toll May 2022 ~ 114.60 €Altitude:1253 kmDriving time: about 11h 45.
E2 ► All motorway, via Paris. Leave Calais on the A 26 following signs for Reims every bit far as Arras. Then follow downwards through Paris, Orleans, Clermont Ferrand, Beziers, Perpignan. Motorway toll-free from Clermont Ferrand to Béziers, except for toll on Millau viaduct.
See Road guide - Calais, Rouen, Orleans, Clermont-Ferrand route
Toll May 2022 ~ 85.20 €Altitude:1162 kmDriving time: nigh 11h. (Fastest road if no delays round Paris)
W1 ► Fastest - all motorway or dual carriageway except through Rouen. Go out Calais on the A 16 following signs for Abbeville. Then follow down through Rouen, Alençon, Le Mans, Tours, (or Rouen,Chartres, Orleans, Tours) and the A10 to Bordeaux, Bayonne and the Spanish border.
► Run across detailed map, showing Route guide UK - Spain via Rouen and Bordeaux
Cost May 2022~ 95.70 €Distance:1093 kmDriving time: about 10h.ten.
Culling route: use Portsmouth Le Havre or Portsmouth Caen ferries for 150 km less driving in France (and less driving in the Uk likewise if coming from due west or northwest of London, as well as avoiding M25). Check with Brittany Ferries
W2 ► Similar W1 but via Paris and Orleans, not Rouen
Toll May 2022~ 96.90 € Distance, about 1100 km - Driving time: almost 10h30.
But beware of delays round Paris

Cheaper routes to Spain

Tip: reduce your fuel costs past driving less fast. Driving at seventy mph (112 kph) rather than 80mph (129 kph) reduces average fuel consumption past a huge 15%..... the equivalent of thirty centimes less per litre at 2022 fuel prices, or xviii € less on the cost of a full tank of 60 litres.

E3 ► Proficient cost / time rest Calais to Orleans avoiding Paris. Then ► same as E2. Mostly expressway, 8 km longer than E2, but less tolls and no Paris.
Leave Calais on the A 16 , then follow down through Rouen, Evreux,Chartres, Orleans, Clermont Ferrand, Beziers, Perpignan. Motorways gratuitous from Abbeville to Rouen, and Clermont Ferrand to Béziers, except for toll on Millau viaduct. Map with hotels
Toll May 2022 : ~ 66.30 €. Distance: 1164 km Driving time: well-nigh 11h thirty.
E4 ► The fastest eastern route with few tolls:
see Road guide - to the Mediterranean without tolls Same as E3 except for Orleans to Clermont Ferrand. Simply it volition take about 3 to 4 hours more than driving than any of the other routes. After Béziers, follow the old routes nationales to the Spanish border. Rather tedious after Perpignan, and not for HGVS.
Price costs and driving fourth dimension depend on how many time-saving toll sections you adopt to take.
Altitude, a little over 1200 km.Driving time: virtually 13h to 14h.30.
W3 ► Adept cost / time balance A fast western route with few tolls:Calais - Irun via Rouen, Orleans, and A10 to Poitiers, so N10 to Bordeaux: tolls depend on what price sections you prefer to take. It is possible to avoid tolls later on Bordeaux, but this is irksome and not worthwhile unless yous have all the time in the globe.
For detail see Calais to Southern Espana via Bordeaux with few tolls
Toll May 2022 - 58.10 €.Altitude, about 1080 km. Driving time: nearly 11h 25.
W4 ► Shortest Calais - Irun with few tollsvia Rouen, Chartres, then N10 to Tours, and A10 to Poitiers, and N10 to Bordeaux: shortest route, but longer in fourth dimension than W3, Notation: Chartres to Tours, 120 km, by and large single carriageway. For more details, notably regarding toll motorways south of Bordeaux, see Calais to Bayonne / Irun without tolls
Toll: May 2022: 41.lxx €. Distance: 1030 kmDriving time: at least 11h. 33.... up to an hr and a half more than if you avoid tolls between Bordeaux and the Spanish edge.
W5 Cheapest Calais - Irun with few tollsvia Rouen, Orleans, Vierzon, A20, N141, Angoulême, Bordeaux: more than freeway than W4 but nearly economical in tolls. A skilful balance between distance, speed and tolls .Come across road guide
Toll May 2022 : 39.10 €. Distance: 1112 km Driving time: about 12h. 50.

Annotation: Motorway tolls are based on May 2022 rates for cars.
For Car + caravan; add near l%; for truck / HGV toll rates (form 4) : approximately three times the rate for cars.
Since the savings on fuel and on distance make the shortest routes an attractive proposition for HGVs (trucks), (notably N141 or N 10) they are not necessarily recommended for cars on weekdays. But HGVs are banned from the roads on Sundays in France, and there are far less of them on Saturdays.

► ► Beware of the "cheap ferries" scam
Some internet sites that announce "cheap" ferry prices are actually charging more than the Ferry companies themselves. Avoid dodgy websites; click to book straight with ferry companies

See France as y'all travel through......

Chartres, with its UNESCO listed cathedral, is a good stopping-off point on routes E3, E4, and W3 - W5

Bourges cathedral
Bourges : see the remarkable medieval sculpture and stained glass in the cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site - routes E2 and E3

Bordeaux - wine capital letter of the world. On all western routes

Paris
Paris. On routes W2 and E2. Tip: stay on the outskirts, go in by train.

Map of France

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