Road Trip

Mr. Manager

Right so I posted here recently about taking a road trip to Nice to celebrate a birthday. Instead of bumping an old thread I thought best to start this one. Apologies Mods if this is a nuisance.

Everything got booked sometime last week and the plan is:

27th Sept. - Drive from Dublin to Rosslare.
27th Sept. - Boat from Rosslare to Cherbourg.
28th Sept. - Cherbourg to Paris.

Stay in Paris for 2 nights.

30th Sept. - Paris to Nice (for 3 days of partying!)

4th Oct. - Nice to Calais (stay the night relatively close to harbor)
5th Oct. - Calais to Dover
5th Oct. - Dover to Brighton to meet a friend. (stay another night)
6th Oct. - Brighton to Prestwold Hall (Ferrari & Lamborghini track driving which I got for my 21st 2 years ago)
6th Oct. - Prestwold Hall - Holyhead
6th Oct. - Holyhead - Dublin
7th Oct. - HOME!

Total distance = 2,604 Miles.

Dead excited as it's my first real road trip. Never been outside the country in my car. There will be 3 drivers in the car and I reckon it will work as whoever is in the passenger seat keeps the driver company for X amount of hours and when they switch they go to the back for a sleep and the other takes over driving.

I've sorted out things such as Hi Vis jacket, warning triangle, fire extinguisher. Have the car set for a service before I go and get the beams changed for night time driving.

Just wondering if anybody would have any last bits of information that might help me along the way? How much it may cost in petrol/tolls.

I have an A4 1.9 TDi and get ~600 miles for a full tank which costs ~€70

Thanks!

Berty

Tolls will get you. You don't have to pay to cross from Wales to England but you will on the way back. :rolleyes:

The Tolls in France could cost you aroud €75 each way.

Staying in Paris would be fine but not in central Paris. I suggest the Kyriad at Torcy. I used to stay there on business in a local industrial park. There are a few restaurants across the road and a LARGE LARGE Carrefour supermarket next door to stock up on supplies for the trip South. Its actually on the Motorway around Paris anyway. Rooms are usually around €40 a night.

Try to get fuel in Supermarkets and NOT ON THE MOTORWAY SERVICES. Diesel in France is around €1.30 per litre. I had a 1.6 Mondeo(Petrol) and it costs €98 to fill the tank. I was tre angry. :mad:

You could be really boring and get a Train from Calais to Nice WITH YOUR CAR. Expensive and really truly ruins the whole "Road Trip" thingy.

I recently did a 3200km trip through the UK and France myself. I FECKIN LOVED IT!

Mr. Manager

I've heard the tolls in France are pricey but I didn't realise it would be that pricey!

I was hoping to do the trip on roughly €600, taking into account that the fuel and toll costs will be split 3 ways. Takes the edge off it I guess.

You could be really boring and get a Train from Calais to Nice WITH YOUR CAR. Expensive and really truly ruins the whole "Road Trip" thingy.

That was a suggestion somewhere down the line but was shortly scrapped. Looking to head to a few different spots along the way, one I'm really looking forward to is "Millau Viaduct" - 1,125 ft up in the air :eek:

Voodoomelon

As well as the hi vis jackets etc, make sure you have a spare bulb kit and the few other bits you are required to carry, lots of useful info here: http://www.france4families.com/drivinginfrance/drivinginfrance.htm

Mr. Manager

I should probably just go out and buy a handy car kit which includes it all

Hissing Sid

What time is your race day. Brighton to Loughborogh will take you a couple of hours, and you will be on the M25, which is terrible for delays.
As far as I'm aware, and I've driven it a few times lately, there is no toll getting to Holyhead.

bladebrew

if you put the details of the trip into a route planner it should tell you the total for tolls,

i put it into viamichelin route planner, tolls are 97 euro to get there!
that is going from rosslare to pembroke though not directly into france from rosslare
the french love toll roads!

edit: the route this route planner decided is way of the way you are going!!

Mr. Manager

Hissing Sid wrote: »

What time is your race day. Brighton to Loughborogh will take you a couple of hours, and you will be on the M25, which is terrible for delays.
As far as I'm aware, and I've driven it a few times lately, there is no toll getting to Holyhead.

We haven't been given a time yet for the track day. We chose 3pm but are waiting to hear if it is available. We'll be staying with a friend the night before so just get an early night and an early start the next day and then the ferry afterward isn't until some late hour of the night.

Mr. Manager

bladebrew wrote: »

if you put the details of the trip into a route planner it should tell you the total for tolls,

i put it into viamichelin route planner, tolls are 97 euro to get there!
that is going from rosslare to pembroke though not directly into france from rosslare
the french love toll roads!

edit: the route this route planner decided is way of the way you are going!!

I must try find a decent route planner to get more exact details of Tolls and Motorway usage!

bazzachazza

I wouldn't stay close to Calais if I were you I have been told its a dump and its full people waiting to hide in trucks to the UK.

Only time I spent any time there it was pissing out of the heavens and the locals stayed indoors.

bazzachazza

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I must try find a decent route planner to get more exact details of Tolls and Motorway usage!

http://www.viamichelin.com/

Mr. Manager

bazzachazza wrote: »

http://www.viamichelin.com/

Yea I tried that but as bladebrew said, it brings me arseways through England. A regular road map and calculator will have to suffice

bazzachazza

You can move the way points to a route you prefer can't remember exactly how to do it but it can be done.

bladebrew

if you put the route in in pieces it helps, i have put it in cherbourg to nice, it says €84.50 in tolls, then from nice back to calais tolls are €95.80, one of the tolls on your way back is €20.20,

You've been driving for almost 2 hours, take a break! Setques/Calais: Toll: 20.20 EUR

once your prepared you should be fine
i would love to do a trip like this, i dont think the saxo would survive though:)

robbie_998

CD player and plenty of CD's !!!!!!!!!!!

or mp3 player plugged into the car and lots of tunes !!!!



or else you die. :cool:

Mr. Manager

I have a 6 disc changer in the car and a 32gb memory on my phone so will be stocking that up and using the FM Transmitter.

Not such a big fan of listening to a radio station I can't understand!

danjo

I would advise you to get a sat nav now and be familiar with it before you go. Road signage is excellent in France however a sat nav will give you alternate routes to avoid tolls. So if you are not in a big rush you will be able to avoid some by using secondary roads.They are generally very good. Also reassuring when driving long distances to know where service stations, supermarkets and other services etc. are located

skibum

+1 for the satnav, if you don't have one, beg borrow or steal one, they are invaluable on a trip like yours, takes out all the stress of map reading, strange road signs etc.

I would also get a cool box that you plug into the cigarette lighter, keep your cans of redbull and water nice and cold. I also kept some fruit (bananas, apples etc), very refreshing on long journeys.

Enjoy your trip, you will enjoy driving on french motorways as they "Generally" have very good lane discipline.

duckysauce

skibum wrote: »

+1 for the satnav, if you don't have one, beg borrow or steal one, they are invaluable on a trip like yours, takes out all the stress of map reading, strange road signs etc.

I would also get a cool box that you plug into the cigarette lighter, keep your cans of redbull and water nice and cold. I also kept some fruit (bananas, apples etc), very refreshing on long journeys.

Enjoy your trip, you will enjoy driving on french motorways as they "Generally" have very good lane discipline.

what about the jd i found that very important on the frog trip :P

Turner

Ring your insurance company and they will send you a green card insurance cert (for free)




The police in France will not accept an Irish insurance cert, the same as the Gardai will not accept a Lithuanian or a Polish cert from some company they have never heard of.

The green card insurance cert is accepted all over Europe by police.

fryup

most importantly-don't forget to drive on the right-hand side

Mr. Manager

fryup wrote: »

most importantly-don't forget to drive on the right-hand side

I've been and gone

got back about 3 weeks ago, had an absolute blast!

All went perfect except for my friend driving my alloys into the side of a toll booth!

I posted pics of the cars I saw on my travels in the Here's what I say today thread

CiniO

Chief--- wrote: »

Ring your insurance company and they will send you a green card insurance cert (for free)




The police in France will not accept an Irish insurance cert, the same as the Gardai will not accept a Lithuanian or a Polish cert from some company they have never heard of.

The green card insurance cert is accepted all over Europe by police.

You are wrong.
Police in France is obliged to accept Irish Insurance Certificate, as well as Irish Gardai have to accept Polish or Lithuanin cert.
We are in EU, and there is no need for green card.

Obviously if you want to get one, it will do no harm.
But don't expect anyone on the Continent (within EU + Switzerland, Norway, etc) to ask you about green card.