Driving to Beziers

[Capra]

Did this several times in the mid 90s when I lived and studied down there... I love driving in Europe in general and especially France, you can either take your time on the routes nationales or pay and hammer down the motorway

Depending on when you drive it I’d say it’s more comfortably a 2 day drive... I remember the drives with parents too in cars without air con, and 40c heat...that was energy sapping!

I live in the north so most euro car journeys almost require a whole day just in the uk!

I would probably look at an overnight stay. What are the speed limits on the french toll roads?

 

[V6Matty]

Normally 130kph

 

[jp williams]

Normally 130kph

And 110 in wet weather.

 

[d215yq]

Firstly, if going from Calais take the ferry - under half the price and you get to stretch your legs around on a nice sea deck for the 1h20 minutes which is great to prepare for a long journey, unlike sitting in your car in a dark tunnel. Usually pay 25-40 each way. and with the better unloading will only cost you 45 minutes more.

Whether you're going cherbourg/calais I'd take the toll road for the first bit as the A/D roads around the North aren't quite so interesting and can have more traffic so autoroute to somewhere like Le mans/Orleans to get used to roads/get past Paris etc (Le mans is about 3h from cherbourg, orleans 4h from cherbourg/calais).

From this point the adventure can begin and there is no need to pay any toll road as the drive becomes a lot nicer and rural and you could stop at many a village on route for nice meals/accomodation. Also going that way parts of the A75 are toll free anyway so you'd still get some motorway thrown in. This part is about 7h50 without paying the toll:

I'd recommend stopping at least once doing this (I'd to 2 nights if time wasn't an issue): Only way to do it in one go is use the tolls road which is no fun, still dangerous as easy to lose concentration on motorways after so much time and you'll pay more than 1 night's cheap accomodation in rural france on the tolls.

Not sure why the speed limits are confusing: If not mentioned it's 50kph in towns (31mph like here) 90 (55mph) on normal roads and 130 (80) reduced to 110 (70) when it rains. Obviously anything posted takes precedence over all these!

 

[AnthonyUK]

I would probably look at an overnight stay. What are the speed limits on the french toll roads?

I used to stick to the speed limits, pretty much...anyway for two reasons.
Firstly I had a V6 Espace at the time that was just perfect for bombing up and down to the South of France but if you wanted more than around 25 mpg you needed to ease off and secondly, you don't want to be an easy target for the local police.
The locals would generally fly by at 90mph or more usually is a diesel Golf.

You can mitigate speeding tickets from the timings between tolls somewhat by stopping for a break along the autoroutes which have many such areas.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Yep - I used to change my shirt on the motorways too. Saved time, but I stopped doing it when cameras became commonplace!

He didn’t spot it

 

[LostKiwi]

Firstly, if going from Calais take the ferry - under half the price and you get to stretch your legs around on a nice sea deck for the 1h20 minutes which is great to prepare for a long journey, unlike sitting in your car in a dark tunnel. Usually pay 25-40 each way. and with the better unloading will only cost you 45 minutes more.

Then once you're in Calais take the toll road to just south of Paris as the A roads around here aren't taht interesting (mainly farmland) and are more densely trafficed. If it was me I'd take toll road to Orleans (4h30 from Calais).

From Orleans holiday can begin and there is no need to pay any toll road as the drive becomes a lot nicer and rural and you could stop at many a village on route for nice meals/accomodation. Also going that way parts of the A75 are toll free anyway so you'd still get some motorway thrown in. Orleans to Beziers without paying tolls is 7h50 so:

Could either do

1) if rushing early am ferry and one night stop over
2) if not later ferry, one stop Orleans and another mid route.

3) Mid afternoon ferry, leisurely drive to a suitable hotel (we used to use Hotel Ibis in the center of St Omer) and dinner, early night and do the whole thing (or not) next day.

We used to do a leisurely run down from St Omer to Agincourt, Rouen, Evreux, Dreux, then for Beziers head south to Vierzon to A75 or further west Blois, Chateauroux, Brive, Cahors, Lyon and round to Med from there. Regular stops in little villages for coffee, roadside picnics with baguettes, ham, cheese and tomatoes, and detours for anything that took our interest.

This is what I meant by the journey being the destination. No fixed timetable (we'd find accommodation each night as required), no rushing. On occasion you'd stumble across something interesting such as a Brocante market (Brocante is like the stuff you buy at car boots but with stalls in the town square - there are also Brocante shops). We found one of these in Lagrasse and it was full of interesting things such as vintage Leica cameras, old vintage tools, books, maps, furniture etc. On other occasions a beautiful town or village (Rocmadour for example) or a fantastically scenic road (Lagrasse through Termes for example).
Most of our best memories in France are of trips like that.

Incidentally while down in that region consider a canal holiday on the Canal du Midi. Takes leisurely progress to a whole new level and the scenery is just beautiful, especially the section Beziers to Le Somail. Even by road Colombiers, Capestang and Le Somail are worth a visit. And then there's Carcassonne....

 

[d215yq]

3) Mid afternoon ferry, leisurely drive to a suitable hotel (we used to use Hotel Ibis in the center of St Omer) and dinner, early night and do the whole thing (or not) next day.

We used to do a leisurely run down from St Omer to Agincourt, Rouen, Evreux, Dreux, then for Beziers head south to Vierzon to A75 or further west Blois, Chateauroux, Brive, Cahors, Lyon and round to Med from there. Regular stops in little villages for coffee, roadside picnics with baguettes, ham, cheese and tomatoes, and detours for anything that took our interest.

This is what I meant by the journey being the destination. No fixed timetable (we'd find accommodation each night as required), no rushing. On occasion you'd stumble across something interesting such as a Brocante market (Brocante is like the stuff you buy at car boots but with stalls in the town square - there are also Brocante shops). We found one of these in Lagrasse and it was full of interesting things such as vintage Leica cameras, old vintage tools, books, maps, furniture etc. On other occasions a beautiful town or village (Rocmadour for example) or a fantastically scenic road (Lagrasse through Termes for example).
Most of our best memories in France are of trips like that.

Incidentally while down in that region consider a canal holiday on the Canal du Midi. Takes leisurely progress to a whole new level and the scenery is just beautiful, especially the section Beziers to Le Somail. Even by road Colombiers, Capestang and Le Somail are worth a visit. And then there's Carcassonne....

Sounds like we like the same sort of trip, LK! Got to visit family in UK soon so will do similar in reverse 2-3 nights. Actually often a little sad to hit the final motorway straight to Calais as part of holiday is over!

PS I think you mean Toulouse not Lyon?

 

[umblecumbuz]

Guys - you're all forgetting stopping at roadside transport shacks with an empty bottle and filling with local rough wine to go with your baguettes. Mid France especially good at this.

 

[AnthonyUK]

Guys - you're all forgetting stopping at roadside transport shacks with an empty bottle and filling with local rough wine to go with your baguettes. Mid France especially good at this.

Table wine, please

 

[Naraic]

We've driven a similar route a number of times to catch a ship - either at Fos or Marseilles. Lovely run if avoiding toll roads. Cherbourg has usually been the French stating point. Problem is, we take our time, find a Novotel or similar, and dawdle.
Not a lot of help, except to say that the route is great and the whole drive is enjoyable.
We've also taken the overnighter from Paris, putting our car on the train. Not recommended at all!

Do they still do the train?

We did it from Calais to Narbonne in 2001...a horrible, horrible journey. The rolling stock was old. It was too hot with the windows closed and too noisy with the windows open...and the top bunk was in sliding line with the open window...

Thank God they did away with it on that route.

 

[jp williams]

Firstly, if going from Calais take the ferry - under half the price and you get to stretch your legs around on a nice sea deck for the 1h20 minutes which is great to prepare for a long journey, unlike sitting in your car in a dark tunnel. Usually pay 25-40 each way. and with the better unloading will only cost you 45 minutes more.

Whether you're going cherbourg/calais I'd take the toll road for the first bit as the A/D roads around the North aren't quite so interesting and can have more traffic so autoroute to somewhere like Le mans/Orleans to get used to roads/get past Paris etc (Le mans is about 3h from cherbourg, orleans 4h from cherbourg/calais).

From this point the adventure can begin and there is no need to pay any toll road as the drive becomes a lot nicer and rural and you could stop at many a village on route for nice meals/accomodation. Also going that way parts of the A75 are toll free anyway so you'd still get some motorway thrown in. This part is about 7h50 without paying the toll:

I'd recommend stopping at least once doing this (I'd to 2 nights if time wasn't an issue): Only way to do it in one go is use the tolls road which is no fun, still dangerous as easy to lose concentration on motorways after so much time and you'll pay more than 1 night's cheap accomodation in rural france on the tolls.

Not sure why the speed limits are confusing: If not mentioned it's 50kph in towns (31mph like here) 90 (55mph) on normal roads and 130 (80) reduced to 110 (70) when it rains. Obviously anything posted takes precedence over all these!

FRANCE HAS JUST CHANGED FROM 90KMH TO 89 KMH(50MPH) ON NORMAL ROADS SO BEWARE !!

 

[jp williams]

FRANCE HAS JUST CHANGED FROM 90KMH TO 89 KMH(50MPH) ON NORMAL ROADS SO BEWARE !!

SORRY 89 SHOULD HAVE READ 80KMH.

 

[LostKiwi]

FRANCE HAS JUST CHANGED FROM 90KMH TO 89 KMH(50MPH) ON NORMAL ROADS SO BEWARE !!

Comes into effect 1st July 2018

 

[jp williams]

Comes into effect 1st July 2018

Thanks LK. I AM STAYING OVERNIGHT IN MANSLE AGAIN IN 10 DAYS TIME ON WAY BACK TO UK.
Sadly, I put my Passport in the washing machine and might have a problem at HM Customs!!

 

[Capra]

He didn’t spot it

I think I did

 

[John Laidlaw]

I think I did

Lol.... you didn’t add a at the time so wasn’t sure!

 

[Capra]

Lol.... you didn’t add a at the time so wasn’t sure!

It's my dry sense of humour

 

[Glynn350]

Unlike others I prefer the Chunnel. After doing the ferry to calais for around 4 round trips, I decided to try the Tunnel, and never looked back. You can get out of your car for a quick stretch of your legs either in the carriage or at the terminal, and before you know it you are on your way to the nicer pastures. You also don't have to get there as early as you do for the ferry.

If you rack up some tesco clubcard points, you can triple them to pay for the whole return journey. I typically pay around £150 return on the tunnel, so £50 of clubcard vouchers will pay for that, and I collect an average of £40 vouchers a quarter, so over a year it easily pays for two trips and a night in a hotel (I use the remainder on Hotels.com which also triples the voucher)

 

[Glynn350]

This summer my clubcard vouchers have paid for me to stay here, in Chateauroux as a stop over on the way south.