Tolls and the cost of travel from the UK to Central Portugal. We all have to pay the cost of tolls or go on the A roads. Some A roads are in fact very good in France and Spain. But it was my choice to use the Tolls.
After coming out of the Port of Le Havre there are a number of short stages where the cost is small the first was only 1.60 Euro then I went over a bridge this was more 2.20 Euro and the last at this point was 3.20 Euro. Not bad for this part of the journey. These tolls I paid using my Caxton prepaid card. At one toll booth I had to wait because the card reader was across the other side of the line of toll booths. We the assistant got the card reader the fee was paid and I was on my way. They seemed to have no problem at the manned booths taking payment by card.
As I got a little further south the next stage was a long stretch perhaps 200 miles or more plus the cost was 27.60 Euro ouch and
they had no card reader or so they claimed. I thought that the assistant was just to lazy to get a reader so I said I had not cash and to get her boss. When someone came over I explained that I had no cash until I could go to an Atm at the next town I was going to stop at. Her boss then instructed her to fill out a form and told me I had 10 days to pay the Toll fee. The next toll was for 10.30 Euro and again as was the case with the next two tolls where all paid with my Caxton prepaid card. It was only the one stretch of motorway where I had a problem, or was it just that it was the assistant being unfriendly who knows or cares. It really was that easy from Le Havre to the Spanish border.
Crossing into Spain was no problem at all you just carry on driving with no border control. The first toll fee was when I came to go into a town for a break and i had to come of the motorway. The fee was just 0.73 cents. After a short break it was time to get on my way to my next overnight stop at Valladolid I only came to have to pay at two more tolls the first being 1.38 Euro and the last being 9.90 Euro.
In total the cost of travel by toll roads from Le Havre to Gois was 85.71 Euros. A driving distance of 1392 miles but that was from Liverpool to Gois crossing at Le Havre. I stopped often and took many breaks off the motorways. I could have saved a lot of mileage if I had just driven through and only came off the motorway from my nightly stops. The thing is I enjoyed my trip and I made the trip all on my own. Would I do it again Yes that's an easy answer because I love driving. Would I recommend driving well it's got to be yes, I got the chance to see part of the Cognac region. I went into Poitiers, Bordeaux. This is the second time I drove over the first time from Postsmouth to Santander with a Transit van and Big box trailer.
Almost from the ferry terminal it was motorway until I came of at the motorway end in Portugal. After crossing the border into Portugal there was little difference to the motorway I had been on for well over 1,000 plus i enjoyed every mile covered.
No comments:
Post a Comment