Planning routes now for my September trip to the route Napoleon. Due to time limits, having to consider using toll road from Calais to Grenoble, anyone got an idea what the toll charges are going to be ? Thanks
There is a French website (with English version) with this - quick google will bring it up. Cannot remember as tend to avoid. Can give you some ideas / options later to split trip up
According to the via michelin route planner it'll be about £35 for tolls and £100 for fuel for Calais to Grenoble. Go to Michelin route planner and maps, traffic news, weather forecast, restaurants and hotel booking and check their route planner, select motorcycle and it'll give you route choices, toll costs etc. Motorcycles are class 5 on the Autoroutes & pay a lot less than cars
would say gregr is about right mate - not done it personally but the tolls ive done would say that does compare... know your pal is reluctant, but i'd motorway to reims, then fast a roads from there, will cover ground quick and you wont be as tired as if you spent 2 massive days on the motorway. done similar to this a few times and never a problem, second day is a long one but not huge at 363 miles. http://goo.gl/maps/m5mFT
Thanks chaps.......for info provided Jimbo, my mate is so set in his mind on doing Calais.....Troyes....then Grenoble, with overnight stop in each place I suppose I could lead, and do your suggested route....and see if he follows
you could do those stop overs, but really wouldnt need tolls to cover that ground in my experience up to you guys, it's your tour dude... personally i think the motorway is hard going, and with those sorts of miles you'll be there by 1pm twiddling your thumbs. think your mate will miss out a lot if he goes 4 days on the motorway for just 2 on the RN.... (not that it isnt worth it ) why not try and get him to compromise, head on A roads in the morning, and say by 3pm each day hop onto main roads / tolls to crunch the afternoon out.... to ensure you get to the hotel on time. unless your happy with tolls.... it's your call fella.
For my £0.02, I'd do something in-between: blatt down the Autoroute down to Dijon or preferably Beaune, overnight there and then look at N-roads (their equivalent of our A-roads) the next day down to Grenoble or Gap. The interesting roads only get going south of Lyon imo, so I'd get most of the journey there done as quickly as possibly in as short a time as possible but not so much that you'd be too knacked to enjoy the riding the next day. Dijon/Beaune is a good stop-off, distance-wise, and both nice towns.
That's a good call. Best of both worlds, there. That way if you're making good progress on the A-roads you may not even need to do the autoroute.
what's good about this forum is people who actually use their bikes and give good honest feedback / ideas My thoughts are as follows: Big factor is when you cross the water to France - with the time change it always appears to have a huge impact on 'time remaining to ride' - if you can get over the water the night before and start fresh in Calais EARLY (say 07:30 on the road) with stops you can get a good distance, if you cross the water in the morning you are far more limited. Either way my route suggestion is as follows: http://goo.gl/maps/Bgaz1 If you start in England take ferry / tunnel then Motorway to St. Dizier where you then pick up D roads down to Poligny and get hotel there - its a good little town and good access to motorways the next morning. If you get over water night before and get on road at a good time I would still do same Motorway / D road route to Poligny, but at Poligny pick up motorway again for final push to Grenoble - its a LONG day (almost 600 miles) but my splitting it Motorway / D route / Motorway you should be able to do it if your hotel is booked so its just sat nav / maps etc. to roll up to door in the evening, check in and grab a beer or 3 Others also given good advice - all depends on your time frame / boredom threshold My tip is not to 'go hell for leather' on the motorway as its really tiring - try and set a good 85 -90 as a cruising speed, get comfy, put some tunes on the old headphones and use the Blades brilliant touring range to knock of 150 miles per tank - if you whack speed up to say 120 - 130 you fuel use rockets, range drops big time and you are shattered when you stop to get fuel and loose all the so called time you thought you made up, only my take and others may have other ideas!
if you are lucky and get over to France with enough time you could push a bit further and stop at Arras, then the next day push all the way down theres a good Buffalo Grill within easy walking distance of B&B hotel Arras, good for a relatively cheap steak
