Going on vacation without going through the toll box. On some routes, it is possible! While most highways are privatized, some sections are still free. By favoring these segments and national roads, reducing your travel budget is within reach. Our guide to find your way around on the holiday route.
56 euros saved on a Paris-Bordeaux
Head Southwest! You could save 56 euros in toll expenses on the Paris-Bordeaux route, by agreeing to spend two more hours on the road. The A20, which crosses the center of France, is accessible free of charge from Vierzon (Cher) to Brives (Indre).
Once on the motorway, take the N141 towards Angoulême, then join the N10. The 2X2 lanes at 110 km/h will guide you to the gates of Bordeaux. If you wish to reach Biarritz, choose the A63. This is free for about fifty kilometres.
Normandy in national and the Breton exception
To reach Normandy, no need to spend 10 euros on tolls. Holidaymakers bound for Cabourg and Honfleur (Calvados) could leave the A13 in favor of the N12 or the N13, thus imposing around an hour more driving and passing through several departmental roads.
If you are more of Finistère and the Gulf of Morbihan, you are in luck. Past Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) and Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), there will be no more tolls in sight, only completely free “express roads”. These 2×2 lanes being limited to 110 km/h you could also save a few liters of fuel.
Millau, rather than its viaduct
Ready to save 52 euros? To connect Paris to Sète (Hérault) without thinking about tolls, start from the D607 road, take a look at the forest of Fontainebleau on the way, then continue on the D2007. A series of departmental roads swallowed, you can enjoy a free segment of the A77, from Briare (Loiret) to Nevers (Nièvre), then the A75, from Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de- Dome) to Béziers (Hérault), except the Millau Viaduct.
And if the price of crossing the bridge can be intimidating (in summer, count between 12 and 18 euros for cars), this cost is easily avoided by branching off through the agglomeration of Millau. To reach your destination, allow a total of 9 hours on the road.