Travelling alone across France

[SiB]

Hi All,

I'm driving through France late August on my own.

What are the difficulties involved in paying tolls alone? Are there certain booths that cater for RHD cars (i.e. window on other side?) or is it simply a case of jumping out and paying on foot every time? If so, is it a case of physically stopping before the booth or actually at the barrier? I ask because I dropped a 20p at the M6 toll recently and the kerbs there don't actually allow you to open the door of your car.

I've looked at the Vinci passes but roughly translating into English, looks like it's only for those with French bank accounts which we've not got.

Any help appreciated.

[Geoman]

I have a tag which I purchased last year it's operated by Sanef. I bought it from Eurotunnel who give you a discount. The tolls come off you,r British account. It costs you 5€ a month when you use it but only for 2 months so it's really a 10€ annual fee. It can seem costly at 1st but believe me it's well worth it, I travelled the length of France alone & it's perfect as once you get away from far north there are no r/h toll booths. If you,r only going to use it for 1 trip you can return the tag & get you,r deposit back, but for 10€ I think it's money well spent & it can be swapped between cars as we don't always travel down in same car all the time.

[Pearsonb]

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk

[martyn94]

It's a long time since I've done it, but it is possible in most cars to scramble across and pay through the passenger-side window. Probably easiest if you pick a credit-card lane (marked CB).

[russell]

You need to park near the barrier to activate the machine and collect a ticket. There is no difficulty in getting out to collect the ticket or pay - just ignore any impatient drivers behind

Russell.

[SiB]

Thanks all.

I found the Sanef website later on last night too.

Does Sanef cover the whole of France then? Guessing they're some sort of agency - whereas Vinci are the folk that own/repair the roads - hence why they charge.

I think the Sanef tag is the way forward. UK based customer service too. I'm only there in August so will only be 5 euros. Appreciate there's an admin fee but small beer in the grand scheme of things. Will mean the wife can have a kip on the way back too without waking her up every time i get to a peage.

Can't wait now!! 4 months and counting....

[martyn94]

The tag from any operator works on the whole network (plus, I think, in some car-parks). Sanef and Vinci are both operators of different parts of the network.

[Geoman]

I found the Sanef tag was great I have tried to scramble over to passenger side before & because you travel alone you always have stuff on seat ie; food drinks etc it's not easy. Once you get down south of France it seems to be Sanef that maintains the motorways as well as charge the tolls.

[martyn94]

Once you get down south of France it seems to be Sanef that maintains the motorways as well as charge the tolls.

Strange, then, that they are the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France? Not that this matters in the least: anybody's "Liber-T" tag works in any "Liber-T" péage. It was once hoped that they would be extended to work for eg Spanish tolls, which many of us would find useful, but that has been hanging fire for years.

[Tatra Man]

Why bother with tolls?

I just tell Fifi (the Garmin) to avoid tolls and she hops me off and on the A20 to avoid the few toll sections. I can still get from Caen to the Cerdagne in a day.

Takes me longer the other way though. Not sure if that's because I don't really want to go back to the UK or because it's uphill.