Driving from Calais to St Malo?

[unzippy]

I've not driven in mainland Europe for 10 yrs +

Is there anything I can do in advance to make life easier on the péage? Pre register my number plate and bank acct etc?

What's it like at Dover/Calais in terms of the new EES thing?

Is it worth doing this, will it help?
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/ees/Travel-to-Euro...

Merci!

[omniflow]

If you're starting in England and going to St. Malo - why not just get the overnight ferry straight there?

[unzippy]

omniflow said:

If you're starting in England and going to St. Malo - why not just get the overnight ferry straight there?

Very good question! However, I didn't organise this.

[TCEvo]

Depends on when you're going & what route's planned, as you might've left it too late to order a toll tag:

https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/

If it's a one-off trip I'd just pay for the motorway use (credit card) as you go, although I appreciate that can be a hassle if you're on your own in an RHD car.

[Puggit]

The app you have mentioned is not working for France, so don't bother.

The autoroutes from Calais to Rouen are not much bother in terms of queues, in fact only Boulogne to Abbeville is tolled with the old style take your ticket at Boulogne and use it to pay at Abbeville.

From Rouen to Caen, the A13 is tolled - BUT without barriers. So you must go online and pay within a day or so - or you can have a tag in your car, if it will arrive in time. https://www.sanef.com/index-en.html - you can check if you have incurred a toll before you pay, which is nice.

The A84 from Caen to Rennes is also toll free.

Rouen - the N28 is within the Crit'Air zone. So to traverse through Rouen you must apply here https://www.france.fr/en/article/crit-air-anti-pol... - there are longer routes to avoid the city. Avoid third party scammers, it costs a handful of euros. Once you have applied, you can show an email with the proof if you are stopped, before your sticker arrives.

Source - owning a house just south of Normandy for 20 years

[JEA1K]

unzippy said:

I've not driven in mainland Europe for 10 yrs +

Is there anything I can do in advance to make life easier on the péage? Pre register my number plate and bank acct etc?


Merci!

Try Bipngo ... you'll get a transponder in the post (takes a couple of weeks so don't leave it late) and you can set up your account to pay via bacs (I use my euro account on Revolut) and enter your reg number. The money doesn't get debited immediately and comes out at the end of the month based on what you've totted up that month.

Its a huge time/faff saver when travelling through Europe.

[davek_964]

JEA1K said:

Try Bipngo ... you'll get a transponder in the post (takes a couple of weeks so don't leave it late) and you can set up your account to pay via bacs (I use my euro account on Revolut) and enter your reg number. The money doesn't get debited immediately and comes out at the end of the month based on what you've totted up that month.

Its a huge time/faff saver when travelling through Europe.

The euro account is a key point. My Starling account couldn't be used for the direct debit (the authorisation was rejected). It was easy enough to setup a Euro account with Starling (2 mins in the app) - but it's worth being aware of.
I mentioned it in another thread, and somebody replied that their UK account (HSBC or something like that) accepted the DD fine, so it probably depends on your bank.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

As said, the toll tag is your friend.

Most importantly don't leave home without your UK Global Health Insurance Card.

There's a tale about St Malo, hospitals & the above card here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...