Driving on Motorways in France - France and Channel Hopping Discussion, Holiday Forums

Driving on Motorways in France

ballymac

2008-06-24 09:37:48

I know there is a seperate topic on driving in france, but this is specifically about the motorways.

When travelling on motorways;
Can someone clarify if sometimes you have to keep travelling past your destination and then turn back, as there is only a slip road on one side of the motorway??
A few years ago I got slightly lost and had no map (long story) but I knew I needed to go East TOWARDS THE AIRPORT but at this particular junction I could only go West away from the airport !!!
Thankfully our flight was delayed and we made check in with seconds to spare. Another guy who was even later than me explained that you can find yourself driving in the wrong direction to get to a turning point which normally has a toll booth. You then enter the motorway travelling back from where you came.

Is this nonsense, or a common occurence in France. We leave on Friday for Nice and travel along the E80 AND HAVE TO EXIT at junction 38. I looked it up on google earthe and other sites and it seems that there is only one slip way for traffic heading towards Nice, so this has got me wondering ?

Any help greatly appreciated and quickly

Hi De Hi

2008-06-24 14:42:00

Re: Driving on Motorways in France

Exit and entry ramps are very similar to those over here although sometimes they turn off rather sharpish and you really do need to obey the speed signs if you want to stay on the road. However if you are on the Peage (toll) bit then all the off and on ramps tend to be routed towards one set of toll booths. This may be on the opposite side of the motorway to the one you want. Once through those you then have to turn to the direction you want. Signage is usually pretty good though. You can then cross over the motorway on the normal road. I doubt you would be taken more than 400 metres out of your way though.

ballymac

2008-06-24 18:46:36

Re: Driving on Motorways in France

Hi de hi thanks for that from memory I think I now know where I went wrong previously (2004) my wife stills sees the funny side of it :que

Will keep an eye out for those sharp exit ramps.

Alsacienne

2008-06-24 19:20:17

Re: Driving on Motorways in France

You might consider printing out your journey using http://www.viamichelin.fr and taking note of the junction number you want to use to leave the motorway ..........

ballymac

2008-06-25 07:54:38

Re: Driving on Motorways in France

Thanks Alsacienne, I know the junction number, it's just that I got caught out previously at a junction, and my main query was in regards to exit and entry ramps, i.e. are they sometimes only available to one side of the road so that you need to pass your intended destination, travel further down the road to turn at the next available exit (which normally has a toll booth) and return back up the same road. e.g. if travelling east from Nice you can't exit so have to travel further east to next exit then turn round and travel west towards Nice to get off at the correct exit.

Hope this makes sense

I have looked at the junction on google earth and mappy and can only see one exit, but Hi De HI has shed some light on this

ballymac

2008-07-14 12:42:28

Re: Driving on Motorways in France

Oh dear, back from holidays, but on the plus side travelled along the A8 no problem, was a very good route to use and had no major problems. Mangaed to get from Nice airport to Frejus, to Cannes, St Tropez, etc and back to the airport directly, only time I got lost was in the towns.

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