Has anyone drove to France and can give any tips?

[Amei]

Hi all,

We are planning on driving to France in November, staying at Centre Parcs and visiting Disneyland Paris.

Would anyone be able to give me any tips on driving to Paris?

I've read you need to take the V5 for your car to prove you are the owner however I was planning on doing a car swap with my dad for the trip as his is much bigger and il be able to fit more in but I don't want to cause any problems by having a V5 for a car that doesn't belong to me. Has anyone done this journey before and have they had their V5s checked?

Any other helpful tips would be appreciated. Thank you x

It doesn't matter if it's not your vehicle. You will also need to take a copy of the insurance certificate.

And:

A U.K. sticker
Fluorescent jackets for everyone in the car
A warning triangle
Put headlight stickers on your headlamps.

If you're driving into Paris, you'll also need a Crit'Air sticker. Hope your dad's car is newish!

DH and I have done quite a bit of driving in France (he's French) never taken our V5 and never been asked for it 🤷🏻‍♀️ No harm taking it but don't sweat it too much.

You have to take a warning triangle and hi vis jacket in case of breakdown. Make sure you have valid breakdown insurance that covers driving in France.

Make sure you have a bank card ready for when you go through the tolls.

That's all I can think of really. Enjoy!

drive on the right.

When we went a few years ago we had to have an emergency kit (warning triangle, torch and a few other bits) We bought it online I think but I'm sure Halfords do them. It was French law that you had this in the car. Also copies of all documents pertaining to the car like insurance docs.

Make sure you apply for your crit’air sticker well in advance. We have a bip and go tag to save hassle on the toll roads. Make sure you have a yellow jacket for everyone in the car.

You also need to have breathalysers in the car

Thank you so much for all the advice! Really helpful and much appreciated x

Remember that the crossroad sign that is in the shape of a St Andrew's cross requires you to give way to traffic approaching from the right. I always take a toilet roll in with me at motorway service stations.

Definitely get an electric tag for the toll roads. Then you can drive up to the 't' lanes and be let through like magic!

You don't any more.

You don’t need the breathalysers anymore. You also don’t need a spare bulb kit, but the police can require you to change any blown bulbs before they will let you proceed, so I always take one.

Have wet wipes and a pack of tissues in a bag accessible in the car (not buried in the boot somewhere) because the roadside toilet facilities can be, er, basic.

Make sure you have the contact details of your European breakdown cover provider with your car documents.

The drive to the DLP area is really easy, basically just two roads and one set of tolls. Get an EU driving kit, I use Google maps (roaming free with O2). If you go on YouTube you can see some vlogs of people doing the drive, driving round the M25 much more stressful imo.

Make sure you have adequate insurance. We changed insurance companies a few years ago: the old policy included fully comprehensive insurance for driving in the EU. The new policy only provided 3rd party cover and we visited France 2 or 3 times before we realised!