Why British roads are better than French roads

[Pavilionaire]

I've been driving on Uk roads for 25 years and have yet to be charged for the privilege of being held in a 2 hour delay caused PURELY by management of a 10 mile toll road.

And if we had to pay £100 for a return trip to Glasgow that got us there no quicker than before there would be outrage.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Just out of interest I noticed people using the Dover > Calais route, any reason why you didn't you use Newhaven > Dieppe instead. I know there is only one crossing a day, but at least Newhaven is on your doorstep and you don't have the crappy M25 to deal with on the way home. As for French roads I must have been lucky because I have never faced delay, so my opinion of them is different.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Just out of interest I noticed people using the Dover > Calais route, any reason why you didn't you use Newhaven > Dieppe instead. I know there is only one crossing a day, but at least Newhaven is on your doorstep and you don't have the crappy M25 to deal with on the way home. As for French roads I must have been lucky because I have never faced delay, so my opinion of them is different.

Price probably and it saves little time. I went via Dieppe £155 - 4 Ferry hour trip. Saves an hour the other side (or no time at all if customs decide to check all passports on the way out)

I came back via Calais. £25. 1hr 30 min Ferry trip (or 1/2 hour on chunnel)

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Price probably and it saves little time. I went via Dieppe £155 - 4 Ferry hour trip. Saves an hour the other side (or no time at all if customs decide to check all passports on the way out)

I came back via Calais. £25. 1hr 30 min Ferry trip (or 1/2 hour on chunnel)

I always try to use Newhaven as regards support. I think in 2 years time they are going to be looking at the viability of it again. Honestly think it is nuts why they can't do day trips again, because Dieppe is not that bad, plenty of shops, restaurants and things to do. If the Newhaven route goes again it will be bad for Newhaven, as if it can't get any worse.

I know there is some large redevelopment in the pipeline. One was for development with a another supermarket and homes behind the now gone Parker Pen, the other development was for the port itself with Shops, Marina and re-development of the train station. I heard that they went with the development behind parkers, if anyone can confirm? The port would have been better option in my opinion.

 

[Notters]

Just out of interest I noticed people using the Dover > Calais route, any reason why you didn't you use Newhaven > Dieppe instead. I know there is only one crossing a day, but at least Newhaven is on your doorstep and you don't have the crappy M25 to deal with on the way home. As for French roads I must have been lucky because I have never faced delay, so my opinion of them is different.

If only the catamaran still ran

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I always try to use Newhaven as regards support. I think in 2 years time they are going to be looking at the viability of it again. Honestly think it is nuts why they can't do day trips again, because Dieppe is not that bad, plenty of shops, restaurants and things to do. If the Newhaven route goes again it will be bad for Newhaven, as if it can't get any worse.

I know there is some large redevelopment in the pipeline. One was for development with a another supermarket and homes behind the now gone Parker Pen, the other development was for the port itself with Shops, Marina and re-development of the train station. I heard that they went with the development behind parkers, if anyone can confirm? The port would have been better option in my opinion.

Asda bought the land, have got planning permission, but the supermarkets aren't building superstores at the moment, concentrating on the smaller express stores.
It's a shame Tesco didn't win their plan which would have renovated the waterfront as well, a although I'm not sure how that would have affected the Railway club.

Rouen has been difficult for years, but the rest of the French road network is great. It helps that we go to the Vendee in June, which isn't possible with kids.
I don't mind paying tolls, when the facilities on the Autoroutes are better than ours.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Asda bought the land, have got planning permission, but the supermarkets aren't building superstores at the moment, concentrating on the smaller express stores.
It's a shame Tesco didn't win their plan which would have renovated the waterfront as well, a although I'm not sure how that would have affected the Railway club.

Rouen has been difficult for years, but the rest of the French road network is great. It helps that we go to the Vendee in June, which isn't possible with kids.
I don't mind paying tolls, when the facilities on the Autoroutes are better than ours.

That's a shame because I would have preferred the waterfront re-development as I bet a lot of other people would. Wonder who made that decision because to turn down the waterfront re-development now has obviously backfired.

The waterfront project might have been started by now, which in turn might have got more business for the Ferry and possibly changed Newhaven for the better.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Tolls are expensive, especially with a small campervan. However I have driven the length of France several times (skiing, summer holidays) and have never suffered massive delays on a scale of the UK. Almost every FRiday in the UK it is hellish going up and down the country. Be it M25, M6, M1 etc. Bit of research before travelling is advisable as I found out about the Rouen bridge closure prior to travelling and knew how to avoid it. Always found most motorways to be pretty traffic free. There are occasions when jams happen (leaving ski resorts on a Saturday and the annual August French migration) but compared to the UK it is a pleasure to drive over there. As for toll technology, you simply take a ticket one end and chuck your card in when you exit.

Totally agree. We drove down to Provence and Back in July/August. We planned our holidays to avoid travelling on the worst Saturdays, when we would have had the same sort of problems as the OP. Frequently came off the motorways to drive on normal french roads when we saw them on the map, and sometimes just to pootle around a bit while still making good progress - slower but a lot more interesting. I would travel in France in preference to the UK every time, but one needs to know how to avoid the problems..

 

[yxee]

Don't see why anyone would do Newhaven Dieppe, if they're going to invest they should continue the A27 eastwards to Folkstone. Brighton to Calais wouldn't take much over an hour, big difference for day trippers.

 

[Ceej]

You're lucky you don't do Calais so have all the Rouen and Angers rubbish, not to mention the queuing at that terminal.

Since you're experienced on the roads of France do you have an opinion on their 'warning' messages that appear on the visual display above the road? Personally, I think describing a road as 'tres difficile' is not very helpful. 14 characters of vague shite. Maybe "a29 15k bouchon" might have been more helpful, as would flagging up that a bridge was shut a bit earlier than one mile beforehand?

If I saw "tres difficile" as a warning on French roads I'd run/drive several billion miles to avoid it. Tres difficile is the equivalent of "major b***cks" coming up. Their slip roads take you by surprise it's true, but you get used to it. We've been holidaying in France on and off for 25 years and I'd prefer to drive in France on a day to day basis than in England. Bigger rural roads, regularly great views and scenery, less traffic (normally) and when on holiday and with a decent map, loads of opportunities for nice lunch/dinner stops.
I agree that the signs in England have got a lot better recently and also, sorry you had such a grim journey.

 

[Hamilton]

I must have been very lucky because on the many trips to France and the various routes through it I have never ever been held up in a traffic jam for more than 10 minutes on any road. Some have been slow but we have kept moving at all times.

Me too.

Bit perplexed by this thread. I've driven in France a lot and never had problems.

 

[Norman Potting]

If only the catamaran still ran

Precisely - would love to drive for around 45' to Newhaven, 2 hours via fast catamaran to Dieppe. Would save around 2 hrs on our overall journey time to the Vendee. But have just looked at the timetable and there is a choice of arriving early afternoon or in the small hours of the morning after a 4hr journey, neither of which are much use. As for Newhaven to Le Havre, that doesn't seem to run any more. Looked at the various Portsmouth Routes and and once again overnight seems to be the only options. So if we go to France next year it will be a nearly 70mile journey in the opposite direction to Dover to start our trip where the ferries seem to run at about the same frequency as the 25 bus.

Recall that around 15yrs ago the Seacat left at around 09:00 and returned at 17:00 ish. Ideal for a day trip and Dieppe is a very pleasant seaside town with a nice prom and beach, and a nice harbour and marina which you can sit beside in the sunshine and sip your beer.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Don't see why anyone would do Newhaven Dieppe, if they're going to invest they should continue the A27 eastwards to Folkstone. Brighton to Calais wouldn't take much over an hour, big difference for day trippers.

Convenience of being 10-15 mins from your front door. That is the worst part about driving abroad, getting off the Le Shuttle or Ferry and having to do that drive back. Even worse if your coming back from Portsmouth because of the roads. At least getting off at Newhaven your nearly home.

 

[FloatLeft]

We've driven from the Vendee to Caen/St Malo/Calais for the last 12 years, a few times a year to our house, and I can safely say i've never queued for more than 15 minutes at a Peage.

Traffic in the UK is far, far worse than in France.

This summer we drove to Collioure which is just north of the Spanish border on the Med side. Even though we left on the day of the Grand Départ (when all of France goes on holiday) the traffic wasn't too bad. However after 2 weeks camping down there, we drove to the Alps and the road from Marseille to Lyon was absolutely horrendous. Like a massive car park. It felt wrong to have to pay to use it.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Strange I didn't experience any of these issues when I went from Dieppe to the Loire Valley last month ( and back again ). Admittedly I avoid the toll roads which I've always found troublesome and expensive. Get back to Britain and there's maniacs everywhere on the road !

 

[The Spanish]

remember when there was briefly a service from the marina?

 

[FloatLeft]

Strange I didn't experience any of these issues when I went from Dieppe to the Loire Valley last month ( and back again ). Admittedly I avoid the toll roads which I've always found troublesome and expensive. Get back to Britain and there's maniacs everywhere on the road !

I'd love not to pay to drive in France but on the route from Collioure to Morzine, if I select 'avoid toll roads' on the TomTom the journey time doubled from 6 to 12 hours. Took 10 hours on the péage anyway.