First Driving Trip To France
Discussion
We just got home from a week and just stuck a debit card in the machine at each one
Roads weren’t busy, tolls not busy.
You’ll only be using toll roads for making progress.
After that you’ll probably be enjoying the local rods to see the sights
Our roof box reduced our mpg considerably.
I usually get 460+ miles from a fully loaded car without the box, but with we managed 385
Roads weren’t busy, tolls not busy.
You’ll only be using toll roads for making progress.
After that you’ll probably be enjoying the local rods to see the sights
Our roof box reduced our mpg considerably.
I usually get 460+ miles from a fully loaded car without the box, but with we managed 385
Stay away from the périphérique in Paris. In fact, stay away from Paris 
I find driving and being in France quite civilized and sedate. There's no crazy autobahns with 318d's doing 190 mph on the left of you and lorries doing 50 mph on the right. No kamikaze pilots trying to take you out like in Italy, it's all very nice so don't stress about the actual driving. on the motorways there's always an aires (rest area) not far away with basic; free, generally clean toilet facilities and an area to stretch your legs. The toll tag is essential as already recommended as every toll seems to be different and being left up to the passenger can make things a little fraught I've found.
I've done the trip with a 14 month old (well to Poland actually so 20 hours driving) and he was fine. We were super concerned that he wouldn't be able to handle it, experiences differ of course but it may not be as bad as you might be thinking.
On our previous Euro trip to Spain/France/Italy/France we purely stayed in air b'n'b places and found them all fine. An Ibis can be welcome sometimes though as you know what you're getting.
Enjoy it, it's a lovely part of the world and you'll have a great time, in spite of the French!
I find driving and being in France quite civilized and sedate. There's no crazy autobahns with 318d's doing 190 mph on the left of you and lorries doing 50 mph on the right. No kamikaze pilots trying to take you out like in Italy, it's all very nice so don't stress about the actual driving. on the motorways there's always an aires (rest area) not far away with basic; free, generally clean toilet facilities and an area to stretch your legs. The toll tag is essential as already recommended as every toll seems to be different and being left up to the passenger can make things a little fraught I've found.
I've done the trip with a 14 month old (well to Poland actually so 20 hours driving) and he was fine. We were super concerned that he wouldn't be able to handle it, experiences differ of course but it may not be as bad as you might be thinking.
On our previous Euro trip to Spain/France/Italy/France we purely stayed in air b'n'b places and found them all fine. An Ibis can be welcome sometimes though as you know what you're getting.
Enjoy it, it's a lovely part of the world and you'll have a great time, in spite of the French!
Nemophilist said:
You don’t need beam deflectors if you have xenon’s. You just adjust them in the computer for driving on the other side of the road
You don’t need a green card (as mentioned by pp)
We are in France right now with a 2 year old and 5 year old. We have a roof box on top of a golf.
We only have that for extra space for when we stock up on wine for the journey home.
Each time we’ve been before in the same car with just one child we’ve never bothered with the roof box as had plenty of space.
It affects fuel economy and despite having aero bars and a slimline Thule box it’s noisy at motorway speeds to the point that if we came again I’d rather come without the box and buy less wine instead
Most vineyards will ship wine to you for a fairly nominal price, even now after Brexit so no need to take a roof box if just for stocking the cellarYou don’t need a green card (as mentioned by pp)
We are in France right now with a 2 year old and 5 year old. We have a roof box on top of a golf.
We only have that for extra space for when we stock up on wine for the journey home.
Each time we’ve been before in the same car with just one child we’ve never bothered with the roof box as had plenty of space.
It affects fuel economy and despite having aero bars and a slimline Thule box it’s noisy at motorway speeds to the point that if we came again I’d rather come without the box and buy less wine instead
Nemophilist said:
This sounds good to me!
Have you ordered from any specific vineyards that you can recommend?
I hate the roof box
We have a place between Bordeaux and Bergerac, so I can give you any number of recommendations for that area. We've found though that pretty much any vineyard you visit anywgere in France will be set up to ship wine internationallyHave you ordered from any specific vineyards that you can recommend?
I hate the roof box
Thanks again everyone.
Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
olliel said:
Thanks again everyone.
Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
Put a strap around the box, we had one fly open on the M5 years ago on the way to Devon, lost a couple of the kids coats, we couldn’t work out why other drivers were flashing their headlights and pointing at us, the kids still laugh about it now.Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
Breathalyser is legally NOT required. Halfords should've stopped selling them years ago.
Use Waze to flag up cameras and you'll be very unlucky to be stopped by mobile police unless you're taking the piss in some way.
If you do get stopped you'll be very unlikely to be asked to show anything other than insurance, licence and ownership docs. You might even get a random breath test, but I've lived in France over twelve years, been done for speeding more than a couple of times and never had any checks on flourescent jackets, spare bulb kits, red triangle, tyres, headlamp deflectors etc etc. and only breathalysed twice, once after wheelspinning up Arnage high street during Le Mans...
You might be very unlucky and have a thorough check but it's extremely unlikely.
One thing here that's really frustrating is that every sleepy village has unnecessary and expensive traffic calming. Ridiculous.
Oh and if you really want to blend in with the natives have one defective brake light
Enjoy the virtually empty roads!!
Use Waze to flag up cameras and you'll be very unlucky to be stopped by mobile police unless you're taking the piss in some way.
If you do get stopped you'll be very unlikely to be asked to show anything other than insurance, licence and ownership docs. You might even get a random breath test, but I've lived in France over twelve years, been done for speeding more than a couple of times and never had any checks on flourescent jackets, spare bulb kits, red triangle, tyres, headlamp deflectors etc etc. and only breathalysed twice, once after wheelspinning up Arnage high street during Le Mans...
You might be very unlucky and have a thorough check but it's extremely unlikely.
One thing here that's really frustrating is that every sleepy village has unnecessary and expensive traffic calming. Ridiculous.
Oh and if you really want to blend in with the natives have one defective brake light
Enjoy the virtually empty roads!!
olliel said:
Thanks again everyone.
Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
I seem to remember averaging a little over 30 mpg when we went over there in ours which I was quite happy with tbh.Just have to load the dreaded roof box tomorrow and we are off to the tunnel.
I’ve come to terms with the fact the box will likely completely kill the already pretty bad MPG of a 2.0 Petrol Tiguan.
Looking forward to it, despite the weather. I can imagine that our holidays might likely be driving in Europe for the next few years with our little one (wife already gets stressed flying before covid and a toddler). So we can use this as a trial run for going further afield
Ollie
Down in the Haute-Vienne at the moment and heading back up to Dieppe tomorrow. We have a Skoda Karoq 1.5 SEL DSG and averaged 41mpg on the way down but that is sticking rigidly to the speed limits.
Not sure whether to go via Chartres, Dreux and Evreux then Rouen (hate all those roundabouts in Dreux and Evreux) or head up to the south of Paris and across to Rouen which is the way we came down, the Dreux/Evreux is cheaper on tolls and less miles but I think takes longer in time.
Not sure whether to go via Chartres, Dreux and Evreux then Rouen (hate all those roundabouts in Dreux and Evreux) or head up to the south of Paris and across to Rouen which is the way we came down, the Dreux/Evreux is cheaper on tolls and less miles but I think takes longer in time.
Edited by WyrleyD on Monday 6th June 15:42
Welshbeef said:
Plan the cost of fuel - we’re seeing crazy prices to the point euro road trips might be a thing of the past.
Solution is go east instead. Fuel prices are much cheaper over there, around 1.50 a litre.Western Europe is currently being battered with high fuel prices, so I'd stay away.
we're planning on a holiday in France using the car later this summer, last time we went GPS devices showing where speed cameras were banned however those showing "Danger Zones" were not, are they all banned now? i have a cheetah C550 i'd like to take but don't want to risk a heavy fine. perhaps instead discreetly using Waze on the phone?
Absolutely no need to be discreet using Waze in France. It's set up that you cannot see the pinpoint location of the camera, merely a speed detection zone a km or three long. What does get done though is that drivers will drop a pin saying police hidden here, not always but most, so that tends to show to a greater degree of accuracy where most cameras are. They occasionally drop off but most cameras get noted
To be fair, just use the speed alert to tell you when you're over by whatever degree you decide is appropriate for you.
To be fair, just use the speed alert to tell you when you're over by whatever degree you decide is appropriate for you.
Edited by Rushjob on Monday 27th June 12:14
We’re over tomorrow for 8 weeks and cannot wait! Haven’t really been away for two years for obvious reasons.
Has anyone crossed via ferry in the last few weeks and can confirm the covid certs/vaccination cert requirements?
Strictly it’s vaccinated or a negative lft, but a friend went over last week through the tunnel and said they were just asked ‘are you vaccinated, yes, very well on your way’
Has anyone crossed via ferry in the last few weeks and can confirm the covid certs/vaccination cert requirements?
Strictly it’s vaccinated or a negative lft, but a friend went over last week through the tunnel and said they were just asked ‘are you vaccinated, yes, very well on your way’
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