 | Routes from Calais | |
| ||
| |||||
| |||||||
 Map © Copyright About-France.com The trunk roads marked in green are all dual carriageways; bear in mind that speed is limited to 110 km/h on dual carriageways, rather than the 130 km/h allowed on motorways. The routes marked in grey are the main routes from Paris (which are liable to be very busy). Click to check out the busiest weeks for French road and holiday resorts Check mileage from Calais to main centres in south and west France To check your route, visit the About-France.com France routefinder map page, and key in the details of your journey. Through France to Spain The map above shows the best England-Spain routes avoiding Paris. There are three possible Calais-Spain routes for traffic heading for the Mediterranean coast - Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and Andalucia. The route via Reims and Dijon is recommended for lorries and cars with caravans. The route via Clermont Ferrand, rising three times to over 1100 metres (about 3500 ft), crosses the Millau bridge, but includes some long and steep climbs. The route via Limoges is longer. | NEW (click for details): Motorway service areas in France, with details of main areas on routes from Calais Few things can be worse at the start of a long-awaited holiday, than to find oneself stuck for hours in a monstruous traffic jam, rather than relaxing at one's holiday destination. When travelling from the UK or from Belgium or Holland to anywhere in France, it is always best to avoid Paris, particularly during summer weekends. The map opposite shows how all regions of France can be reached by motorway or dual-carriageway (divided highway) trunk road, without going through Paris. There are two routes south from Calais: the A16 motorway, via Boulogne, Abbeville and Rouen, and the A26 motorway via Arras and Reims (Rheims) . To the central southern France: Follow: Abbeville > Rouen > Evreux > Chartres > Orleans... !! Take care when leaving Calais if you use a Tomtom satnav. Default routes will probably try to send you via Paris rather than via Rouen. So follow motorway signs for Boulogne, then Rouen, then Orleans. Careful again after Rouen. Keep following Evreux and Orleans. Follow the roadsigns, not the satnav! For traffic heading for the central southern France, the route via Rouen is strongly recommended. Rouen can be a hassle, but the routes through the city are now clear, and dual-carriageway. On entering Rouen, the A28 becomes the N28. Follow on down through the tunnel, then across the Seine. After that, follow signs for Paris and Evreux (then Evreux & Orleans if you are heading for Orléans) or Caen and Alençon. You will rejoin the motorway west of Rouen. The route to south central and southwest France via Orleans then follows through (or past) the towns of Evreux, Dreux and Chartres. This is mostly on the N 154, which is almost all dual-carriageway as far as Chartres. Traffic normally flows freely on the 50 km of relatively straight and flat single-carriageway N154 from Chartres to the A10 motorway before Orleans. To southwest France: Follow: Abbeville > Rouen > Le Mans > Tours... For traffic heading to southwest France, the route via Rouen is strongly recommended. Rouen can be a hassle, but the routes through the city are now clear, and dual-carriageway. On entering Rouen, the A28 becomes the N28. Follow on down through the tunnel, then across the Seine. After that, follow signs for Caen. Join the A13 motorway, then just west of Rouen branch off onto the A28 for Alençon and Le Mans. To western Normandy and Brittany Follow: Abbeville > Rouen > Le Havre > Caen > Rennes... Traffic for notthwest France can actually avoid Rouen altogether by following Le Havre, then Caen, on the A 29 motorway that leaves the A 28 before Rouen. Traffic heading for eastern and south east France - Alsace, Jura, Alps, Provence, should leave Calais on the A 26 motorway, following signs for Arras and Reims. After that, it is plain sailing all the way as far as Lyon. Remember to take the A 39 motorway at Dijon, as this motorway is relatively traffic free; if you follow Beaune, you will soon join the very heavy traffic on the A6 Paris to Lyon motorway. From the A39, you join the A 40, then the A 42. Before reaching Lyon, follow the signs for St Exupéry airport, then keep following Valence & Marseille, or Grenoble, depending on your destination. If following Marseille, take great care when you join the A 43 Grenoble-Lyon motorway, just after the airport. Traffic bound for the south must take the next exit off this busy eight-lane (2 x 4) motorway, after just five kilometres. The exit is not the best of motorway intersections, so keep the signs for Marseille firmly in view, as you do a 270° exit onto the A 46 Lyon outer ring-road. Unfortunately (particularly on peak weekends in summer) , there is no fast way of avoiding the A7 Rhone valley motorway if you are heading for Provence or the Riviera. The alternative is to take slow routes through the hills. REMEMBER: when driving in France, follow Destinations rather than road numbers.
|
*** | |||||
| Copyright About-France.com 2003-2010 |