Toll system in France
 

Would someone mind explaining the toll system for driving in France?

In May, we will be renting a car and driving from Nice to Aix-en-Provence and later to Annecy and Chamonix.

I have seen posts that American credit cards do not work to pay tolls (we are American). Should we carry any specific denominations to pay for tolls? Is change available? How often does one typically need to pay a toll?

Thanks. We live in California and generally only need to deal with tolls at major bridges. In other states we have sometimes been unprepared for toll roads.

They don't take US credit card in their machine, but if there is an attendant, then you can use it. Unmanned booths take cash and if I remember correctly, they give change too.

Laura, if you go to www.viamichelin.com and get driving directions you will find the toll costs. I should also tell you the location of the tolls. They are found on the A-roads in France, the autoroute.

When approaching the toll plaza you should go to the booths that show that they have a person in the booth rather than the automatic ones. You can either pay in cash or use a US credit card.

Not to worry, if it happens, you wouldn't be the first person to have to back your way out of the wrong toll booth ;;) Deborah

I paid about 15 tolls during my French visit in 2006. They hire lots of young people to collect tolls, so I never see a line. I just go to a manned booth and pay by cash. No need to worry about credit cards.

Thanks all. This information was very helpful.

The best way around any potential toll
problems is to stay off autoroutes
as you'll miss so much by using them anyway...

Rob

The toll roads are great,however, if you're in a hurry to get somewhere.

Just to say that there are, a very few, unmanned peages.

They are normally where they are close together and the toll is low.

Best to keep a little cash for these if you don't have a card that is accepted !

Peter

When you are approaching the toll station ("peage") the road widens into several lanes. Usually, there are several types of booths:

- "Monnaie" (with a coin symbol): These booths are manned. You pay either cash or card and you get change.

- "Monnaie automatique": These are unmanned; you toss some coins into a basket. They return change.

- "CB" (Carte bancaire, with a card symbol): These are unmanned, you insert your credit card into a slot. These may not work with American cards. If this happens, DO NOT BACK UP. Make yourself visible and within a minute an attendant will come and help you.

- "telepeage" (marked with an orange "t"): AVOID THIS LANE - it requires special equipment.

You will find manned booths practically everywhere, including small exits. On crowded days, the waiting lines in front of the automatic booths are shorter, this is the only reason to use automatic booths.

I have just read, they even accept US dollars in cash.

For further information, see
http://www.autoroutes.fr/

We managed to lose out ticket (in the plastic facia of the car a long story) the staff at the peage were very understanding, charged us back to the furthest entry peage (one we came in at) and gave us the address to send any found ticket if we found it and reckened we were owed money.

On the larger ones watch out as the traffic control on entry and exit is a bit more dnagerous as people change lanes to get their prefferd option and or go to the loo

We (Americans) have used our credit cards (as well as paid in euros) on the Autoroutes and have never had a problem...the system there is easy to figure out--the cost does add up, but the convenience is worth it, if you want to get somewhere fairly fast.

Where, and how, are you plannig to buy fuel?

The tolls we paid were only 4 to 7 Euro.. You should carry at least that much cash?

I used American credit cards in the automatic machines last summer, FWIW.

Dukey - gosh, I hadn't even thought about the fuel yet. I figure that we will get it at petrol stations. Are they hard to find and/or use? We will have a Garmin GPS with updated maps, so hopefully they will help us if the stations are hard to find.

I have no idea what the concern is with regards to fuel. The French actually really like to drive - they may not have the car culture of the US, but... On the major highways, they have a very well-developed system of truck-stop-type service centers that do not require leaving the toll road - these will usually have a convenience store, toilets, and maybe a cafe of some sort. Most towns of any size will similarly have a gas station. They may even have a bank, with an ATM, where you can get money.:)

And again, FWIW, I had no trouble using American credit cards at the gas stations or most anywhere else. Indeed, my American cards work better in France than my Danish card does.

Probably worth adding to this :

Non French cc's may or may not work in the auto booths of the peage or fuel pumps. Depends which bank issued it.

Non French cc's are always accepted at the manual booths for both.

Smaller fuel stations may be automatic only on Sundays, fete days, etc.

Fuel is up to 20% cheaper in a hypermarket than on the autoroute.

Diesel is around 15% cheaper than petrol (gas) and gives up to 40% more miles per gallon. Small diesel cars give 50 mpg (40 on US gallons) even on the autoroute.

There are many automatic speed cameras on the autoroutes, and increasingly, throughout France. This can add to motoring costs !

Peter

One more comment about where to buy fuel. In France any largish supermarket will sell fuel much more cheaply than a service station. there aren't that many service stations now because virtually everyone goes to their local supermarche/hypermarche.

On the autoroutes there are of course service stations, but the cost is even higher than at a normal station. It may not be worth your while to look for somewhere cheaper, but we find that as we like to eat somewhere off the autoroute, we usually fill up in the nearest off-autoroute town. Lots of other people obviously do the same, and so you will usually see directions to a supermarket (Leclerc, Champion, Casino, Auchan, etc.)

I confirm that American credit cards work at the automatic toll stations. I took a trip where one person used an American credit card last week and there was no problem.

I think maybe a lot of tourists put their cards in backwards or something.