Our 1000 mile TOLL FREE drive to the Alps
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- Join us as we set ourselves a challengeof not using the Toll roads to travel across Europe in the first part of our 6 week campervan road trip. Instead we head for the toll free roads and back lanes of rural France, Switzerland and Italy. All was going so well until we had to buy a vignette in Switzerland and pay for a mountain railway due to icy mountain passes.
The journey will definitely save us toll fees, but how much time and fuel will it cost? Up until this point, we have always chosen to use the toll roads as a quicker and easier alternative to the non-toll options. Have we made a sensible choice for this trip?
We are Richard and Jackie and we live in the UK. We retired from teaching at the age of 51 in the summer of 2022. Our plans for early requirement include relocating to the Yorkshire Dales, developing our forever home and travelling the UK, Europe and eventually the world in our VW campervan Nelson.
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Many thanks,
Richard & Jackie
Delighted to have found your Vlog. We’re planning a trip in our VW T6.1 to France, Switzerland and Italy in September via the Rosslare to Cherbourg ferry. Thoroughly enjoying and appreciating learning about the interesting places you visit, the valuable information you so generously provide and the spectacular scenery. Thank you 🙏
Glad it was helpful! We love getting out in the van and finding new places. Switzerland is absolutely stunning - I am sure you will have a fab time 🚐
I have the same attitude to toll roads here in Canada. The scenery is monotonous and I tend to fall asleep after a few hours!! So I am no help with driving on our long trips. I adore rural side roads even if they take a little longer. Thank you Richard and Jackie for taking the slow roads for us - I enjoyed the journey you shared…and what a payoff at the end when you arrived in Italy. I have it on replay!
Given the choice we love the rural country roads as they are just so much more pretty and quiet. The French tolls are actually great as they are always quiet and you can dive off into the small villages quite easily to stop off for lunch if you want. The free English motorways on the other hand are just a nightmare as they are just too busy and can't cope with the traffic. I guess in Canada - the distances you need to cover are so vast that you just need to get it done in the quickest way possible at times!
Glad you have discovered the back roads …. We gave up on Toll roads years ago and love the journey slightly slower through France 👌👍
Great video guy’s , thanks Greg
Thanks for this Greg. We really enjoyed the journey down and it has definitely given us food for thought for our future plans.
Have a good one 👍
Great that you take us with you on your jouney 🙏. 7:20 beautiful road.
Thank you - we particularly loved the drive over the Jura mountains. The tree lined straight roads with crops in the fields like patchworks are just so pretty.
Hi guys that’s us just back from holiday and catching up with CZcams. Loved the video and you did get to pass through some beautiful little villages and some stunning mountain scenery. We agree that it’s always a dilemma whether to use toll roads or not and decisions need to be made on a trip by trip basis. Keep safe. Irvine & Karen.
Hi you two. Hope that you had a great trip? We have realised that one size does not fit all with our trips, but we need to be a bit more flexible with our plans.
When are you back on the road again?
@@earlyretirementwanderlust Our trip was fabulous. I’ve got quite a bit of editing ahead of me now to get our CZcams videos uploaded so that should keep me busy for a while. We have a few short trips planned for Scotland and the Lake District then we’re off to the North of Spain for a month from early September. Cheers, Irvine & Karen.
Ah, lovely video, glad to see you reached the sunshine too 😎 You make it look easy !
Thank you! 😃 The weather has been pretty good compared to the forecast given so we are happy. We are in Croatia now and have had a fab couple of days of weather (with cracking thunder storm on the first night) ☀️
Loved watching this. Now going to re- watch on the big telly box to fully appreciate those beautiful mountains x
Thanks Sue- the thought of the big telly box fills us with fear 😂 Hope you are keeping well. 👍
Enjoyed watching your trip ☺️
Thanks Joanne👍
Wow, amazing, we may do this one day, at least we're closer to Dover than you😀 Looking forward to your videos if Italy ❤
Dover is a loooooong way from the Yorkshire Dales😂
The trouble is, we love Europe so much, there is no avoiding the journey. At the start of the adventure it is bad, but coming home and having that drive to do from Dover is even worse😂😂😂
Really enjoyed the video, mixed bag of weather!. Look forward to the next instalment. Jason & Lesley.
Thank you - it has been a mixture of weather but as long as we get some dry weather each day to get out and explore then we are happy. 🚐
We have just been down to Valencia through France, across Spain and back up through France. We used toll roads but on the way back through France we did a lot more non toll roads. We saw some beautiful countryside and lovely little towns which makes us want to go back and see more! Feel we had the best of both worlds on this adventure
We absolutely agree Alison- we are keen to incorporate a blend of the two in our future travels to best meet the needs of the trip. I genuinely believe that there is not one perfect answer for the toll vs non-toll debate.
Many thanks for the comment. 👍 R
Loved this. So many memories of the vast open landscapes of Northern France and then Jura mountains which is an area, like you we must explore more. I sympathised with your feelings about Geneva, it takes forever. Looking forward to more of these
Thanks for this Andy- we are glad that you liked it and it evoked some sweet memories. We defiantly need to get back to the Jura- it was stunning❤️ Geneva was tough...but I think that I have perhaps lost my touch of city driving since moving to the Yorkshire Dales😂 The crazy thing was the minuscule time allocated at traffic lights. We went through some that barely let 2 cars through before reverting to red.
All part of life's rich tapestry. We have some really fond memories of the journey down.
Have a good one. Richard & Jackie
You were promoted to the big telly this morning because we have been waiting for this one! We used to do a mix. Once we got bored of roundabouts and speedbumps etc we would hit the toll roads. I think psychologically once you've determined that there is a destination you just want to get there. We start our journeys from Scotland so totally understood your frustration just getting to the channel 😢
Ooooh privileged indeed if we are on the big telly😂 Thanks for such a wonderful comment- it made us giggle! I think we are of the same mind in that we need a blend of the two types of travel depending on the individual trip.
Hats off to you guys for the drive to the channel- that's a long way! Have you ever used the Hull crossings? We are seriously considering it as the Dover drive is breaking us!
Thanks again for the comment👍
The Hull crossing sounds like it could really work for you from the Dales not so sure for us. There used to be a ferry 30 mins away from our house that went to Zeebrugge but it stopped going 😢
Great video guys. Looks a lovely journey, really enjoying watching your travels. Keep em coming. 😊🤩
Thanks Claire- we had (and are having) a blast 👍
We did a caravan trip to ‘follow’ the route a 17th-c traveller took to go to Southern France from England. All B roads. It took longer, but it was so much fun to experience a little bit of what he saw and did. We were surprised a couple of the auberges he stayed at were still there! Private houses, but definitely the same buildings.
Oooh I love this idea and route. Our son is keen to walk one of the pilgrims walks next year. The history of these routes makes them so much more intriguing. Just out of interest, where did you source the route from?
Thanks for the comment. R
Wow! La belle France❤. So relaxing for the viewer but maybe not for you!
Very enjoyable guys thank you 🙏.
Safe travels.
Thanks Alan...testing out my Duolingo French skills I see😂
We did really enjoy the journey and it brought something different to the usual toll road blast.
Have a good one. R
We always make the journey part of the trip, planning places vaguely to go en route. Sometimes we hit them all. Sometimes we don't.
We very rarely use toll roads by the way. As you can probably tell, we are much slower travellers than you are. Enjoyed your journey. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment Helen- I think that we are coming around to your way of thinking. It is so much different in early retirement without any real time constraints. We are starting to appreciate a slower pace of travel. In winter it is very different- we just want to get to the Alps and start skiing asap, and that is ok for winter.
Thanks again 👍
Brilliant as usual. Lake ma jor ee
Thanks Ken 👍
Great vid, the first time I have seen your channel and now subscribed. We never take the toll roads in the campervan; the holiday starts as we pass through our gates at home and toll roads are not a holiday. Geoff
We like this mindset Geoff- something that we need to keep in mind on all of our trips. Thanks for subscribing & welcome aboard- we hope that you like what we are trying to do on the channel.
Have a good one👍
I’m currently in France in my camper van. My method was to use the excellent French toll roads to get quickly and easily to sunny Provence, encountering some dreadful downpours on the way. Once at my destination - the basic but cheap municipal campsite at Beaumes de Venise in the shadow of Mont Ventoux - I enjoyed pleasant weather although the Mistral was blowing. I’m now meandering home on minor roads, driving a couple of hours before finding a village aire for the night. A best of both worlds approach.
Thanks for this Peter. We have definitely come to the conclusion that a blend of the two is best to best meet the needs of the trip. We love the municipal sites as well as the village aires- we have some of our best memories from places that we just stumbled upon.
Have a good one 👍 R
Loved this vlog as we’re planning (well ahead) our first drive on mainland Europe next June to the south of France . We were discussing Toll Roads yesterday and I said to m’Julie, Richard & Jackie will know 😃 (have I spelt that right)… as for your UK drive, yes I sympathise, we do Cornwall to Essex regularly and as soon as you get near to or on the M25 our hearts skip a beat, madness and chaos. Keep the videos coming, we love them. Oh final note, we spent our first weekend away in our T6 this weekend past. Great fun, big learning experience 😃👍🏼
Thanks for this Graham- love that you and Julie have joined the T6 club...there's no going back now! Be careful, it's a dangerous habit...look where it has taken us😂
Sure there is lots to learn, but that is part of the fun, and you need to get it right for you and that will be different for different people. We love our time in the van and it has always been one of our safe and happy places.
Have an amazing time in the T6 and enjoy the planning for Europe. We love our European travels and in many ways it is so much easier than in the UK. Most of Europe is so campervan friendly and there are so many places to discover. 👍 R
I'm not a fan of motorway driving, so I think I'd prefer the slower roads and villages route that you took - and especially the train part of the journey. Looking forward to following you on your adventures in the coming weeks. (ps - disappointed that THE jumper hasn't made an appearance yet! 🤣)
It was certainly a much prettier route - we loved the scenery going over the Jura mountains. The train ride was an experience in itself - you board in Switzerland and disembark in Italy! Sadly I did not pack my lovely jumper for this trip in the vain hope I don’t need one!!
Interesting. I will be embarking on my own French motorway toll roads very soon having not done it for over 10 years
Have a great time wherever you end up 🚐
Hi guys, enjoyed your vlog along with a cuppa in a lay-by somewhere near Barnstaple (it couldn’t wait until we got home 😂) Loved seeing your route through the villages and reminded us of our last trip there. You definitely have to stay alert for the speed bumps and random speed changes 😂 The Jura area is where we’re headed in a few weeks so we’re super excited now it’s been given the ERW thumbs up!! Looking forward to seeing where you go next 😊
Thanks for this Vanessa- always nice to hear that people are liking what we do. We will definitely be returning to the Jura as we think that it is a hidden gem that we could spend weeks exploring. The scenery is so unexpected- it just hits you around every corner. What's not to love about that?
Have a great trip. R&J
Brilliant video to watch on a slow Sunday morning. Love the music on your videos. Can Motorhomes go on that train you were on through the pass?
Thank you - the music has to be copyright free but there is a good selection out there to choose from! I am not sure about motorhomes on the Simplon Pass railway - I didn't notice any but they have a good website that you can easily navigate to check. I am pretty sure that you can go on the trains with motorhomes on some of the other mountain passes as we have seen lorries loaded before. It's quite an experience!!
Second time I’ve watched this video, the scenery was stunning and I love the little French villages but Geneva looked scary! We have some friends who have a house in the south west which we have been lucky enough to visit on a couple of occasions. It’s a seven hour trip on the auto route from St Malo. Never done it the slower route as we are travelling by car not camper van so it would necessitate overnight stops in hotels which can prove expensive. Looking forward to your next video. Thanks for taking us along.
Thanks for this Jill...there's a strap line in there somewhere...so good I watched it twice😂😂😂
Yep- we agree that if we didn't have the camper we would look for the quickest route to avoid additional accommodation costs. When the kids we little we used to Eurocamp and the long drives and associated hotel costs soon added up.
With the campervan it's just nice to know we have our home on our back!
Thanks for the lovely feedback. R
So sorry! Deleted for a reason ! This was about Post Office enquiry :(
Have a brilliant day and thank you for your wonderful channel.
We are very confused Giles??? You are going to have to help us out with this one...
Thanks Giles- we thought we had done something to offend you😂
Glad that you are enjoying the channel.
Have a good one👍 R
@@earlyretirementwanderlust Ha! Red as 🍅 here - Thanks for such a wonderful channel content and all the hard work you put into it - inspirational. All the best, Giles ✌
Another super video from you both, I am really enjoying following you on this epic European road trip, thank you for sharing it with us. One quick question (from a non-campervan owner)...when you stop overnight at car parks (such as the one in Dover before your ferry crossing), what do you you do for toilets? I'm sure I could cope for one night without a shower and dish-washing facilities, but not without a loo!
Thanks for the comment- we do get asked this a lot as it can be a real issue in a T6 Transporter. When we use places like Dover, we always try to find places that have a public loo close by. There is always the option of pubs and cafes too, with the added benefit of having a pint or some cake😂
We find that this works well for us. In Dover, the park up is also close to the port so as soon as we wake in the morning, we can be at the port in less than 10 minutes...with all the ports facilities.
Hope this is of use. 👍
Hi just found your channel, fantastic! Footage and photos are brilliant, can i just ask was this captured on iphone? Many thanks and keep safe.
Hi Mark- yep most of it is still on the iPhone, although we are increasingly using a DJI action 3. The DJI is very handy and robust, IMO it is better value than GoPro equivalents and is cheaper than the action 4 latest version. It is however very limited in low light conditions. We try to keep things really simple and resist the urge to buy more camera kit😂 R
We’re in Chamonix right now. No toll roads used and we won’t be using them to return.yes we too paid the 40 chuffs for Switzerland.I think it was worth it driving around Switzerland there are cameras everywhere logging you and satnag has the habit of throwing in a few curves so worth it.
Hi John- we felt exactly the same. By the time we got to Switzerland we were quite ready for a bit of clear motorway driving and to be honest it must be pretty challenging to avoid them in Switzerland as every valley seems to have a motorway😂
How is Chamonix? We love the place but the forecast for us for a couple of nights stop over was atrocious so we binned the idea and headed into Switzerland instead. We are missing Chamonix already!
Have a great time 👍 R
Weather here is very good. We had 3 days non stop rain in lauterbrunnen. Miserable. Totally different here. We’re at Camping Des Eceuriels in Les Bossons. 24c in the valley -2c at top ofaguille de midi.
Glad that you have found the weather. Gutted about Lauterbrunnen for you.- it is a beautiful place but we have been rained on there as well.
Many French rural roads have reverted to 90kmh, so you need to keep an eye out as it varies between areas.
Wow...that's going to make it even more complex. We already found I really difficult to keep track as the speed limits seemed to jump around like a yo-yo 😂 The 30 was quite well signposted (and speed bumped), but rarely did it signpost when the 30 came to an end. At times we found the 30 zones to be less than 50 metres long! All part of the fun. Happy days👍
Thanks for the comment Paul.
You didn't say how much the train journey cost or the entry and exit points. It looked very different to channel tunnel carriages being open sides
Hi Les- the train was €24 one way and was bookable online. We did it as we drove up the mountain. It was a unique ride with open sides, but it is something that has worked in this area from the 1900's. It is quite common place. The station was at Brig.
Thanks for the comment👍 R
Hi, really enjoyed your video, thanks. I’ve lived in south west France for 10 years now and loved it. However, speed bumps are multiplying everywhere, and are always very high in France. So much so that there is a provisional court case planned at the moment to force the French road transport department to reduce their height nationwide as they are technically too high and out of lawful specification. They are causing damage to cars and the noise as cars go over them is annoying locals, so you never know…
Thanks for this information Matt- we thought it was just us hitting them too fast😂 If only the same process in the UK could take place over potholes!
You live in a beautiful part of the world, with so much on your doorstep.
Thanks for the comment. 👍 R
Interesting to see your comment Matt, I am looking to take our 03 911 dream machine through France to and from Switzerland and Italy ( if I can manage the expenses)! And didn't really want to use toll roads as we love France. But I'm now worried about the speed humps! Are the ramps really aggressive then? 🤔 😢
@@andrewoakley4957 Hi, I don’t want to put anyone off exploring France, it truly is a delightful place, and the speed bumps are aggressive, painfully so if you have a short vehicle or sport suspension.
However, on the open roads between the villages and towns you are speed bump free generally, and to be fair it’s only when you get into smaller roads and villages that they are really noticeable.
Really interesting video! I know you like to track costs carefully so do you have any conclusions about all in cost comparison of two options, eg extra fuel costs of longer distance/stopping/starting versus tolls etc?
Thanks for this. TBH we haven't really done any accurate measures of this...but we have our own gut reaction. The journey was longer in terms of miles so will have used more fuel. However, the ability to cruise at 80/90kph on the rural "highways" really did help the fuel economy compared to thrashing it on the toll roads.
We still hit the magic 500 miles per tank, which is always a good indicator for us. If we had to guesstimate a figure, it probably cost us no more than €20 extra in fuel.
In terms of stopping and starting, I tried to keep to my usual long distance technique of driving for about 1.5 hours and then taking a break. The only difference to doing this on the tolls is that we had covered much less milage using the non-toll roads😂
Hope this is of some use?
Have a good one.👍 R
Hi both, another really interesting vlog. Currently in the Picos on our 9 week retirement tour. We’ve been tempted to try ‘the slow road’ through France now we have time so I was interested to get your view - which was no great surprise ie ‘it depends….’ Is the answer to which is best? The filming particularly at Lac d’Orient was really good. A minor quibbling criticism, you used the word ‘extortionate’ referring to toll charges in the intro, I suspect you didn’t really mean that, ‘expensive’ may have been a better descriptor (I guess even that is subjective), I just felt that ‘extortionate’ was a little harsh and not literally correct. I’ll now step off pedantry soap box. Thanks for doing the Vlogs and looking forward to following this trip. P
Thanks for the lovely feedback Peter- glad that you are in the Pico's- it is definitely one of our happy places and where we intend to head back to soon. I am sure you appreciate, we tend to go with the flow with our filming and try not to dwell on every word we choose in our videos.
Have a good one. 👍 R
Hi great info as always, what was the cost of the railway ride 😊if you don’t mind me asking, fyi if you do get to Cham check out out a walk 🚶to Chalet de La Floria 👍
Thanks - the train ride is €24 if you book online for a single journey which wasn’t too bad. We loved the fact you board in Switzerland and disembark in Italy! Definitely something different and although we were disappointed to not drive over the Simplon Pass the sleet and cloud cover would have not given much of a view anyway! Also sadly we missed Chamonix out due to the heavy rain - it’s one of my favourite places 🥾🚐
We now allways go non toll as you say just nicer . In a motorhome not that much slower . Yes in car much it is slower.
Do you share the drive ? As for food we now just take some food as the rules are crazy saying you can not take Camenbert from England to France. Cant be bothered to stop and stock up whilst on our first days as it is the big travel part.
Hi Martin, we share the drive on the UK side, but Jackie has not yet enjoyed the wonders of European driving.
We are really risk adverse and so would never take any food across the border. We use it as a positive and enjoy using our first driving stop in France as an opportunity to stock up. Getting back to the amazing cheeses, breads, cured meats, jams and alcohol choices makes the start of the adventure for us.
Thanks for the comment👍 R
Another great vid, thank you. I would be interested how fuel consumption differed with the non-toll roads. Did it affect the 80 euro savings you made, I wonder?
Thanks for this Lila. TBH we haven't really done any accurate measures of this...but we have our own gut reaction. The journey was longer in terms of miles so will have used more fuel. However, the ability to cruise at 80/90kph on the rural "highways" really did help the fuel economy compared to thrashing it on the toll roads. We still hit the magic 500 miles per tank, which is always a good indicator for us. If we had to guesstimate a figure, it probably cost us no more than €20 extra in fuel.
Hope this is of some use?
Have a good one.👍 R
Thanks! Being converted to slow travelling more and more 😊
Super VLOG as always. I will be staying at Lac d'Orient in a couple of weeks, before heading up to Colmar. Any tips?
Thanks for this comment Alan. We found the Lac d'Orient super easy to do. The Aire is really laid back and absolutely massive, but we believe that it does fill up in the peak of summer. The toilets are open overnight and were spotless. The beachfront is beautiful and has a very chic cafe bar with live chilled music- it looked beautiful but was out of our price range being on a budget tour- we made do with a beer in the van😂.
Have a great trip. We have Colmar on our bucket list...we have passed through but never stayed. Perhaps an option for us on the way home as we love the Alsace region. 👍
@@earlyretirementwanderlust THank you for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.