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HI i drove from calais to the southwest in france last year and it cost me about 40 euro's each way on the toll roads, i didn't think that was bad as the keep you out of the city centres ,which can be a nightmare and also they are hassle free

Hi

We drove, with caravan, from Dunkerque to the Pyrenees and then back to Dunkerque via Ile de Re.  The tolls including Ile de Re toll bridge were nearly £400.  This year we have driven to French Alps, near Chamonix and then Lake Annecy and mainly avoided toll roads. We have used them occasionally to get around large cities, eg, Reims and in Alps.  One stretch oost 20€ for 20 km!!

We have saved a LOT of money and seen some really beautiful countryside.  The French N and D roads are mainly excellent quality and with relatively little traffic.  In some areas they include picnic aires where we stop for lunch.   Outside for towns and villages I have been able to keep up a steady 90Kph towing but frequent French villages do bring down the average in some areas.  We use our Tom Tom Sat Nav backed up by an atlas and common sense. 

I am typing this in a 2 night halt at Camping Municipal atChalons en Champagne,  We make our final drive to Dunkerque for the Norfolk Line ferry tonight.  We are driving on N roads until we reach the FREE autoroutes near Lille and then stopping overnight at the ferry port car park before catching the 10 am boat.

We will DEFINITELY use the N/D roads again.

On the other hand we did use to overnight at French autoroute aires for free but this time we have paid for campsites.  We have still saved money after paying campsite charges.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Tim