Costs of driving to the South of France

Capra

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I know a few here drive to France and maybe the south, but I was just wondering what the rough costs are for a round trip, including the channel crossing. Our friends parents have a place in Beziers near Marseille and when they go I am tempted to drive down maybe.
 

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I know a few here drive to France and maybe the south, but I was just wondering what the rough costs are for a round trip, including the channel crossing. Our friends parents have a place in Beziers near Marseille and when they go I am tempted to drive down maybe.
The costs will be very much dependant upon the individual, their car and how they drive. My SLK is 17ppm for fuel so for me it would be ~£160 in fuel.

I'd do it as I love driving on the continent :)
 

ajlsl600

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a few yr ago i found it cheaper to fly to Nice and hire a small car for the weekend than to use the ferry/tunnel, fuel and road tolls. + 10 hr each way .suggest you use via michelin it will give you a fair costing .
 

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Your biggest expense will likely be tolls and fuel.

The variables to consider are route and car. Much will also depend on your UK starting point (you wouldn't use Dover if you live in Plymouth for example).
For example if you use Dover Calais the ferry is much cheaper than Portsmouth Cherbourg/Caen/Le Havre but you'll probably spend more on tolls and fuel. Day of week, time of day and month will make prices vary for the ferry.

If you use tolls it's much faster than avoiding tolls (Around 35-50% generally) but much less interesting. You could do a road trip avoiding tolls and use the money saved for Chambre d'Hote (bed and breakfast) and see the country.

The A75 past Clermont Ferrand is largely toll free (and beautiful scenery) across the Massif Central. Obviously the Millau Bridge is toll....

There is an Android app called Mappy (in French) which will give estimated consumption and tolls and automatically show fastest, cheapest, shortest options so you can compare.

Also in English at http://en.mappy.com
 

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Excellent website www.about-France.com which has cheap toll free route suggestions . If it's not on the site , you don't need to know it :D .
Oh and get a toll pass in car beeper thingy . Used to be sanef tolling but the name has just changed .
 

LostKiwi

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Excellent website www.about-France.com which has cheap toll free route suggestions . If it's not on the site , you don't need to know it :D .
Oh and get a toll pass in car beeper thingy . Used to be sanef tolling but the name has just changed .
Toll tags are brilliant.
We use APRR - they charge €11 for the tag, then €1.70 per calendar month the tag is used and bill for the tolls middle of the following month. You can pay by direct debit from a UK bank account.
It was the cheapest solution I found when I looked a few years back.
We now have 2 tags - 1 for us and one for any friends who come over with us.
 

Tony Dyson

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My favoured journeys into Europe were usually from Hull on a North Sea Ferry, to Rotterdam for Northern destinations and Zeebrugge for the South, on board for 17:00, a leisurely dinner, a good night's sleep, breakfast at 06:00 and disembark by 08:30 in Europe the following morning as fresh as a daisy, the additional cost for accommodation was always well worth it. Though from Gloucestershire, driving across to Calais will make for a long and hard day's driving to Beziers, I think I would be looking for an overnight ferry from a South Coast port to Bordeaux, a leisurely drive across the Pyrenees and you should get to Beziers just in time for a late lunch!
 

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Toll tags are brilliant.
We use APRR - they charge €11 for the tag, then €1.70 per calendar month the tag is used and bill for the tolls middle of the following month. You can pay by direct debit from a UK bank account.
It was the cheapest solution I found when I looked a few years back.
We now have 2 tags - 1 for us and one for any friends who come over with us.
They definitely beat hanging out the window with cash or card :D
 

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My favoured journeys into Europe were usually from Hull on a North Sea Ferry, to Rotterdam for Northern destinations and Zeebrugge for the South, on board for 17:00, a leisurely dinner, a good night's sleep, breakfast at 06:00 and disembark by 08:30 in Europe the following morning as fresh as a daisy, the additional cost for accommodation was always well worth it. Though from Gloucestershire, driving across to Calais will make for a long and hard day's driving to Beziers, I think I would be looking for an overnight ferry from a South Coast port to Bordeaux, a leisurely drive across the Pyrenees and you should get to Beziers just in time for a late lunch!
I like the Hull option as well and have used in on bike and in car :D for Germany and the like.

For France I tend to take the Dover / Calais ferry - cheaper than the tunnel and as driver I get to kip for an hour or so. I did the 850 mile trip to South Brittany in 1 go - 7 up in the VW Carvelle for a number of years. Loaded one iPod with music for the front and another for movies for the screen in the back. Happy campers :)
 

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I think I would be looking for an overnight ferry from a South Coast port to Bordeaux, a leisurely drive across the Pyrenees and you should get to Beziers just in time for a late lunch!
The only ferries to anywhere south of St Malo go to northern Spain.
There's little benefit in using St Malo either as it's a long slog East.
Newhaven Dieppe, Portsmouth Caen or Portsmouth Le Havre are the shortest but areca lot more expensive than Dover Calais.
OP if you choose a Brittany Ferries route (Portsmouth, Plymouth) PM me and I'll give you a 10% discount code.

And Tony.. if you're crossing the Pyrenees from Bordeaux to Bezier it's a very scenic detour!
 

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Will be going to Toulouse (nearish Bezier for France atleast) this weekend on way home and have done the trip many a time. Whenever I do France try to enjoy the rural bits so would recommendf something like:

Dover to Calais - 70GBP - 1h30 out of car to walk round deck and not sit down too much as youll be dloing a lot of that

Calais to Rouen on toll roads and then N154 from Rouen to orleans through Chartres (free), then A10/A71 Orleans to Vierzon (tolls) - avoids Paris which most toll roads goes to and costs about 25€, and on long routes google assume you will get through Paris with no congestion where in my experience it always delays you atleast an hour meaning it takes longer and less pleasant than the above.

Orleans to Toulouse - here it gets idyllic and rural so no need for toll roads - N20 all the way to toulouse (there are bits where it turns into A20 and gives you an hour on a free motorway. Cahors is beautiful place to walk around/eat at

Toulouse to Bezier - not done that but passes carcassone which I havent been to but have never heard a bad word said.

In order to enjoy above I'd get a cheap room with ensuite as rural as possible for the night on booking.com. I found a farm on route near vierzon for 33€ inc breakfast!

So rough costs (all in pounds) could be as low as:

Ferry 70
Tolls 25
Accomodation 30
Diesel @1,45EUR (fill up in France) @50mpg @650 miles 75

So 200ish each way and you get 2 nice driving days and 1 nights accomodation.

If you are in a hurry you could go A75 which has large free sections so could skip accomodation and do whole thing toll roads so probably about the same cost, though unless you're in a hurry I see no reason to miss out a chilled drive through rural france as that's for me part of the experience.
 
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LostKiwi

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When we used to tour through France we used to take the 6pm ferry to Dover or Dunquerque. Drive to St Omer for the night and stay in the Ibis in the centre. Have a nice meal and a few drinks and retire for the night. From St Omer we'd drop down back roads past Agincourt, Abbeville, Rouen, Evreux, Dreux, Chartres to Orleans and then branch off depending where we were going.

The N20 is a good call - especially if you detour off toward Millau on the D911 to Rodez. Pick up the A75 at Millau then carry on south. That's pretty much entirely toll free but not the quickest. The route from Cahors to Millau is beautiful and a lovely relaxed drive though it's only single carriageways.
If you do go past Carcassonne (on the route suggested above) be aware it's a toll road and quite expensive. Carcassonne is well worth allowing at least a half day for as a visit. Free to get in and spectacular.
carcassonne-walls.jpg
 
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a few yr ago i found it cheaper to fly to Nice and hire a small car for the weekend than to use the ferry/tunnel, fuel and road tolls. + 10 hr each way .suggest you use via michelin it will give you a fair costing .
We usually fly and then hire a car during our stay, just thinking of doing this different, even though the wife would still fly with family.
 

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We usually fly and then hire a car during our stay, just thinking of doing this different, even though the wife would still fly with family.
Win-win :rolleyes::D:p
 
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Your biggest expense will likely be tolls and fuel.

The variables to consider are route and car. Much will also depend on your UK starting point (you wouldn't use Dover if you live in Plymouth for example).
For example if you use Dover Calais the ferry is much cheaper than Portsmouth Cherbourg/Caen/Le Havre but you'll probably spend more on tolls and fuel. Day of week, time of day and month will make prices vary for the ferry.

If you use tolls it's much faster than avoiding tolls (Around 35-50% generally) but much less interesting. You could do a road trip avoiding tolls and use the money saved for Chambre d'Hote (bed and breakfast) and see the country.

The A75 past Clermont Ferrand is largely toll free (and beautiful scenery) across the Massif Central. Obviously the Millau Bridge is toll....

There is an Android app called Mappy (in French) which will give estimated consumption and tolls and automatically show fastest, cheapest, shortest options so you can compare.

Also in English at http://en.mappy.com
Thanks for the info, It's a shame that my wife wouldn't like the journey, she's happy to wait at an airport. It's something that I've been considering for a long while, so I may just bite the bullet and decide to do on my own. I like my own company as well.
 
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Excellent website www.about-France.com which has cheap toll free route suggestions . If it's not on the site , you don't need to know it :D .
Oh and get a toll pass in car beeper thingy . Used to be sanef tolling but the name has just changed .
Thanks Wighty.
 
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Toll tags are brilliant.
We use APRR - they charge €11 for the tag, then €1.70 per calendar month the tag is used and bill for the tolls middle of the following month. You can pay by direct debit from a UK bank account.
It was the cheapest solution I found when I looked a few years back.
We now have 2 tags - 1 for us and one for any friends who come over with us.
Can you use these for a weeks trip? In the past with hire cars we've paid a tolls deposit i think.
 
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The only ferries to anywhere south of St Malo go to northern Spain.
There's little benefit in using St Malo either as it's a long slog East.
Newhaven Dieppe, Portsmouth Caen or Portsmouth Le Havre are the shortest but areca lot more expensive than Dover Calais.
OP if you choose a Brittany Ferries route (Portsmouth, Plymouth) PM me and I'll give you a 10% discount code.

And Tony.. if you're crossing the Pyrenees from Bordeaux to Bezier it's a very scenic detour!
Excellent thanks, I will let you know. We were supposed to be going there this year, but we've had a slight change of plans.
 

LostKiwi

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Can you use these for a weeks trip? In the past with hire cars we've paid a tolls deposit i think.
Yes. Once you have the tag it's yours. Keep it in the drawer till next trip. You only get billed for the calendar months you use it.
So if you use it April 7th for a week you get billed the tolls + €1.70 for April
If you use it April 30th for a week you get billed €1.70 for April +€1.70 for May + tolls.

If travelling on your own it's the only sensible way to go. Just head for the lanes with the t above them it it has a 30 speed sign you don't even need to stop - just slow to 20mph and it'll open.
 
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Capra

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Will be going to Toulouse (nearish Bezier for France atleast) this weekend on way home and have done the trip many a time. Whenever I do France try to enjoy the rural bits so would recommendf something like:

Dover to Calais - 70GBP - 1h30 out of car to walk round deck and not sit down too much as youll be dloing a lot of that

Calais to Orleans on toll roads - avoids Paris which most toll roads goes to and about 25€, and on long routes google assume you will get through Paris with no congestion where in my experience it always delays you atleast an hour

Orleans to Toulouse - here it gets idyllic and rural so no need for toll roads - N20 all the way to toulouse (there are bits where it turns into A20 and gives you an hour on a free motorway. Cahors is beautiful place to walk around/eat at

Toulouse to Bezier - not done that but passes carcassone which I havent been to but have never heard a bad word said.

In order to enjoy above I'd get a cheap room with ensuite as rural as possible for the night on booking.com. I found a farm on route near vierzon for 33€ inc breakfast!

So rough costs (all in pounds) could be as low as:

Ferry 70
Tolls 25
Accomodation 30
Diesel @1,45EUR (fill up in France) @50mpg @650 miles 75

So 200ish each way and you get 2 nice driving days and 1 nights accomodation.

If you are in a hurry you could go A75 which has large free sections so could skip accomodation and do whole thing toll roads so probably about the same cost, though unless you're in a hurry I see no reason to miss out a chilled drive through rural france as that's for me part of the experience.
Thanks very much for the details, very helpful indeed, yes carcassonne is a very nice place, they have an old walled town, spent a day there. This is one of those posts that I need to mark as a favourite.
 

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