tolls on roadways

Hello

have a look through the following website: French Motorways (autoroutes). It's in English.

If you're traveling with Rick's France book, see more tips in the appendix, from p. 1194.

You will need more than change...they cost more than that! They do accept Euros and there are manned ticket booths. You collect a ticket when you get on the toll road and pay when you get off for whatever distance you have traveled. Budget accordingly - toll roads aren't super expensive but they are a significant cost if you intend to drive them frequently or for long distances.

This is a duplicate posting, there may be answers on the other copy.

How much change do I need?
depends how far you go. Could be a couple of euro or less; Calais to Avignon a few years ago was about €100. If you share where you are going that would help.

do they accept Euros( bills?)
yes

is there anything like a pass like we have in the US?
dunno. what sort of pass do you have in your state? You didn't say where. There is a Liber-T transponder which I use but I don't think you can get one unless you have a French bank account. Do you have a French bank account? How much will you be driving on autoroutes de payeage?

are they pay every couple of miles or is it a one time when you get off the toll way?
It varies, depending on where in the country you are. See the above question.

You can find prices easily by putting in your start and end locations into http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Routes (yes they of the tyres) or its French or other country equivelent.

You can get a lot of information about the Autoroutes de paeage from the company which is in charge of all the companies which run the roads, SANEF at http://www.sanef.com/

It seems that it's all of the above. You pay along the way and you pay when you get off the toll way. France probably has the highest toll cost per mile in the EU. Alternatively, you can take the older roads that go through the towns. Very scenic but often crowded with cars and the large trucks that don't want to be on the toll road. We did both. We put 2,000km on our rental car on our most recent trip to France. We paid almost 20Euro on the longest toll road run for us. Very easy with Euro bills and coins. Have lots of coins. Just stay out of the credit card only lanes. Stay more to the right for the cash lanes. Look for the this sign above the lane you will want. http://gyazo.com/9a5c7b3eda0266dbed4c957950459af8

thanks everyone.

We found that the smartest thing was to use bills to pay tolls and hold on to the change for parking, which often doesn't accept bills and rarely gives change.

Our total bill for rental, gas, tolls, and parking was about $1200 for 18 days and 4500km, which was significantly cheaper than suggested in the France 2014, which predicted over $2000. I'm guessing that we drove between 1800-2000 km on toll roads, for around 160EUR.

Hi Mary Ann,
Just came back from our 3-week stay in Provence. Drove around the area. Concerning the toll cost, calculate about 3.40euros every 35 km, at least that was our cost while driving the autoroute. someone suggested driving the country roads, if you are not in a real hurry like going to the airport or train station, I would recommend that way. Trust me you won't be stuck by slow drivers. The French, especially those driving BMWs and mini Mercedes were notorious for speeding along those country roads. Those country roads are quite scenic, and led to some quaint towns not listed on tourist driving maps. Also, check out the viamichelin website, it gives you a couple of driving options to your specified destinations, either by autoroute or along a secondary road.

You can get the Liber-T transponder pass to use in France. It's linked to your credit card, even an American magnetic card will do. For registering our Visa wouldn't work, but Amex did. It's not linked to a French bank account. You go into the autoroute office at the first large toll plaza you stumble upon.