Do I buy a toll tag for France?

[599]

We use a ATMB evasion tag no yearly subscription unlike Emovis

its only 8 EURO'S for 12 months

 

[Russell's Dad]

Bip'n'Go. Works a treat. Get a crit air sticker too. Cheap and easy to get. Fill in the online form and mail a copy of your V5 to them.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Be careful using a debit card in toll booths. After three separate booths in France my bank blocked the card as strange use. Luckily had other cards. Just get a tag its easy and you can run the 30 mph barrier

 

[Landy Andy]

True. Both my wife and myself have had our cards blocked by banks due to multiple tolls. We are much happier with our Emovis tag. Works well for us and got a discount on it (years ago now) via eurotunel.

 

[glenn2926]

Hi all,
Not sure if this topic has been talked about before but….
we are going to France for the first time in September for 2 or 3 weeks and I’m trying to prepare for any potential head aches.
Does anyone recommend the emovis toll tag and is it a good idea to buy the air quality sticker?
I am not going anywhere near Paris but wondered if it was still better to get one.
can I buy a toll tag just for the duration of our holiday or do I have to take a subscription?
Any advice at all on our first trip would be much appreciated and if you have advice on great places to stay between Calais and Rouen then please share.
Many thanks to all of you.

We go every year, use toll roads and have had absolutely no problem with not having a toll tag. Just pay at the peage each time. It takes seconds.

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[carolyn]

If you’re travelling through Spain and France in the Winter and it’s freezing I must admit having tolltags has the added bonus of not having to open your window when it’s blowing a gale and losing all your heat. We’ve never regretted getting ours. Nick loves it, he’s not very tall and always found the top slot too high and the lower slot too low when paying by card unless he positioned the van just right, combined with old shoulder problems it was a literal pain! We’d try to plan that I’d be driving those bits.

Transferred it to a hire car in Beni a couple of times as well which was handy. We have the Emovis tag for Spain/Portugal as well as the ATMB for France.

 

[dpsuk999]

We have all our toll tags (France, Spain, Portugal and Italy) through www.tolltickets.com

All on one account which keeps it simple and whizz through all the tolls without any problems at all

 

[Grianan]

We have, for the first time, bought a tag. We chose Bip&Go as we could have one tiny tag to cover France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Not that we’ve been to latter 3 but you never know. Cost is minimal but convenience is huge.

We’ll also got emissions stickers for France and Germany - again little cost but prevent problems. A couple of years ago we unexpectedly ended up in Paris while aiming for a detour. It was easier than the Periphique this year .

Other thing I did was set up a Dartford crossing account and paid for the 2 crossings.

 

[Reg1958]

Hi all,
many thanks to you all for the great advice.
seems like a popular thought is that I don’t need to pre book sites for that time of year.
we are going from 4th to 17th Sept so do you think there will be reduced facilities on some sites?

thanks LES for the heads up about the wine .

I had no idea drinking alcohol was a pastime in France !

Cheers all

 

[denisejoe]

I rarely use toll roads so haven't bothered with a tag. I travel solo, am never in a rush and I'm still fit enough to get out to pay and get back in the cab without assistance.

You will be hard pushed to find someone to pay everyone we have used last year has been card as for getting out just have your window open handbrake one walk to window and pay

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[Spriddler]

You will be hard pushed to find someone to pay everyone we have used last year has been card

Where did you get the notion that I find someone to pay? I've always used a card at the payment machine.

as for getting out just have your window open

That would be an achievement since my m/h is RHD and I don't have octopus length arms.

handbrake on walk to window and pay

That's exactly what I've been doing - more usually to a payment machine with a card rather than cash ..............

(Have you used a quote from the wrong post?).

Later---
On reflection I think I'm unlikely to use cash at all in future as I haven't touched a single note or coin since April 2020. I even pay my window cleaner online. Much simpler.

 

[Gary Redfern]

France was new to us and we were driving in our new motorhome in September and October 2020. Check out our blog post ... https://bluefernadventures.com/europe/practicalities-of-travelling-in-france/
Hopefully you'll learn a truck or two.
Gary

 

[bexleyjohn]

Have been using the Emovis toll tag for several years now on both car and M/H. It’s easy to swap between vehicles (as long as you remember). Makes a BIG difference at the toll booths, especially during busy periods. Only problem is the occasional idiot who has to reverse out as they’ve gone down wrong lane!

 

[Nick wright]

Hi all,
Not sure if this topic has been talked about before but….
we are going to France for the first time in September for 2 or 3 weeks and I’m trying to prepare for any potential head aches.
Does anyone recommend the emovis toll tag and is it a good idea to buy the air quality sticker?
I am not going anywhere near Paris but wondered if it was still better to get one.
can I buy a toll tag just for the duration of our holiday or do I have to take a subscription?
Any advice at all on our first trip would be much appreciated and if you have advice on great places to stay between Calais and Rouen then please share.
Many thanks to all of you.

Crit air is not just for Paris, the french have expanded the crit air map you could be driving through a crit air zone and not even know it. Go the the government crit air site and order one by completing the paperwork and uploading your v5 it can be a pain as the v5 upload has to be less than 500g. I’ve got the German sticker also that’s a lot easier remember we are out of the EU now and the french police will be fine hungry. As for the tag I use toll roads very little there the most expensive roads in the world. Regards nick

 

[Barrackslass]

If you haven’t committed to a toll tag already I would definitely recommend getting one that covers more than just France. We started off with ATMB but ended up getting a Bip n Go one as well as it covers Spain and France and some other euro countries. They operate on a basis where you only pay the very small monthly fee for the months that you use it. Bip n Drive is another one and that can be used in car parks and has other added benefits. Worth doing a bit of research to see which will suit you best.

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[ashley 1340]

As a 22 year resident in France , you'll find a peage tag unecessary in September as the holidays are over, and who wants to thrash down a motorway and miss all that France has to offer. On the other hand Sept & Oct are the season for the "coffin dodgers" who take to the roads in rented Mh's for their off season trips. The majority of sites stay open to cater for them, so enjoy your trip you will have a blast. One last thought , in towns and villages there is still "priorite a droite" . If the road to your right does not have a give way sign or a white line across the road , then traffic from the right can enter your road without stopping, this can produce a heart stopping surprise or at the very least give you an unexpected brake test, good luck

 

[Reg1958]

Thanks for the heads up Ashley 1340.
Makes me wonder how you survived for 22 years!

I,m sure people are only giving me ‘worse case scenario’s ‘ but it is certainly making me twitch a bit!

Hopefully the wine will help! Cheers

 

[Puddleduck]

We have notes (plural) that are put on windscreen and steering wheel.

Never bothered with the tag as we have planned slow trips with lots of stops in Aires rather than long driving days but should we be going to a specified place and needed to be there at a specified date using toll roads we'd think about the tag.

 

[ashley 1340]

Thanks for the heads up Ashley 1340.
Makes me wonder how you survived for 22 years!

I,m sure people are only giving me ‘worse case scenario’s ‘ but it is certainly making me twitch a bit!

Hopefully the wine will help! Cheers

Its not all doom and gloom, France is a very friendly and enjoyable country to be in. Driving for a newbie can be a challenge but after a couple of days most survivors start to relax and enjoy it. The roads (not motorways ) are less travelled than the UK, little villages are old and quaint, fuel stations are not too frequent and most are automats so chip & pin cards are required. Its a good idea to tell your bank you are going overseas so that they don't block your card for unusual useage ,., I would not think you need to change headlight beam pattern as in Sept by the time it gets dark you will be into your second bottle of wine so incapable. With drink driving the alcohol levels are a lot less than uk , and draconian punishments if caught, in extreme cases they can crush your vehicle. Spot checks with no cause are carried out for drinking and document checks, but this IS france and they love bureaucracy, Have a great trip

 

[Trevor Wbm]

We have a ULYS tag for the car. Very easy to deal with, on line account, works on some car parks too. The 30kph lanes are good, albeit you need a degree of self confidence to cruise on through without stopping. (20's better!) On the other lanes it will often pause just long enough to get you panicking and weighing up the chance of reversing back, then up the barrier goes.

One of my faux-pas in the early days was that what I assume is your subconsious expects the kerb to be on your left ... this used to manifest itself on roundabouts where I would inadvertently cross to the offside of the roundabout, pulled I think by the deeply ingrained kerb-on-the-left instinct.

Even now, after thousands of miles over there, for the first hour or two I still have to convince myself that there's no real risk of a vehicle passing up my left hand side as I go to turn left.

It's also worth noting that you can be way down in France before you get off the autoroutes and really have to start driving on the right.

Last note, I've driven French hire cars. When you've got a French reg no, it's very difficult to drive so badly that you draw attention to yourself.

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[2low4zero]

And if you want to stay in Rouen, you can stop beside Quai 106 on the South Bank. There are usually a couple of vans there. Very handy for the Saturday Parkrun if you are that way inclined.

 

[Sarabee]

We have a ULYS tag for the car. Very easy to deal with, on line account, works on some car parks too. The 30kph lanes are good, albeit you need a degree of self confidence to cruise on through without stopping. (20's better!) On the other lanes it will often pause just long enough to get you panicking and weighing up the chance of reversing back, then up the barrier goes.

One of my faux-pas in the early days was that what I assume is your subconsious expects the kerb to be on your left ... this used to manifest itself on roundabouts where I would inadvertently cross to the offside of the roundabout, pulled I think by the deeply ingrained kerb-on-the-left instinct.

Even now, after thousands of miles over there, for the first hour or two I still have to convince myself that there's no real risk of a vehicle passing up my left hand side as I go to turn left.

It's also worth noting that you can be way down in France before you get off the autoroutes and really have to start driving on the right.

Last note, I've driven French hire cars. When you've got a French reg no, it's very difficult to drive so badly that you draw attention to yourself.

I was just looking at the Ulys tags but was put off by negative reviews of initial direct debits failing and nasty letters being issued. I assume you live in UK and didn't have any problems ? Seems a cheaper option than emovi so may still risk it!

 

[Sundance]

We use a ATMB evasion tag no yearly subscription unlike Emovis

Hi Steve n Tracy, I've just had the atmb tag delivered along with an instruction leaflet(in French unfortunately).
Do I need to register it on the website?, If so what details do I need?, Cheers

 

[Steve N Tracy]

Hi Steve n Tracy, I've just had the atmb tag delivered along with an instruction leaflet(in French unfortunately).
Do I need to register it on the website?, If so what details do I need?, Cheers

You would have registered a payment method and your address when you applied or they would not have sent it, you are all ready to go, just rember if you have a motorhome with a overhang above the windscreen mount it at the bottom of the screen.
You can check your payment method and use here, if you use chrome as a browser it will automatically convert to English.
https://espaceabonnes.atmb.net/Default.aspx?tabid=58&returnurl=/default.aspx
Your subscriber number is on the tag.

 

[DDJC]

Is there a tag that works in all/most European countries? This year for us its only France & Italy, but in the past, we have done Belgium, Holland, Austria, Germany & Switzerland.

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[DDJC]

Hi all,
Not sure if this topic has been talked about before but….
we are going to France for the first time in September for 2 or 3 weeks and I’m trying to prepare for any potential head aches.
Does anyone recommend the emovis toll tag and is it a good idea to buy the air quality sticker?
I am not going anywhere near Paris but wondered if it was still better to get one.
can I buy a toll tag just for the duration of our holiday or do I have to take a subscription?
Any advice at all on our first trip would be much appreciated and if you have advice on great places to stay between Calais and Rouen then please share.
Many thanks to all of you.

Deffo get the Crit Air sticker. €4.50 (incl postage) and lasts the life of the vehicle.
Also, get the German Umweltplakette. But get it for €6 from Berlin. Other parts of Germany charge much more for the same sticker.

Agree with everyone else's comments about driving sur le continent. Most people get it really quickly, but when we are driving off from a stop, Mrs DDJC (if I am driving), always murmurs, "Drive in the Ditch", which reminds me to keep to the left. When she drives, I usually forget to say owt, but she is probably a better driver than me, so between the two of us, we do fine.

Looking to get a tag. Seems to be one of the following:

• Bip n Go
• Emovis
• Ulys
• Vialtis
• APPR
• ATMB

Very interested to see whether anyone has done an in-depth analysis of which one works best, has the most countries covered and can be used for 3500kg MHs.

 

[StanandShirley]

Yes get a tab so easy when you do go on a toll road, save all the hanging out of your van when paying

 

[Fdhadi]

Don’t be put off. Remember, there was a first time each one of us drove over there.
It’s brilliant, honestly. If I had to stay in the uk I don’t think I’d bother with a Motorhome.
We’ve been chomping at the bit to get back over.

Over the years, we’ve got brochures from the major coach tour operators, looked at their itinerary and followed that. Bypass the places we didn’t fancy visiting, only stop maybe one or two nights where they stop for three or four, or stop longer if you like the place, and add in our own places of interest, things like that. We can do their 2wk trip in 10 days at a fraction of the cost.

By the way, you haven’t said what Motorhome you have?

From my experience travelling in a Burstner A747 tag axle which was over 8mtrs long and more than 3mtrs high we were often charged class 4 at tolls which can work out very expensive. Had we applied for some sort of tag payment method I’m sure this is the class we would have been put into.

However, if you pay as you go, try to use a manned booth (very few now) the operator more than likely only charge us class 2, so from €90 (yes) dropped to maybe €30. We worked on being charged about €125 to drive from Calais to the South of France. Class 4 would be nearer €300. Remember, this is one way.

If no manned booth available, before inserting your card, press the button and say camping car class deux sil te plait (see fu play ). 90% of the time it will change to class 2. Then make payment.

Also. Because of the awkwardness of leaning out of the window to make a payment, it is usually easier to remove your seatbelt. You MUST belt back up before moving away. Be warned.

 

[HKF]

Here's a link to my post about the ATMB tag. It has advantages for a few reason. I hope this helps

This French Toll Tag Is Payable By Card Number Rather Than IBAN

Hi all. Thanks to members of this forum, I've just ordered a toll tag from ATMB. This followed much reading about alternative tags, which didn't sit well with me. Firstly, all other available tags require your IBAN for Direct Debit payments, with no card numbers being accepted (meaning you...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[DDJC]

Here's a link to my post about the ATMB tag. It has advantages for a few reason. I hope this helps

This French Toll Tag Is Payable By Card Number Rather Than IBAN

Hi all. Thanks to members of this forum, I've just ordered a toll tag from ATMB. This followed much reading about alternative tags, which didn't sit well with me. Firstly, all other available tags require your IBAN for Direct Debit payments, with no card numbers being accepted (meaning you...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Does it work in Italy?

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