I'd still have lots of coin in case there were no manned booths. Is that a non-flammable bra???

We went through a lot of tolls booths in our 3.5 month trip. Fotunately we only had minor hiccups. Firstly we didn't know about the collecting a ticket at the beginning and inserting ticket on exiting. But we only had to do it once to work out the system.

We carried a small bag of coins in our consol and probably used that half the time, if it was a decent amount or we had no coins we just slipped our cc in. One time the machine did 'eat' our ticket, we only paniced for a second, and pressed the help button and a lovely friendly voice asked us where we entered the toll and told us how much to put in and we were on our way.

We used them in France, Italy and Spain (also Austria I believe)and I don't ever remember waiting in a line for very long. I think it was Switzerland, Germany & Slovenia that we had to buy a Autostrada sticker for the car. We presumed that was instead of tolls.

There is a small number of toll roads in Bavaria. All of them are scenic "byways". No major roads.

This is a German "toll booth" for trucks
http://www.dvz.de/uploads/pics/Maut_...lect_500px.jpg

So far, a general toll is only collected from trucks on the Autobahn. The system would work with any passenger car too. I'm sure sometime in the not too distant future, they'll introduce a general toll. Trucks are equipped with an "on board unit" that gets the current location via GPS, then sends an SMS to the toll collection service which then gets the money from your bank account. Once the system is indroduced for passenger cars too, they will have automated records of the time and your actual location whenever your driving on the Autobahn.

Of course, then you can go full speed at the toll booths... LOL

<<New Jersey Turnpike and Pennsylvania-Ohio-Indiana Turnpikes, unless the system has been changed. Also the New York Thruway, if memory serves me right.>>

Memory serves you correctly.

<<They have petrol stations and restaurants inside the tolled area on the New York Thruway?>>

Yes.

1. Consider avoiding the credit card lane at toll booths unless you absolutely know in advance that your US card will be accepted. Like Stu says, some toll booths accept magnetic strip cards, others do not. I have also seen booths that require a cash payment before you are allowed to enter onto the autoroute.

2. Trying to avoid toll roads can cost you dearly in extended drive times. If your vacation time is limited, it can take you a lot longer to reach you destination by trying to avoid them. Not only are speed limits greatly increased on toll roads 130km/hr vs 90km/hr but on the autoroute there is little danger in finding yourself following behind large trucks for miles at a time at speeds reduced even below 90km/hr. Shorter drive times can save on fuel expenses.

3. Another advantage of using the autoroutes is that restrooms and break areas are never far away.

4. If you have the time, the N or D roads can offer much to sightseers and allow you proceed at a leisurely pace but don´t automatically assume that autoroutes will always cost you more. In fact, A75 which covers almost half of the distance when traveling from Paris to the Mediterranean is absolutely free (with a small charge to cross the Millau bridge).

"Tolls are not levied around a city."


Unfortunately that is not true around Nice.

As Michael pointed out, lines are a non issue. If traffic is smooth, lines are very short. I have never encountered more than a couple of cars before me at toll booths so it's a matter of 20 seconds at most.

>>>As Michael pointed out, lines are a non issue.<<

Ever headed south from Paris on the Autoroute du Soleil on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th weekend in July???

Stu Dudley

There's a word missing from my phrase.

Sorry Michael - I was quoting FrenchMystiqueTours, who dropped "generally" when he quoted you.

Stu Dudley

I'm a woman, not a he. Anyway, I said "if traffic is smooth" as it's obvious that if the autoroute is congested the toll booths will be too. And yes, I grew up and live just outside Paris, I am more than familiar with the traffic around major French cities, but I never make the mistake of taking the autoroute on a busy weekend :-) The point is that in good driving conditions a slowdown at the toll is not something the OP should be concerned about, which was one of their concerns. Unlike my experience of American highways, French highways are all or nothing: you're either bumper to bumper or practically alone on the road. 90% of the time, we have the autoroute to ourselves till we get back to the Paris region where it's a nightmare (but there are no tolls any more at that point).

Véronique

When we hit the city traffic outside Paris is when the lovely Mrs. FMT2 and I argue about whether we should take an alternate route off the autoroute. :)

Bruce

In the US, the Maine, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Maryland Turnpikes join their sisters in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana in having fuel, restaurants (sic), and small shops within the tolled areas.

But they don't sell wine the way such places do in Italy, either by the glass or by the litre.

The credit card lines are generally the shortest when one does not have an electronic pass. Although many people have claimed that their American credit cards did not work in the toll machines, I have never encountered that. I have been the designated driver for visits from my parents, brother and nephew and have used all of their credit cards with no problem when I wasn't paying myself. American Express cards also work.

Anyway, if your card does not work, an attendant will rush over to resolve the problem -- the vast majority of the problems are just people putting their cards in backwards.

Otherwise, you can go to the manned toll booth, and the attendant will put your card into the same sort of machine as the automatic booths, and it will work perfectly.

Kind of makes you wonder what some people are getting wrong.

>>Kind of makes you wonder what some people are getting wrong.<<

I guess we're just dumb. BTW, my wife worked for Visa for 20 years.

Stu Dudley

Kansas Turnpike also has c-stores and "restaurants" embedded.

The M50 just out of the Dublin Airport has an automatic toll section. You can phone to pay by credit card or pay at various locations, mostly c-stores I believe, but you need to do it within a fairly small window or the rental company will smack your credit card with a handling fee for paying it for you.

<< If you have US "swipe" CCs, it doesn't matter how many different cards you have if the toll booth only takes "chip" cards.>>

Stu, what's that "chip" card you mentioned?

They are the smart cards used by the rest of the world but not the U.S.

Anyway, the toll booths read only the magnetic strip -- the chip is not used. My American Express card and my Monoprix/BHV credit card (also accepted) will attest to this, because they don't have chips.

OK, so even we, primitive Americans, can use our old-fashioned credit cards when entering toll booth. Good. We will also take coins with us in the car (what kinds of coins, btw? In the USA a Quarter is the most accepted, what's in France (and Germany?).....

Euro coins...1E and less...but lots of them...I would have 10 to 20E in coins for France. don't know about the autobahn!!!