Calais to Valtournenche (ItalyAlps)- To toll or not to toll?

[eppiblue]

Would appreciate your wise opinions on this as I havent done this drive before and its the first time I take the bongo to the EU. Ive got all the EU stuff sorted (including chains) and we are planning to set on this thurs from London.

Ive done a toll calculation using mappy.com and to drive the direct route from Calais through Reims and Dijon Im looking at 994km on motorways and 155€ in tolls!

If I go via Brussels and Strasbourg I get 1107km (958 on motorways) and approx 38€ in tolls, but an extra 2 hours on the total time (more time if I use gmaps for some reason)

Has anyone driven to the alps via Belgium to avoid tolls? What are the roads like usually? And what about with snow like we have at the moment?

Or since Im not in a rush should I just accept the tolls, buy some fresh baguettes and go the quicker way?

[Bongopoet]

We have done the journey in summer both by toll and non toll. To be honest for peace of mind because of the weather I would go toll. We found that some of the non toll roads being fairly indirect were not that economical to drive.
Have fun whatever you decide
Chrissy

[M 80NGO]

I say no toll roads, back in the summer we done France, belgium, germany, switzerland over the alps into italy to Rapello which is northern Italy, we done it all via the Route nationals and they were great, they were the main roads twenty years ago more scenic and defo cheaper tho when we left Italy heading to Monacco that was the first time we got on a toll road and if you look on a map you'll understand why, we then done the toll roads when we got back up to paris cos once you've been to southern france the north looks like cambridgeshire.

Also get fuel from supermarkets its 10E cheaper per litre than on the m/way

[technophobe]

Went to lake Garda with some other Bongoliers. Ferry to Dunkirque (cheap) and then no tolls except Brenner Pass. Don't know about winter although I suspect the continentals are better with snow the the UK. Try missfixit or Freewheeler for the route.

[dandywarhol]

I'd go Calais/Mons/Luxembourg for cheap fuel and Strasbourg

[Nick65]

I'd do the tolls, if you haven't got the time. Personally I love some of these toll roads as the scenery can be quite stunning, even if you are doing 80MPH. Also an autoroute gets higher clearance to grit if you do get in trouble, and that's why you pay those tolls.

Couple of links for you

http://www.autoroutes.fr/en/homepage.html

http://www.asf.fr/control/index.aspx?pa ... glais.9914

http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.f ... ?langue=en

[Nick65]

I'd go Calais/Mons/Luxembourg for cheap fuel and Strasbourg

Sounds like a good route, and not too far off the beaten track that it will make any difference to your consumption.

Avoid Lyon by the way, it is a superb city to visit, but can be a bit of a nightmare to drive round, so it is worth a detour if you can.

Good tip about the supermarkets as well

Enjoy it all though

[dandywarhol]

Europe/UK fuel prices December 10 - you could also do a detour via Latvia for a topup . Plan your tank capacity and you'll save £20 by filling up in Luxembourg! ..........and the Yanks are still whinging about fuel prices!

http://www.theaa.com/onlinenews/allabou ... er2010.pdf

[briwy]

I'd stick to the toll roads at present mainly due to the weather.

Its been very bad in northern France and Germany so the toll roads are far more likely to be clear than the other roads.

[eppiblue]

Got back on Monday so here's what we did. Left on the 23rd and decided to make it an adventure and go via Mons, Namur, Luxembourg, Montreux and on to Valtournanche. Here's the route: http://tinyurl.com/3ysdjeh

The snow was pretty heavy from Mons... and after Lamur the motorway was getting blocked with trucks and some cars failing to make it up the hills due to ice. We were getting low on fuel and didnt want to get stuck in a gridlock so we pulled off and found a little village called Wellin where we ate some pasta and drank trappist beers at a little bar. It was chucking down with snow when we went to sleep in the Bongo that night, next morning it was caked. Next day we headed south through Lux and France and spend xmas eve in a snowed in little village behind a church eating baked beans and a few scotches.

Some of the conditions were pretty bad, blizzard snow, unploughed highway and country roads. Needed to stop quite a bit to de-ice wiper blades etc, but overall the bongo went really well. The AWD was really impressive - I didnt need to use my chains and we only got a bit slidey once, but that could have been avoided. Vincent (bongo) was a bit grumpy starting in the mornings... especially after the -15 night when my water bottle next to my sleeping bed froze solid! Took about 10 mins to get him going the next morning.

We got some fresh snow and bluebird days up the slopes in Cervinia too... great trip!

Result!

[mikeonb4c]

Woa - sounds fantastic. Ought to uncreak my bones and do a bit of that myself methinks

I wonder what caused the grumpiness (and lumpiness?). Is the starter battery in good nick, and what AmpHr is it?

[eppiblue]

Id have to check AmpHr, but the battery was fine, it had no problem turning it over and the voltage didnt drop too much after alot of trying. Perhaps the glowplugs are a bit old? - when it did finally kick in, you could smell unburnt fuel in the whitesmoke. One morning took about 3 minutes of key turned before it finally kicked over.