We are planning to meander down to the south of France in May/June.
When we return we would like to avoid all toll roads. Has anyone done this trip (probably Val) and if so, any idea of how many days it will take? I realise the beginning of the trip up to Grenoble would take a while due to the nature of the mountain roads. We would be travelling from Grasse area to Dunkirk.
Thanks
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If you go into viamichelin and plan a route selecting "avoid tolls" it will come up with a choice of routes with distance and times. A quick look shows around 18 hours to do 702 miles without stops.
The Route Napoleone from Grasse to Grenoble is a classic driving route. A day should do it, or two if you want to actually take in the views and villages.
Thats the thing, how many hours per day, do you want to dawdle and enjoy the sights. Or is it a straight journey but avoiding tolls. It makes a huge difference when route planning.
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Yes, we've done that route but not recently and everything may have changed since the last time we were that way.
I would say that if you're having to ask the question about 'How long', and the journey time is important, then use the toll roads instead, unless you can just take your time. Much of the point in going 'off-toll' (apart from saving money) is to see more of France, meandering, stopping in a village because it looks nice, or there's a Fete on, or something similar. If you are just going to drive without much 'meandering' then it can be done with two overnight stops en-route, I would have thought, allowing reasonable driving times each day and getting you somewhere near Dunkerque for your crossing. Or you could spend a fortnight meandering, and stop at more places overnight.
You don't have to go over the hills unless you want the view. From Grasse you can follow the non toll roads past Aix up to Orange & then take the N7 north alongside the A7autoroute. Its only about 40miles further & flatter.
Then you have few choices, continue on N7 past Nevers all the way to Paris & up from there past Compiegne to Dunkirk or past Dijon, Reims that way. All reasonable road & take an easy 3 days, we've done all these routes over the years. Theres campsites on any of the routes, for when you want to stop.
------------- T4U
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Sorry, it was a badly worded question as I was trying to keep it short. Basically we will be meandering through France, touching on Germany and ending up near Grasse as we haven’t visited that area for over 30 years. That will then technically be the end of our meandering and our holiday but the reason we want to keep off the toll roads is basically cost. I was just concerned that I leave enough days free to get back to the north coast in order to catch the ferry. If I may be so bold as to ask another question – from Dijon is it best to go via Troyes or Saint Dizier?
I'd go via Troyes, then you can do the non toll route back through Chatillon sur Seine, Romilly, Montmirail, Chateau Thierry, Soissons, Chauny, etc, and as far as St Quentin without paying tolls, but the last section back to Calais/Dunkerque is worth every penny of the toll!
Thanks Val, the Troyes route it is! To be honest I'd already thought about paying the last section - I think we'll need it by that time (if not before!)
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Topic: How long without toll roads?
