Return journey

[Syd knee]

How long will it take from Le mans to the Chunnel and what is the best route arround Rouen.

[littleandy0410]

OI! Less of the talk about the return trip, we haven't even got there yet!

[here]

A direct route to Calais should take less than 3 hours. But last year when i left the track at about 12 noon, set my Tom Tom to take me up and along the cost and along it to Calais. This took me 6-7 hours. Saw some great parts of France including fishing villages. So its like taking the long way back

[rlw]

three hours my arse - reckon on five hours as an absolute minimum for LM to Calais, probably more like six +

[Ian V]

rlw said:

three hours my arse - reckon on five hours as an absolute minimum for LM to Calais, probably more like six +

+1. Last year in took us just over 5 hours sticking at or very near the speed limits. Anyone doing it in 3 hours is looking to lose their car and a lot of money !

[The Leaper]

I've done the journey in under 3 1/2 hours on two occasions in the past, including going through central Rouen. Mind you, this was having left the circuit 30 minutes before the end of the race, and constantly scanning for men in blue. I do not think I'd risk a really rapid journey again as the odds of getting pulled are much greater now. So, leaving Le Mans Monday morning and going through Rouen, knowing what peages to avoid and how to do so, and travelling at a reasonably leisurely pace, suggests a time of 4-5 hours. Then there's lunch, shopping......

R.

[DeanoX]

270 miles on auto-route the whole way.

If you dont faff around then a little over 3 hours at "a decent cruise" ;-) should be possible. I managed it in 4ish in a ford ka one year returning to pick up my car 2 weeks later (!) and there was less auto-route then.

The problem is....

Traffic away from the circuit is bloody awful immediately following and can be bad on Monday AM aswell.
Lots of people are dashing back. so all the traffic is going in one direction
Strangely the french police have worked that out so you need to be a bit circumspect.
Queues at the tolls can knock chunks off your time.

So the answer is...."it depends".

[Willo M900]

Make sure you fill up at the earliest opportunity and away from the autoroutes. Queueing for petrol can add at least an hour and sometimes considerably more to your journey, that's assuming that you even make it to the petrol station and don't run out in snarled up traffic. It's happened to lots every year! Pumps run dry too which just exacerbates the problem. I came unbelieveably close last year and made it to the pump on vapours, literally. This especially applies around Rouen. The other thing to watch is that many petrol stations appear to not take credit cards on this particular weekend so keep a bit of ready cash. Whatever you do, leave more time than you think you'll need. Having queued so long for fuel last year we missed the tunnel by only 10 minutes and had to sit at Eurotunnel for another 6 hours until they put us on a train. There's not a lot to do there when you can't drink!

[here]

rlw said:

three hours my arse - reckon on five hours as an absolute minimum for LM to Calais, probably more like six +

Oops sorry i clearly got that wrong Its about 280 miles away from Calias to Lemans. So that's just over 3 hours then, thats what i did it in driving down Six hours my arse what are you driving LOL!! And i dint loose my license, though i was stopped and fined
To be fair i was quoting figures travelling to Lemans and not from. Which sounds to be very busy indeed.

Edited by here on Tuesday 10th June 12:17

[tscalfa]

The Leaper said:

I've done the journey in under 3 1/2 hours on two occasions in the past, including going through central Rouen. Mind you, this was having left the circuit 30 minutes before the end of the race, and constantly scanning for men in blue. I do not think I'd risk a really rapid journey again as the odds of getting pulled are much greater now. So, leaving Le Mans Monday morning and going through Rouen, knowing what peages to avoid and how to do so, and travelling at a reasonably leisurely pace, suggests a time of 4-5 hours. Then there's lunch, shopping......

R.

Which peages should be avoided then and whats the best way round them?

[The Leaper]

tscalfa,

Look elsewhere on the Le Mans thread for a info on the two main peages that create jams and then get a map and work out the alternatives or use initative!

R.

[rlw]

here said:

rlw said:

three hours my arse - reckon on five hours as an absolute minimum for LM to Calais, probably more like six +

Oops sorry i clearly got that wrong Its about 280 miles away from Calias to Lemans. So that's just over 3 hours then, thats what i did it in driving down Six hours my arse what are you driving LOL!! And i dint loose my license, though i was stopped and fined
To be fair i was quoting figures travelling to Lemans and not from. Which sounds to be very busy indeed.

Edited by here on Tuesday 10th June 12:17

on the most direct route there will congestion at the end of the tolls pre Rouen so you will have to go cross country to avoid that or queue - cost us a good hour last year - and while, theoretically, you could almost legally cover 280 miles in three hours, you will struggle to do the return in less than five, especially without some intervention from the BiB. There are too many slow bits to make it a viable option.

BTW. It will be a GT3 this year and previously it was a 993C4S,964,944 turbo,Carrera 3.2,Corrado G60, Gt1 Mk2,Audi 80 (why?),Uno, Audi GTi coupe, Scirocco,rented camper, VW type 3 variant. The 944 turbo saw 150mph for several minutes at a time one year and it still took fecking ages.....

[here]

Yep it seems that Rouen place is a pain in the backside. I will be driving around it my self to get to the other side tomorrow. Want to go down that N138 for the first time.

Edited by here on Wednesday 11th June 09:08