Driving from Basel to Paris
 

Anyone have any tips in regards to taking either the A4 or the A36?

I will be doing the drive tomorrow and hoping there are some fodorites who could shed

some light on the most scenic route. ViaMichelin and google both have it around

5.15-5.45hr drives dependent on the route. Getting an early start so will have time for

only a couple of stopovers. As well will there be many restaurants and shops closed

due to Easter?

Neither route is scenic, and the tolls are probably the same, but having taken the A4 so many times, I would go with the A36 just for a change.

Now that I have written this, I would have to say that the A4 is better and offers some more interesting stopovers.

I vote for the N4. 2 lanes, not that much traffic, 110kph almost everywhere.

It's true that the N4 is not bad for a lot of the way. In the past, I have often "mixed and matched" taking the N roads for part of the way and then breaking down for the autoroute when I finally got tired of the delays.

They've done quite some construction work there and it looks really nice now. My 2011 Navigon maps didn't even show many of the new roundabouts. :-) Try it!

Any recommendations for stops along the N4? I am most interested in an alsatian winery and perhaps another in the champagne region. From Basel where do you connect to the N4? Also what sort of time frame were you able to complete this route in?
Thanks for the tips!

The obvious stop is Châlons. No the road is not what I would consider scenic. I left in the afternoon and stayed for the night in the local Etap hotel. Clean and cheap, but nothing other. Since the road had only little traffic, I could go the max speed almost all the time.
The Elsass is just a few miles from Basel, so for a stopover it's too close. I'd go north on the A35, there's no toll there, leave the A4 for Sarrebourg (no toll either) and stay on the N4 from there. You cound also cross through the Vosges, it's a lot shorter and what I consider scenic but slower.

Basel to Paris is not that far.

The basic free road is to take the direction of Nancy from Strasbourg.