We are off on Thursday to the UK. We have always taken the motorway up the centre - Chateauroux, Chatres, évreux, Rouens, Dieppe (8 hr 47 min, 76€). I’m just looking at Via Michelain and it is telling me that it is a full 1.5 hours quicker to go via Poitiers (7 hours 17mins, €140), Tours, le Mans. However the motorway tolls are massively more - 50€. Has anyone got any thoughts on if it really is quicker, it is actually longer in kms. I’m torn, hubby wants to go the way we always have, I feel 50€ is worth it if it genuinely is that much quicker.
I hardly believe that Michelin timing.
The quickest I could find was A20 to Chateauroux, then D roads up through Blois and Chateaudun to Chartres, then Dreux, Evreux etc. to Dieppe,
616 kms, 8hrs 7 mins. No peages.
But the route I always took was A 20 to Vierzon then avoid peage up the old N 20 to just before Salbris and then onto the A 10 to get past Orleans, come off at Artenay and north via Chartres, Evreux etc.
Start place Perigueux each time, obviously a bit less for me.
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I like the challenge of Rouen, but it is slow and the entire city seems to be a single roadwork. Maybe that’s why going via there is expected to take so long.
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Going to/from Charente I’ve always taken the autoroute via Poitiers / Tours / Le Mans (N10 - A28 - A13 and through Rouen) but that’s been on a motorbike where tolls are a lot cheaper than in a car.
The A28 is pretty good as regards traffic though like all autoroutes/motorways it’s very boring! The only crappy bit is getting through Rouen; I know some people like to take D roads and go around but I’m not sure how much time that saves. Back in June on the way south I came off the A150 just north of Rouen and cut down to the A13 via Sahurs and a cute little car ferry at La Bouille. Less congested but probably didn’t save all that much time.
I end up stopping at an aire fairly frequently which probably nullifies the speed benefit of using the autoroute somewhat!
In a car you can keep going for longer especially if sharing the driving.
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Just stay off the A10 Bordeaux to Poitiers as it is crazy expensive - we take the N10 past Angoulême direct to Poitiers which is cheaper, 15 mins quicker and dual carriageway the whole way (just be aware of 3 speed cameras between Angoulême and Poitiers in the slower sections.
N10 to Poitiers, then Tours, Le Mans, Rouen etc (normally for us up to Calais).
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That’s my route. No tolls. Taking the A11 up to Chartres from near Orleans when you get the chance is worth its cost if you’re bored of the route being tedious. Which it is with roundabout after roundabout crosscountry from leaving the A20 just before the péage at Vierzon then across country to Orléans. The N153, almost motorway standard dial carriageway now, is chosen for as much of the route as possible.
Once past Évreux/Dreux follow Elbeuf then any destination North of Rouen for the least time on the roads round Rouen.
Worth topping up the tank South of Orléans as some of the cheapest fuel in France there - anywhere just North of the IKEA at Ardon (where I get my IKEA Family Card free coffees in their restaurant upstairs (I think only 1 card may be needed for a family but if not there’s always a machine to join IKEA family) possibly a meal, and a leg stretch as it’s almost exactly halfway to Dieppe).
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After returning from a French holiday approx 20 years ago I remember telling my grandfather that we visited Chartres - he replied that he had been there before……he drove along a very long road towards the cathedral in 1944 in his tank!!
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There always used to be a nice Glass/Craft shop opposite the cathedral at Chartres. Any excuse for a visit. Bought a lovely glass creche, one piece at a time 
eventually got the complete set but it took a while 
No use to you Tory, but have been doing similar calculations after making two trips in eight days to Montauban, which is a couple of hours away by a variety of routes.
I now know that the satnav’s preferred route, which makes most use of the A20 is not only the longest in mileage and duration, but also the most expensive. This isn’t simply because of the péage, but because one’s driving at 130kph rather than mainly 80-90.
The péage cost was obvious, but I was amazed to notice that the autoroute route consumed three times as much fuel as the one using D roads and this afternoon our return journey mainly by the latter took 25 minutes less than estimated by the route initially provided: it also saved nearly €60, half of which was through fuel economy.
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Tory there are slow bits on the non toll route you posted, that probably where the extra time factors in. If you stay on the A10 through Tours up to Chateau Renault then back to the N10 it could easily cut 30-45 mins off the journey as going via Monai etc is really slow these days. The toll is about€9.40 from memory I feel its worth that to cut the journey time. Then its the N154 to Rouen.
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That’s where I get my low consumption from then. Even on A-routes I only trundle at 100, keeps me ahead of the lorries, and away from the loonies. 
Time is not of the essence for me, I know how long it takes at my speeds, and depart accordingly. 
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That’s Rouen for you. It’s forever thus.
Going thru’ the city centre one time in my Hi-roof + solar panels Renault Master, seeing over the tops of the cars a looong line creeeping up on a roundabout and what was evidently a tunnel under it, I opted for the tunnel.
It wasn’t until I was commited, down the ramp, that the height restriction sign was visible at the mouth of the tunnel… 2.5m 
I had previously measured the height of the van - 2.4m. I hoped that the actual tunnel clearance included a bit of ‘extra’. But I also feared mightily that the slope down into the mouth of the tunnel would reduce the clearance for a LWB vehicle. If the road went flat at the entrance the slope would defo be a problem.
All this flashing thru’ my head in the few seconds down the ramp because behind me was irritated hooting when I actually stopped for a moment. Anyway, there was no turning back.
With cleanched teeth I waited for a terrible crashing, ripping sound but … silence from up-over.
There’s a tunnel in central Valencia with the height restriction past the point of no return. It must be the case for thousands of tunnels and bridges across Europe. So dumb.
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We’ve all been there 
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My 11ft 8in beats your 12ft 0in. 
I can hear a joke about 4 inches but we won’t go there.
Wow that’s a lot, I’ll have a look! Thanks
We managed to miss the centre last time but I have no idea how we did it, other than maybe using @KarenLot instructions then!
Rouen is fairly easy if you stay on the big roads, N154, N139, 3rd/last exit at the big roundabout, go over the big white bridge (think its Pont Flaubert) and up the hill A151. Been a few years since I’ve had to go that way though…
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