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Motorways in France

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FRENCH MOTORWAYS
and other roads

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French motorways, known as autoroutes, are designated with numbers preceded by the letter A (for Autoroute). Thus, when driving to the south of France from Calais, you can either take the A16 autoroute towards Amiens and Paris, or (normally an easier solution) the A26 motorway via Rheims. Most French autoroutes are toll motorways, and entrances to them are marked as such with the word "Péage" (pronounced pay-arje). The normal procedure is to pick up a ticket from a booth as you enter the autoroute (just press the button); tolls are paid either when you leave the autoroute, or else when the toll section comes to an end. In a few places, there are fixed toll points on the autoroute, notably in urban areas or toll bridges. Signs on French toll gates:
Red cross: closed -
Green arrow: open, all methods of payment.
Orange T plus Blue rectangle or card logo : Télépéage or credit cards (this is increasingly common).
Orange T plus Green arrow: (at ticket pickup booths) open to all traffic.
Blue rectangle or card logo only: debit or credit cards only
Orange T : Télépéage slow down only, no stopping - only: for vehicles fitted with toll charging sensors.

2017 Motorway tolls in France

The cost of motorway travel for a car without caravan or trailer is about 1 €uro for 10 miles. For example, in 2025, motorway tolls on the 1060 km trip from Calais to Marseille, via Reims, almost all of it on toll motorways, cost 104.40 €uros, about £85. . The average cost per kilometre depends on what proportion of the journey involves free motorways or other roads. Drivers wanting to avoid French motorway tolls should remember that it is not necessarily the best solution to avoid all tolls, particularly in fairly populated areas. using other roads, with their traffic lights, speed restrictions and roundabouts will mean longer journey times and more stress. ... even if you have a satnav to help you along...

Driving south by motorway:

A sample selection of motorway tolls : Jan 2026 (for cars) (For Car + caravan; add about 50%). Truck / HGV toll rates (class 4) : approximately three times the rate for cars.
From Calais :
Calais - Abbeville (- Rouen). 9.30 €
Calais - Paris, via A 16: 23.90 €
Calais-Marseilles, via Reims: 104.40 €uros
Calais-Bordeaux, via Rouen & Chartres 62.60 €
Calais-Bordeaux, via Rouen & Le Mans 89.90 €
Calais-Toulouse, via Paris 65.40 €
Calais-Toulouse via Rouen, Dreux: 42.00 €
Calais - Perpignan via Rouen, Chartres & A 71: 69,20 €
Calais-Nice, via Reims, Dijon & A39: 124.20 €
Calais-Grenoble, via Reims, Dijon, A39: 88.70 €
From Le Havre :
Le Havre - Montpellier via Chartres & A 71: 55.80 €
Le Havre - Bordeaux, via Alençon: 74.30 €
Le Havre - Bordeaux, via Paris: 85.00 €
From Roscoff :
Roscoff - Toulouse via Bordeaux: 50.40 €

TIP : Save on motorway tolls when driving to southwest France

Though it is usually easiest and in the end worth it to take direct motorways and pay the tolls, there is one journey where you can make an appreciable saving for just a few extra kilometres. If driving from Paris to Bordeaux and southwest France, do not follow the A 10 motorway all the way. Leave the A10 at Orleans, following A71 > A20 Toulouse. At Limoges, follow N141 > Angoulême. At Angoulême, follow the N10 for Bordeaux. All but about 60 km. of this alternative route to Bordeaux is on autoroutes or dual carriageway, but after Vierzon, it's all free. Saving: about 36 €uros less in tolls, for a distance of about 15 miles extra.... and cheaper off-motorway petrol if you need it.

For more information on French motorway tolls, follow this link to the French motorway network website in English: this site provides a form to fill in, to calculate the cost of a motorway trip through France. For a detailed route, use the route-finder map and distance calculator page on About-France.com. Or see your part of France, or the whole country, on the About-France.com Maps of France page.

Free motorways and major highways:

Note that there are just a few free motorways in France, and some long-distance dual carriageways that are up to motorway standard. Among free motorways note in particular

two thirds of the section on the A16 - A28 route between Calais and Rouen
the A 84 from Caen to Rennes
275 km of the A20 from Vierzon to just south of Brive la Gaillarde (the longest stretch of free motorway in France, and the main Paris-Toulouse route).
the A75 motorway between Clermont Ferrand and Beziers - an alternate route for people driving to Languedoc and the Spanish border. Careful however, the Millau viaduct has a toll (Toll prices). Mountain motorway not recommended for caravans or in winter.
the motorway between Dunkerque and Lille.
Most urban and peri-urban autoroutes in France are also free; and even when they are not, it makes more sense to pay the toll and avoid miles of traffic lights and congestion.