We are renting a car in Bordeaux, driving around Dordogne, and ending our trip in Lyon. Wondering about tolls and how they are collected in 2024? Toll booths with change needed or are rental cars equipped with sensors that tally the charges as we go?
Molly
Toll booths that will accept cash or credit cards. There are specific lanes for credit card only. There are pictures above the lanes that show types of payment for each. We always had cash available in case the machines wouldn’t read our card. If you Google “French toll booths” you’ll see images.
I believe there are lanes for passes or sensors, but our rental car did not include one.
Molly,
Just fyi, driving from Bordeaux to the Dordogne region, I recommend the D roads instead of the autoroute. Not just because there are no tolls, but the drive is more pleasant, if a bit slower, through the actual countryside and towns. It took us just over 3 hours from Bordeaux to La Roque Gageac. I can't speak to the drive to Lyon. Bon voyage!
Car rental companies do not usually offer cars with toll transponders (Badge), moreover the additional cost of this option would only be of interest if you constantly drive on motorways. Lanes dedicated only to electronic tolls (Telepeage) are located at the left or right ends of the toll and have a "T" sign.
To my knowledge, there are no more manned booths.
Generally you enter toll highways via a toll booth where you are issued a ticket.
When you leave the toll section you insert this ticket into the machine and pay the requested amount.
Lanes allow you to pay either in cash or by credit card (with contactless function), and often have both options. It is indicated by signs representing a credit card or/and bank note and coins.
Just like Judy, between Bordeaux and the Dordogne I advise you not to take the motorway (Autoroute A89) but rather the D936 departmental road wherever you go in the Dordogne. It's not much longer, it's more pleasant, and it will get you used to the small roads in Dordogne where you will no longer find any other highway but rather roads like this:
From the Dordogne to Lyon you can mainly drive on "autoroutes" via the Auvergne region in the center of France (Clermont Ferrand)
I would like to point out that the Sarlat-la-Canéda and La Roque-Gageac area is only a small part located in the extreme southwest of the Dordogne region which is in fact a valley. Get yourself a good travel guide and you will find that you can go much further east to visit this region.
Or check out this map and see where Sarlat and La Roque-Gageac are located:
https://www.vallee-dordogne.com/app/uploads/ot-dordogne/2022/03/carte-vallee-dordorgne.pdf
Tolls in France are in the process of changing to eliminate stopping and paying at toll boths (aires de péage). The new mechanism is called "Flux Libre" and is slowly being implemented:
And in 2024, A13 connecting Paris to Normandy will implement flux libre.
Here's an English language article describing the flux libre concept. Not sure how rental companies will implement this.
This probably won't apply for a Bordeaux-Lyon trip unless you swing pretty far north to hit A79, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
