French Autoroutes / N-roads - what average speeds?
Discussion
Off to the South of France this summer, first time for many years!
So, to those who drive in France regularly, what sort of genuine average speeds (trip averages, not speedo-indicated) do you manage?
Also, what cruising-speeds do you adopt on the Autoroutes and N-roads respectively - I'm assuming the Gendarmes are rather strict with us Brits??? Is 140km/h (or 110 for the N-roads) the limit, or is that too high?
Thanks all,
Martin.
So, to those who drive in France regularly, what sort of genuine average speeds (trip averages, not speedo-indicated) do you manage?
Also, what cruising-speeds do you adopt on the Autoroutes and N-roads respectively - I'm assuming the Gendarmes are rather strict with us Brits??? Is 140km/h (or 110 for the N-roads) the limit, or is that too high?
Thanks all,
Martin.
Autoroute speed limit is 130kph, watch out for lower posted limits and speed traps. Normally sit at around 85 MPH (gps) with no bother, certainly above 90 and as a Brit you will risk getting a tug (don't think they obey APCO guidelines lol) As for 110 kph 72-73 is safe but if it is raining heavy (reason for limit) then stick to 70. In towns it is best to hover around 30mph and drop to 20 for schools and crossings. Be aware that towns and the new limit are often imposed by the welcome to XYZ sign and then increased by town with its name struck through.
Average speeds tend to be higher than the UK as there is much less congestion, and stop start that you find on m-ways, however it is not as high as you may expect on a long journey depending on the route you travel ie the number of toll booths you have to navigate and the more frequent and longer petrol stops. If you are going anywhere near the peripherique try and make it before 8am or after 7 pm else add an hour.
Average speeds tend to be higher than the UK as there is much less congestion, and stop start that you find on m-ways, however it is not as high as you may expect on a long journey depending on the route you travel ie the number of toll booths you have to navigate and the more frequent and longer petrol stops. If you are going anywhere near the peripherique try and make it before 8am or after 7 pm else add an hour.
Edited by skodamanpat on Tuesday 11th May 15:37
Thanks Bill.
Already plotted a route to avoid Paris, and remembered the town-sign = speed limit bit, but wasn't really sure about the plod and how 'rigorous' they were, either on A's or N's. Tend to be very good in towns anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Out of interest, is the whole "timed run speeding fine" between the Peage's true or apocryphal (i.e. if you've averaged 135km/h between them you get done)?
Already plotted a route to avoid Paris, and remembered the town-sign = speed limit bit, but wasn't really sure about the plod and how 'rigorous' they were, either on A's or N's. Tend to be very good in towns anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Out of interest, is the whole "timed run speeding fine" between the Peage's true or apocryphal (i.e. if you've averaged 135km/h between them you get done)?
havoc said:
Out of interest, is the whole "timed run speeding fine" between the Peage's true or apocryphal (i.e. if you've averaged 135km/h between them you get done)?
Urban legend that it is an automatic time stamp but if you pass the gendarmes be aware they may radio ahead and their buddies pull you down the road if they calculate you have been tanking it.Paris is not a problem. Know your route, read the signs, drive confidently and you'll be fine. The Peripherique works very, very well. Even in heavy, rush hour traffic, you can get round it in an hour; in normal conditions, 20mins.
Most of the autoroute is 130km/h. Look out for 110km/h areas (generally around cities). Remember also that the limit falls 20km/h when raining. It is raining when you're using your wipers. I set my cruise control at 95mph. This is well within the tolerated limit. At worst, you'll get a 90 Euro fine: I carry the maximum fine (750Euros) in cash to speed my way.
You need to bear in mind when motoring over a long distance that there is a point beyond which the faster you go, the the longer your journey takes. This is because fuel consumption increases exponentially. I can do a 600mile journey in France in about 7.5hours: that is a 95mph cruise, slow down round Paris, one fuel stop. Drawing fuel takes 20mins at least. I've tried cruising at 100mph plus but I end up stopping for fuel twice. It just doesn't work out.
On N routes you may wish to be a bit more careful. The limit is 55mph on single-carriageways. You probably ought to keep it under 70.
Most of the autoroute is 130km/h. Look out for 110km/h areas (generally around cities). Remember also that the limit falls 20km/h when raining. It is raining when you're using your wipers. I set my cruise control at 95mph. This is well within the tolerated limit. At worst, you'll get a 90 Euro fine: I carry the maximum fine (750Euros) in cash to speed my way.
You need to bear in mind when motoring over a long distance that there is a point beyond which the faster you go, the the longer your journey takes. This is because fuel consumption increases exponentially. I can do a 600mile journey in France in about 7.5hours: that is a 95mph cruise, slow down round Paris, one fuel stop. Drawing fuel takes 20mins at least. I've tried cruising at 100mph plus but I end up stopping for fuel twice. It just doesn't work out.
On N routes you may wish to be a bit more careful. The limit is 55mph on single-carriageways. You probably ought to keep it under 70.
r129sl said:
On N routes you may wish to be a bit more careful. The limit is 55mph on single-carriageways. You probably ought to keep it under 70.
Oh crap it's 90km/h isn't it - I was thinking 100!In which case 100-105 is probably the top-end on open N-roads. What about a certain N85...any gendarmes along there?!?
havoc said:
r129sl said:
On N routes you may wish to be a bit more careful. The limit is 55mph on single-carriageways. You probably ought to keep it under 70.
Oh crap it's 90km/h isn't it - I was thinking 100!In which case 100-105 is probably the top-end on open N-roads. What about a certain N85...any gendarmes along there?!?
timed tolls is a myth ne need for sweaty palms if you see them hovering at booths.
N routes for the the most I stick at 70 -90 depending on traffic and visibility.
Vills Louise near Beaune for a half way point if your looking.
HTH
edited to add: be more vigilant when getting near south and at north if travelling near Le Mans time (obvious but worth a mention)
Edited by Pvapour on Wednesday 12th May 08:23
havoc said:
r129sl said:
On N routes you may wish to be a bit more careful. The limit is 55mph on single-carriageways. You probably ought to keep it under 70.
Oh crap it's 90km/h isn't it - I was thinking 100!In which case 100-105 is probably the top-end on open N-roads. What about a certain N85...any gendarmes along there?!?
You will get gendarmes on the N85 they hide up everywhere on the N75 at our place they like to sit up tracks and love to be just before the 70kph signs at the level crossings. Locals are very good at giving warnings when they are out. They seem to pick a day of the week for speed checks and a day for document checks you are usually ok between 12.00 & 14.00hrs as this is lunch
Make sure you carry a copy of your log book (you should carry the original I take a good colour photocopy), insurance and your driving licence at all times they will fine you for failure to carry any one of these.
Agree with what has been said regarding average speeds. The only time I will ignore these and tank along is night time really now
Have been stopped along the N85 by both an unmarked car and also a pair of police bikes so beware, there are some sections that are truly inviting! I tend to try and hit the N85 either very early or very late in the day. Not only do you avoid the tourists in campervans, you also avoid the majority of the police.
Have been stopped along the N85 by both an unmarked car and also a pair of police bikes so beware, there are some sections that are truly inviting! I tend to try and hit the N85 either very early or very late in the day. Not only do you avoid the tourists in campervans, you also avoid the majority of the police.
itsnotarace said:
Have been stopped along the N85 by both an unmarked car and also a pair of police bikes so beware, there are some sections that are truly inviting! I tend to try and hit the N85 either very early or very late in the day. Not only do you avoid the tourists in campervans, you also avoid the majority of the police.
Unmarked cars??? Bugger! Our itinerary has us reaching the good part of the N85 around lunch on a Friday! (We're overnighting in Lyon as my folks are in Kent so we can get an early tunnel crossing and reach Lyon in time for some dinner)Wonder if it's worth retracing part of the route later that week?!?* ...for photography purposes, you understand!
Also - from either St Paul or Villefranche as a base, is it worth the trip across into Italy, either for better roads (or fewer police?) or for scenery/stuff to do??? After some fantastic, quiet and un-police'd roads in Scotland, I'm starting to wonder if SE France is going to be rather frustrating...
* Or should I just stick to the various Cols (Vence, Turini, etc.)...and are THEY policed much???
havoc said:
itsnotarace said:
Have been stopped along the N85 by both an unmarked car and also a pair of police bikes so beware, there are some sections that are truly inviting! I tend to try and hit the N85 either very early or very late in the day. Not only do you avoid the tourists in campervans, you also avoid the majority of the police.
Unmarked cars??? Bugger! Our itinerary has us reaching the good part of the N85 around lunch on a Friday! (We're overnighting in Lyon as my folks are in Kent so we can get an early tunnel crossing and reach Lyon in time for some dinner)Wonder if it's worth retracing part of the route later that week?!?* ...for photography purposes, you understand!
Also - from either St Paul or Villefranche as a base, is it worth the trip across into Italy, either for better roads (or fewer police?) or for scenery/stuff to do??? After some fantastic, quiet and un-police'd roads in Scotland, I'm starting to wonder if SE France is going to be rather frustrating...
* Or should I just stick to the various Cols (Vence, Turini, etc.)...and are THEY policed much???
no police 
havoc said:
Pvapour said:
live right by col de vence no police
Cool, thanks. We're staying on the outskirts of St. Paul for 4 days - any recommendations? (Restaurants / roads / more roads no police / stuff to do/see).PS - NICE garage there chap...must be tough deciding what to drive of a morning!
Juan Les Pins
20 Avenue Guy de Maupassant, divides the promenade, cant remember name and google shows it just being built
Antibes
Royal Beach, great music, food (steak in particular) best for lunch, right on water, loungers and sofas for after lunch coffees and snooze, great music to, ok price, casual
Vieux mur, best for eve valet parking, stool for the ladies handbag
moderate priceEze
the most stunning views I have ever sampled at any restaurant in the world and prices to match
http://www.chevredor.com/uk/index.php#index.php worth a trip here even just for a drink and walk round groundsGourdon (near Grasse)
Eagles nest restaurant, not called that but you'll know which one when if & when you get there
col de vence
N85 (route napoleon)
D2564 Grande Corniche (Nice > Monaco)
D6007 Mandelieu > Frejus
Pvapour said:
Eze
the most stunning views I have ever sampled at any restaurant in the world and prices to matchhttp://www.chevredor.com/uk/index.php#index.php worth a trip here even just for a drink and walk round grounds
the most stunning views I have ever sampled at any restaurant in the world and prices to match
http://www.chevredor.com/uk/index.php#index.php worth a trip here even just for a drink and walk round grounds
:faints-clutching-his-wallet:Thanks very much for those ideas - really appreciated!
Good advice above. France is no longer the speeding nirvana it once was, it's just a shame the roads are still damn fine.
Near us 'les flics' have started watching out on the super-fast D roads, and just love sitting just inside the town boundaries. The French locals drive far more conservatively then when I lived there 20 years ago.
Near us 'les flics' have started watching out on the super-fast D roads, and just love sitting just inside the town boundaries. The French locals drive far more conservatively then when I lived there 20 years ago.
Pvapour said:
mobiles tend to hang out in designated spots which garmins satnav safety warnings are pretty accurate on, if you have updated maps! dont know about tomtoms.
fixed ones i would not worry about, england is the only euro country (and monaco) not nailed by them.
There are quite a few fixed ones in some areas (peripherique for instance) - but very very well sign-posted I recall. Also tomtom do map them - when I was working in Paris (actually near Versaille) for a few months a couple of years back my colleague had a tomtom that was quite good at showing the camera locations and posted speed limits. I hadn't bothered uploading a camera map for my garmin but had found an add-on to get the trafic updating which was handy.fixed ones i would not worry about, england is the only euro country (and monaco) not nailed by them.
I passed a load of fixed cameras whilst 'making progress' on the Autoroute a few years ago before I realised what "radar controle" meant. I'm fairly sure that my wife also did the same whilst I was snoozing in the passenger seat.
We never had any issues.
I was lucky on the road back to Calais though. I was passed at high speed by a Golf and accelerated 'to see how fast it was going'. At a fairly reasonable speed that could possibly, but probably not, have been around twice the UK limit (had I not been looking at the road and at the dashboard -Obviously.. so I couldn't possibly incriminate myself even if I wanted to), the Golf was getting rapidly nearer, but my wife told me to slow down so I did. 30 seconds later I noticed a Gendarme in an un-marked focus hiding behind a tree and holding a camera.
At the next Peage, the very same Golf had been pulled over after the toll booths and was surrounded by Gendarmes.....
We never had any issues.
I was lucky on the road back to Calais though. I was passed at high speed by a Golf and accelerated 'to see how fast it was going'. At a fairly reasonable speed that could possibly, but probably not, have been around twice the UK limit (had I not been looking at the road and at the dashboard -Obviously.. so I couldn't possibly incriminate myself even if I wanted to), the Golf was getting rapidly nearer, but my wife told me to slow down so I did. 30 seconds later I noticed a Gendarme in an un-marked focus hiding behind a tree and holding a camera.
At the next Peage, the very same Golf had been pulled over after the toll booths and was surrounded by Gendarmes.....
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 20th May 15:05
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