HI off to spain in august and was considering going through paris would tom tom get me through ok ,does it take much time off the usual detours etc. I would be landing in calais cheers Dean
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Do you actually want to go to Paris? if you don't you can avoid it with no real extra mileage, where abouts do you want to enter Spain & do you want toll road all the way, ie quickest, or part toll?
Dean - have you actually looked out possible routes, or are you just planning on using Tom Tom all the way? If so, be aware that the tolls can mount up on some routes.
Mappy.com shows a route using the A75, which is toll free from Clermont Ferrand down to Beziers, and the total tolls with car and caravan using that route is 110.00 euros - quite an expense on top of your fuel (which will be much more expensive on the autoroutes anyway). Viamichelin will take you virtually the same way, so make sure you allow for a couple of hundred pounds in tolls for the journeys there and back.
Your quickest & most straightforward route Calais-Costa Brava if you are happy to pay toll all the way is Calais, Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Nimes, Perpignan, across the border & onto Figueres & yer there. All Autoroute about 800miles.
There are other routes with less toll & better scenery but that is the way the coach drivers go & best(& flattest)if yer just want to boot it down there.
Toll cost car/caravan 146€ one way.
On Saturdays in July The traffic can get very heavy on this route around Lyon & at Montpellier onwards to the border, but in later Aug should'nt be too bad.
We went through Paris last year towing our TT and giuded only by the trusty satnav. It was a Saturday in July, mid morning. It was okay...
....except for the junctions and general on-off slips. Trust me, you have to trust the satnav implicitly. You will be going at some speed and the French drivers won't give you an inch more than they think you need. (Which will be enough, but you might feel you wanted a bit more.) Basically Hubby watched the road and traffic and drove and I watched the satnav/map/the junction numbers. Between us we made it through.
We're not ever going to do it again though, not even if the alternative is to go round via Normandy.
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Tom Tom will get you through but need to trust it. If you need to go through Paris avoid Fri from midday onwards as the French rarely work Friday afternoon so roads are busy. Its OK - busy and the French will give you little grace (like any capital city driver really) It is often a more direct route via Paris but I guess depends on your other options really. I have done it alone and would do it again but do need your wits about you if you catch it when busy.