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Original poster

Someone reassure me about driving in France please

88 replies

zippyswife · 02/08/2022 08:08

We are going on a family holiday to France, dh now can’t go due to commitments with his parents. We go to France most years but he has always driven (it’s been about 10 years since I’ve driven in France). I do most of the driving here and am comfortable driving places I don’t know/long distances/motorways but feel so daunted by the prospect of driving in France. I’m scared I’ll go the wrong way on a roundabout or drive on the wrong side etc! Not sure if I should cancel the holiday but I’d lose the money and dcs would be gutted. Just wanted some advice/reassurance I guess. It’s an 8 hour drive in France to campsite and we’re staying overnight half way down. On the return journey I’d be doing it in a day.

OP posts:
brittanyfairies · 02/08/2022 08:37

I live (and drive) in france. Just keep an eye out for the "priorité à droite" cars coming from the right have the right of way. In Brittany these are everywhere in towns now and on lots of country roads and they really xo just pull out in front of you. I hate it, so just be super vigilant.

Chocoqueen · 02/08/2022 08:38

Oh and look into a clean air sticker depending on where you're driving!

You should take your log book and insurance certificate too.

Snoopsnoggysnog · 02/08/2022 08:39

MrsMitford3 · 02/08/2022 08:27

Also get the thing for tolls that you put on your windscreen and then you can just zoom through and avoid the faff of paying on the wrong side etc

Definitely this, makes it so much easier

tanstaafl · 02/08/2022 08:48

The AA website has a section on the rules for each country if I remember.
think you’re expected to have a hi vis vest ( for each passenger? ) , triangle to put out if you break down , spare bulbs. At one point you were expected to have ‘home’ alcohol test kits too.

Whether anyone has ever been fined for not having these I don’t know.

greenacrylicpaint · 02/08/2022 08:49

drive on the right.

don't hog the middle lane.

observe soeed limits (and other driving rules) fines are on the spot and £££

notimagain · 02/08/2022 08:49

The only other thing to add was that your sat nav needs to have speed camera awareness turned off

Good point, if the police becomee aware you are using such a feature on your sat nav you can be in big poo...

and speed cameras are hidden unlike in the UK.

That's not universally true.

Yes there are hidden mobile cameras, there are also big very visible fixed ones that are actually accompanied by warning signs ( effectively "camera in next kilometre"). Some autoroutes now also have camera systems that look at your average speed over several kilometers...they are fairly obvious but not signed.

ChateauMargaux · 02/08/2022 08:51

No breathaliser required.

CockingASnook · 02/08/2022 08:56

I'm just back from driving through France and Spain for the first time in many years. It's not as scary as you think. The roads are a lot less busy than the UK so there's less pressure on you. Your satnav / Google maps should tell you where to get on / off motorways and what lane to be in. Definitely get a tag for driving through the tolls without stopping - I had the one from Emovis and it worked fine. At every junction / roundabout I would check myself that I was on the right (wrong) side of the road - it just helped not to do something out of habit. But to be honest, after an hour or two I was doing things correctly automatically. Try to minimise distractions from your DC when driving. And be up to date with everything you now have to take when driving in France (car registration documents, clean air cert if you're going to certain cities).

WouldBeGood · 02/08/2022 09:01

Driving in France is brilliant! So much easier and better roads.

The toll roads are quick and easy, and hopefully you have a child old enough to sit in the passenger seat and work the ticket/card. If not you can get the automatic telepeage thing to save you having to get out and walk round.

Enjoy your holiday

dgirluk · 02/08/2022 09:01

Put a little arrow sticker pointing to the right where you can see it. And mutter to yourself - "righty tighty, lefty longy" when you get to a junction :). At least that's what I did and it worked!

DontBuyANewMumCashmere · 02/08/2022 09:02

Hope your journey goes well OP.

I'm just stopping to say that for a short time I lived abroad and fairly quickly got used to driving on the right. As others have said it's easier when there are other vehicles to follow you just kind of go with the flow...

However, a few times I borrowed a friend's car, and what I didn't get used to was trying to change gear and repeatedly slamming my left hand into the (new) driver side door... Then meekly using my right to change gear.
I must have done it a hundred times!

awwbiscuits · 02/08/2022 09:02

I've driven in France! It's really not that bad. You do have to remind yourself which side every time you leave - be wary of car parks etc as it's easy to forget!

Original poster
zippyswife · 02/08/2022 09:05

KathieFerrars · 02/08/2022 08:25

Have you got a competent passenger at the front who can deal with the tolls?

I have an 11 year old and a 9 and 6 year old that are probably more competent!

OP posts:
Original poster
zippyswife · 02/08/2022 09:07

Really appreciate all the reassurance. I’ve got more nervous about these kind of things as I’ve got older. Feel much better now! The power of MN!

OP posts:
Sunnysal · 02/08/2022 09:07

I live in Spain and we drive to the UK most years in a left hand drive car. The roads in France and Spain are much much quieter than the UK. Try and avoid any big cities and Paris can be a nightmare, otherwise just drive confidently and you'll be fine. How old are your children? Can one sit in the front to help pay tolls ? Or can you get an automatic 'bip and drive'. It goes on your windscreen and you go through the T lanes and it bills you automatically.

WouldBeGood · 02/08/2022 09:07

And get your DCs to shout “Drive on the right!” whenever you set off 😃

WouldBeGood · 02/08/2022 09:08

I do second avoiding Paris

TwoBlondes · 02/08/2022 09:12

Read up on road signs. In my part of rural France there are many tiny roads which unexpectedly have priority, even our large market place.

The French love to tailgate but there's very little middle lane hogging.

I'm actually terrified driving in the UK now!

Oh, some machines at petrol stations don't work with UK cards.

Bobbybobbins · 02/08/2022 09:21

Remember that if you do take a wrong turn or miss an exit, it is not a massive problem and better to do that than try to rush your manoeuvre.

Panicmode1 · 02/08/2022 09:25

You will be fine - we usually go every summer and the roads are less busy and so much better maintained. If you can get an Emovis tag for the tolls I would. You just drive through which saves time, and it is a bonus not having to faff with being on the wrong side at the toll booths. Every time you get in the car, think "Drive on the Right'.

We are currently in Spain and have been given a 9 seater bus instead of the 7 seater Alhambra type car we were expecting...it's huge on some of the small roads, but it's a novelty driving on the RHS of the road and being in the 'correct' driver's seat!

Good luck and have a fab holiday.

moistmingemist · 02/08/2022 09:25

We've just returned from a week in France. I was the same as you although my husband was with me but couldn't drive due to a medical condition. Day by day my confidence grew and I would do it again.

We hired an automatic car so it was a French car but I used to get in the car and tell myself as long as when I was driving I was next to the middle of the road and not the kerb I was ok. Also the roads are so much quieter that it was easy.

actiongirl1978 · 02/08/2022 09:29

You'll be fine.

It's much easier in your own car on the wrong side, than in a hire car.

DH got a speeding ticket before we went to Spain a few years ago and had to send his driving licence off so I had to drive. It involved mountains and motorways etc.

The only genuinely stressful bit was coming out of the airport. I was fine after the first ten mins.

I've since driven in the US, Australia and in Europe a lot.

That said the driving does default to DH if he offers 😅

Dogappreciationsociety · 02/08/2022 09:33

If your driving anywhere near Paris (motorway wise) i would have a break before driving round Paris (the motorways can be a bit of a nightmare)

Watch out for speed cameras, they are nothing like UK cameras and usually are just black boxes by the side of the road.

Other than that its really easy and the roads very much mean you cant make mistakes. You will be fine

notimagain · 02/08/2022 09:49

Speed cameras keep popping into the discussion...

Just like the UK they're not something to get overly worried about as long as you try to obey the speed limit...however there's not much flex above the placarded limit and I wouldn't recommend really burning it up on the peage or autoroute.

If you are caught really flying ( say much above 160 in a 130 the penalties can be spectacular ( in extremis that can include handing over car keys)...

Despite some previous comments there really isn't one typical camera type that you need to keep an eye out for, there are various versions dotted around.

Some are highly visible, some are even signed (permanent ones used to have to be) , some are hidden away and are mobile -as I know to my cost 😯-...sometimes the Gendarmes run things the old fashioned way with mobile checks using the good old fashioned speed gun, especially on popular routes...

I-Spy guide to French cameras here:

english.controleradar.org/french-speed-camera.php

Locally we have all the generations photographed, occasionally you'll encounter the ones hidden in a car plus occasionally they'll put small mobile boxes out by the side of the road, for some reason those are usually secured to handy railings or lamp posts..😉

MissBPotter · 02/08/2022 09:53

It’s easier than driving in Britain in many ways! Because the roads are way quieter and wider in many cases. I would pay the tolls and go on motorways which I found easy and almost empty! You’ll be fine, go for it!