French Autoroute tolls

Question

I travelled by car from Calais to Aulnay 17470 via the autoroutes following Rouen/Le Mans/Tours. Viamichelin calculates the tolls as around 57 euros one way but my total came to around 67 euros PLUS TVA/VAT at 20% - so over 80 euros in total.

The charging looks joined up and consistent for a car (a class 1 vehicle), though one section was 35 euros alone (including TVA): A28 TLPC to A28 ORBEC SENS 2

Is it just one of those things? I'm surprised it's so hard to get an accurate estimate online in 2018. I did look at the websites of the toll operators, not great in my opinion.

The return journey seems to have been charged at around 21 euros plus TVA. Perhaps all the charges aren't in yet? Perhaps getting a bit lost helped....

Answer 1

Yeah, it's one of those things.

I assume that viamichelin is not always up to date (?) and are there fee variations during the day ? for example cheaper night vs. day vs week days vs. week-end.

Just for fun, I just checked, and it gave me 128 euros one-way.

(lol, long link because it does not allow url shortener)

https://www.viamichelin.fr/web/Itineraires?departure=62100%20Calais%2C%20Pas-de-Calais%2C%20France&departureTid=city-128168-fra&arrival=17470%20Aulnay%2C%20Charente-Maritime%2C%20France&arrivalTid=city-106943-fra&index=0&vehicle=0&type=0&distance=km&currency=EUR&highway=false&toll=false&vignette=false&orc=false&crossing=true&caravan=false&shouldUseTraffic=false&withBreaks=false&break_frequency=7200&coffee_duration=1200&lunch_duration=3600&diner_duration=3600&night_duration=32400&car=hatchback&fuel=petrol&fuelCost=1.546&allowance=0&corridor=&departureDate=&arrivalDate=&fuelConsumption=

anecdotal, I was un the US last month, and paid way much more tolls than I expected; I grunted and let it go.

Answer 2

Did you follow the exact route plotted by viamichelin when calculating those tolls? ViaMichelin and Google both give me (tolls from viamichelin):

• A16-A28-A10 (your route I assume) €57.70
• A16-A10 €52.20
• A1-A10 €41.70

Going the other side of a city (where there are autoroutes both ways round) can make a difference, even though the sections passing major cities are normally outside the toll system. Getting in the wrong lane approaching Poitiers could do that sort of thing, for example. Getting lost and repeating a section can easily add quite a bit as the pricing is a little odd in places.

I often find that a long journey in France has one big toll and a few much smaller ones, as once you're in the system you can get quite a long way on one payment.

For your return journey, if you took the same route, I'd be surprised at such a difference. Calais to Briançon and back was within a few euros in over a hundred (campervan so a more expensive class), and that was with a detour into Reims one way.