Know Before You Go: What Do You Need To Drive To France?

When I was a kid, driving to France for a summer holiday was a nailed down event in our family calendar. The Pound was incredible strong against the Euro, and the guarantee of warm weather vastly outweighed even the best British summer sun predictions from the Met Office.

But then the Pound fell. More British holidaymakers started taken staycations. It was like Brexit had taken on a literal form, and people were refusing to cross the channel and stay at home because of perceived economic benefits.

Having just returned from a week long holiday to the Loire Valley, in the centre of France, I can safely say summer holidays to France are back in the calendar. We ad a fantastic time, a seamless channel crossing, and enjoyed wine, bread and cheese aplenty in one of the most scenic parts of France.

But for those that have never driven to France, or indeed in Europe, what do you need to take with you, and what do you need to know before you go?

Some of the driving laws in France changed in 2017, so here’s some driving tips and advice, and key questions you might ask before you head to France.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

It goes without saying you need to take your driving licence with you. I would also recommend taking digital copies of your V5 registration document, and your travel insurance.

French law also requires you to carry breathalysers (yes, really), a warning triangle, a spare bulb kit, headlamp beam deflectors (depending on your car, you will either need deflector stickers or have to adjust the beam manually), a GB sticker (or ‘euro’ registration plate featuring the GB initials), and a high vis reflective jacket for each person in the car. I bought a European driving kit from Amazon that contained all of this equipment for £25. You can pick up extra high vis jackets on eBay for less than £3 each.

DRIVING TIPS

I found driving in France really easy. If you’re used to UK roads – especially in and around London – then you’ll find France incredibly easy to drive around. Aside from the main roads around the ports, the roads are empty and the driving is actually pretty relaxing.

Just remember to drive on the right. And watch out for speed limits. On the main motorways, the speed limit is 130km/h, which is around 85mph, but this often reduced to 110km/h around key junctions.

Keep an eye on petrol / diesel levels. Service stations can become sporadic the more rural you get in France, so make sure you’re topped up and never less than a quarter of a tank full at any point. Filling up is straightforward also.

Watch out for tolls. I wasn’t aware there were so many toll roads on our route down to the Loire Valley. From the main road South from Calais, through Rouen, round Le Mans and down to Angers, we racked up around 60 euros worth of toll fees. As such, keep cash and change ready in the car, as some booths had broken card machines when we arrived at them!

TAKE THE FERRY

We weighed up various costs and options for travelling to France. We were a party of 3 adults in our car. We looked at the Euro Tunnel, which was costly. We looked at flying to Tours and then hiring a car, which was equally as costly.

Taking a ferry across the Channel was the best an cheapest option. We looked at Newhaven to Dieppe with DFDS, but we were eventually sold on the standard Dover to Calais crossing with DFDS, mostly because the ferry times were more frequent and cheaper.

To make things even cheaper, we took an earlier ferry on the Friday afternoon (before the rush of Friday Bank Holiday weekend traffic), and stayed in an Airbnb in Fort-Mahon Plage on the Friday night. Not only did this break up the 8 hour drive, but it also worked out brilliantly as we had more space on the ferry, and got to explore a part of France we wouldn’t have visited otherwise. The ferry cost £165 for the three of us, including priority boarding to get us first on & first off the ferry, and the Airbnb was £20 each. Bargain!

OTHER QUESTIONS, TIPS & ADVICE

Have a peek at the other commonly asked questions below. If you can think of anything else, please let me know in the comments below! 🙂