Our current itinerary includes staying in Arles or thereabouts, then spending a few days in the Antibes/Nice/Monaco area, and then driving on to Beaune. The Google maps route has us backtracking through Aix to Salon-de-Provence and heading north to Beaune. I've looked at what appears to be a more direct route but it apparently passes through mountainous areas and takes longer.

Thanks for your input!

We took the A7 in the opposite direction: Beaune to Nice. It was very direct and it took 6 hours with road construction.

Don't use google maps for driving instructions in France. It always underestimates the times. Use www.viamichelin.com to get accurate driving times and distances as well as toll and fuel costs and suggested routes. The drive time don't consider stops nor do they consider bad traffic/weather.

The most direct route between Nice and Beaune is a 6-1/2 hour non-stop drive and will bring you past Aix and Salon. There is no way around that unless you want to take country roads which will add a great deal of time to your journey.

If you do this same journey using google maps you'll notice it says that it is a 5-1/2 hour drive vs. the 6-1/2 hour drive shown by viamichelin.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll start pulling up the Michelin directions. It would help to know tolls in advance so that we can make sure we have enough coins before setting out since we don't have a chip and pin card. Or will a chip and signature card work? (I know we won't stop and sign but I think I have read some people say that they work in some places that usually require a chip and pin card.)

They don't have people manning the machine to take your signature, so don't see the point of that type of card, myself. Give it a try if you have one, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get one if that's the only reason you want one. I've heard those kind of cards may work at automatic gas station pumps, but not at the automated toll booths.

We've always had to use cash at the toll booths in France even though we carry both chip-and-pin and chip-and-signature American credit cards. We have used both types of chip cards to buy gas at autoroute gas stations. B&C

You can see what the tolls will be when you check your route on www.viamichelin.com.

We have always paid cash for tolls in France (though we do now have a chip and pin card on a French bank). It's all automated now and you can put bills in the machines too... no need for coins. Check the toll amounts on viamichelin and you'll be sure to have enough cash/coins on hand.

Kathy

Kathy - good to know that bills work, too.

Christina - We got chip and signature cards for our trip to Italy last year though I don't think it really mattered. I had read that the US was supposed to switch over to chip and pin cards but retailers are dragging their feet getting the equipment required to process them.