[Closed] An idiot abroad (me) 1st time Driving to France in the van.... advice please

You need certain safety items accessible from inside the van - ie in the cab - in France. Someone else will probably know better, but I'm pretty sure it includes hi-viz for everyone in the vehicle, a warning triangle and a first aid kit. You also have to have spare bulbs and stick on lenses on your headlights so they dip the right way.

Also they drive on the wrong side of the road.

Aa and rac have driving guides for what you need to be legal. Just Google that. Don't let the speed creep on the autoroute and don't scrimp and avoid the tolls.

Sticky tape on the headlights so you don't dazzle people, a warning triangle, some dayglo vests, bulbs (but they don't check anymore), an alcotest (but it's not obligatory), registration document, insurance, driving license.

If you are in the habit of speeding or driving badly, some cash to pay the fines.

Assume cars pulling out have priority in town until you can see a line to show they haven't. Don't be a dick. Assume everyone is pissed on weekend evenings and small hours. Be cautious even if the light's green.

Give cyclists a metre in town and 1.5m out of town, If you don't, don't be surprised if you return to your car from the walk and find an irritated cyclist has.

I asked on the Vauxhall forum. [url= http://vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php?threads/taking-the-van-to-france-headlight-beam-and-speed-limits.431058/ ]This may be of help[/url]
We never fitted the beam deflectors in the end, but never drove in the dark.

get a string of onions and a beret and practise saying 'oh eh oh eh oh oeh oh' while gesticulating with your hands.
Nah, don't worry it's dead easy, you will have one moment where you drive on the left usually when ther's no traffic but that'll be it. You'll be fine.

Remember you drive in the gutter. Some T junctions can be really tricky in a van as you have really restricted view to your left (unless you have windows in van)

I’ve ridden the motorbike more in mainland Europe than in the UK in the last two years. It’s fine - far more relaxed than the UK.

Except Bulgaria. Bulgaria is bloody scary.

Rachel

In addition to what Edukator has said, also assume you're limited to 50km/h in built up areas unless there are explicit signs indicating otherwise. As you pass the sign with the town name on it, the limit automatically goes down with no need for additional signage.

Things you need:
Hi vis for the driver and front passenger, accessible from within the cabin.
Warning triangle.
A Crit'Air sticker if you're driving in Paris or a couple of other big cities.
A GB sticker if it doesn't show country of origin on the registration plate (ie, if you have the EU flag or similar on your plate, you don't need an additional sticker).

Things you may need:
Headlight deflectors (I looked into this and decided I couldn't be bothered, I never drove in the dark anyway).

Things you don't need despite half of the Internet telling you otherwise:
Spare bulbs.
Breathaliser.

Things you really don't need:
Any sort of GPS which warns you about speed cameras. They're illegal in France and they'll destroy your device at the roadside.

Use a satnav that tells you the current speed limit , and warns you if you go over.

Drove to Disneyland earlier this year for the first time ever driving abroad.
Eurotunnel was far simpler than I expected. Don't worry if you get there earlier than planned - they automated checking in system will offer you an earlier train if there's room on it for no cost.
French toll roads are expensive! - 2 hours driving was about €20. And as soon as you get off the toll roads be prepared for the awful state of the roads. Even motorways were full of large pot holes! 😯
Also, be very aware of speed limits, they seem to change all the time (sometimes for no apparent reason) and the police are very keen on catching speeders.
We got this kit from Amazon - has everything you need for legal stuff (except additional hi-vis jackets if more than just you) including a good book with all the laws and more in:
EDIT - For some reason STW won't let me post anything with an ampersand in it so, go to Amazon UK and search:
AA Euro Travel Kit and Alcosense French NF Approved Breathalyser (Twin Pack) bundle
It's the £33 one - but was only about £20 when we got it in January!

The only other things to add from the above that I can think of is that you are only insured 3rd party as standard on your insurance when abroad. Ring them to get it extended, it's cheap and often free.

Temporary european breakdown cover is available as part of the channel tunnel booking. Think it was about £30 for my van for a long weekend. Someone may happen by soon to tell you where you can get it cheaper.

I've done lots of driving on the continent in my van and agree with all of the above.

One thing to note is that overtaking big slow stuff like tractors on normal roads without a trusted passenger (I had my wife who just about qualifies) is a bit on the nervy side.

I find driving in Europe much more chilled than over here, apart from when I came off the Motorway too early and found myself in the middle of Naples....

Insurance
Light deflectors
GB badge
Fire extinguisher
Yellow hi-vis
Spare bulbs
Get a breathalyser set because whilst not actually required it fobs them off if you get stopped.
also think about Crit'Air stickers

You may want one of these if you're going into cities.

https://www.green-zones.eu/en/info-menu/european-badges-and-vignettes/french-vignette-critair.html

Things you really don't need:
Any sort of GPS which warns you about speed cameras. They're illegal in France....

Unless it's one of these, they are all fine in France. ...

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Get a breathalyser set because [u]whilst not actually required it fobs them off if you get stopped[/u].

Good point .... much better to have it and not piss them off ... and of course they have no requirement to speak English so explaining to them "But it's not actually required" is just not worth the bother

Only thing I'd say is for some reason I tend to forget I'm driving a height restricted van when on the continent. Perhaps because of the gear stick/steering wheel but on 2 occasions I've only just realised in time!

Hi,

Tesco clubcard vouchers for the train if you can 3 to 1 so saves a lot of money.
It's easy to drive abroad, you need high viz for each person. spare bulbs and all your documents.

Don't get a breathalyser set because you won't get stopped, and even if you were you don't need one.
Also ignore all the scare tactics they use at the tunnel or ferry port trying to force you in to buying them along with all the overpriced hi-viz, first aid kits, etc. etc.

Get a hi viz (might be one per person) before you go, and put them in the passenger cabin. Stick on beam deflectors before you go. Forget the rest.

something that caught me out the first time, on entering a french town the town sign is the speed limit sign. Worst thing i found was first thing in the morning pulling out of the hotel car park and starting on the wrong side of the road....

Re headlights - the stickers are quite crap, they block a lot of light but don't really redirect it to the other side where you need it.

VWs have an adjuster that lets you flip the headlights from RHD to LHD configuration, although it's not well documented. This is better than using stickers. Mercedes might have similar.

Most bridges and tunnels have warning chains but supermarkets don't.

You say a "long road trip", OP, Don't be one of the Brits who unfamiliar with driving long hours on smooth traffic-free roads dozes off and wakes up in hospital - if in a state to wake up.

I find driving in Europe much more chilled than over here

Other than some of the cities I found that too. I never usually drive whenever I go abroad so was bricking it a bit when I had to take the work van to Le mans a few years ago. In reality I quite enjoyed it and probably preferred it to driving in this country 😯

As said above a passenger is handy in a van sometimes for junctions and overtaking.

My T5.1 doesn't have a lever to change the headlamps so I have some clear lamp covers which just go over the lap unit. Takes about 10 minutes, and has the blacked out area on them so the heat of the lamp doesn't bake them onto the lens cover. My M-B has symmetrical LED lamps so I don't have to do anything when heading abroad.

If you're going a long way then the SANEF tags are good as they stop arguments about money, falling out of the window trying to reach the machine, reduce queuing, save on using physical cash as the bill comes at the end of the month
The bill can be a bit hefty though - as you have little idea as to how its moutning up...

Things you need to know:

Drive on the right. Where I had the biggest problem with this was initially setting off from places, pulling out of car parks and the like.

There's some arcane law which gives priority to side roads joining main ones - "priorite a droite," priority to the right. Similarly roundabouts (anti-clockwise, WTAF?!) where joining traffic has priority over traffic already going around, helpfully this is signposted where this [i]doesn't[/i] apply and it works like the UK (it says something like "you don't have priority," I forget the exact wording). This is mostly obsolete now as far as I could tell, but still in place in some rural areas. There's a yellow diamond road sign which essentially means that you have priority like in the UK; the same diamond crossed out means you don't, so watch out. A warning triangle with a big X on it is a crossroads where again you do not have right of way, stay frosty for these. And a flashing amber traffic light also means give way to the right, unless it says otherwise. Confused yet?

TBH I never fully got my head around priorite a droite and it's relatively rare, so I dealt with it by assuming that if a vehicle is looking like it thinks it's got right of way than it probably has.

Drive on the right.

Take a credit card and be prepared to use it, debit card acceptance is a lottery. Take actual money for petrol stations. I went through a Shell fuel card (which I asked beforehand if it was accepted and was incorrectly told "oui") and three bank cards before I found one they'd accept. Budget for toll roads.

"Peage" is a toll road. "Rappel" you'll see a lot and it simply means "reminder," very common on speed limit repeater signs. "Interdit" is forbidden.

Drive on the right.

On main roads, the speed limit drops if it's raining. The signs will show two speeds.

On motorways, they'll post speed limit signs coming up to exit slips. This applies to traffic using the exit, not those carrying on.

Drive on the right.

They have this weird thing on motorways which is alien to many UK drivers. It's called "lane discipline" and it's freaking awesome. Pull out to overtake, overtake, then get the hell back over again or you'll have a Peugeot 406 half an inch from your bumper at 130kph before you know it. Seriously, if you're a card-carrying member of the Lane Two Owner's Club, you're going to be given a hard time.

I can't remember if I mentioned it yet but, drive on the right.

As you pass the sign with the town name on it, the limit automatically goes down with no need for additional signage.

This, the limit is 50kph and it doesn't explicitly tell you. The same town name with a red diagonal line through it as you leave town indicates the end of the restriction.

Drive on the right.

Unless it's one of these, they are all fine in France. ...

The model is irrelevant, the legality is down to whether you have speed camera warnings or not. If you've got one of those models and have a fixed camera POI overlay installed, you've broken the law. If you've got one of those or anything else and don't have speed camera info, you're fine.

If you're going a long way then the SANEF tags are good

^This. Plus you can also use the express lane which means you don't have to stop just slow down to about 30km/h and the thing beeps and you're away. It takes the money from your bank account about a month later and the exchange rate is usually in line with paying cash.

Oh, and what Cougar said about lane discipline times a million. If you see a car a few inches behind you with it's left indicator on that generally means they want you out of the way.

Oh - they don't indicate on roundabouts until they come to the junction that they're coming off at. It always catches me out as I look, see them coming, assume by their road positioning that they're coming off at the exit to me left then keep on sweeping round - [gulp].

On smaller roads remember the rule of [u]la priorité à tw*t[/u]

http://www.france-pub.com/forum/2012/04/14/la-priorite-a-droite%E2%80%8E-priority-to-the-right/

Temporary european breakdown cover is available as part of the channel tunnel booking. Think it was about £30 for my van for a long weekend. Someone may happen by soon to tell you where you can get it cheaper.

That's a point. You can't use third-party breakdown cover on motorways, you have you use the roadside emergency phones to get someone to scrape you up.

Tesco clubcard vouchers for the train if you can 3 to 1 so saves a lot of money.

Yeah. Free Eurotunnel for fifty quid's worth of Tesco vouchers, bargain.

The Eurotunnel is ace, BTW. It's a well-oiled machine and they're dead laid back about you boarding earlier / later trains if you need to.

The model is irrelevant

Not really. All the models I listed are legal to use (as normal) in France because the "speed camera warnings" in France have been replaced with "danger zones"

Some of the "danger zones" don't have cameras located in them. But all cameras are located in "danger zones"

But it's legal to use in France, with alerts turned on.

Its a breeze, very similar to the UK only you drive on the other side and not so many stress head psychopaths.

Most has been mentioned but:

[list]
[li]Clubcard vouchers for the tunnel[/li]
[li]Consider the Sanef tag so you can breeze through the tolls and get your bill later, Eurotunnel do a deal on it, or if you can be bothered, apparently there is a Mont Blanc one or something and the fees are a fair bit less. Once you have it, you are free to lend to friends and family[/li]
[li]Watch out for height restrictions on autoroutes[/li]
[li]Don't relax too much when you get off the train back in the UK,
thats when you drive off on the wrong side of the road as you are still in holiday mode[/li]
[li]Priority a Droite - make sure you know what the signs below mean,
just as important if you are cycling. I read up first but its still makes you jump the first time a local shoots out of a tiny alley into the main street without looking! I'm sure they watch for english plates and then jump out :)[/li]
[/list]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

http://www.vendee-guide.co.uk/priority-a-droite.htm

To be honest, the thing I always find the most difficult is remembering to drive on the left when I get home!

Rachel

Cougar - Moderator

Things you need:
Hi vis for the driver and front passenger, accessible from within the cabin.
Warning triangle.
A Crit'Air sticker if you're driving in Paris or a couple of other big cities.
A GB sticker if it doesn't show country of origin on the registration plate (ie, if you have the EU flag or similar on your plate, you don't need an additional sticker).

Things you may need:
Headlight deflectors (I looked into this and decided I couldn't be bothered, I never drove in the dark anyway).

Things you don't need despite half of the Internet telling you otherwise:
Spare bulbs.
Breathaliser.

Things you really don't need:
Any sort of GPS which warns you about speed cameras. They're illegal in France and they'll destroy your device at the roadside.

This, there are a lot of sites which will tell you, you need all sorts of stuff or the French Police will bum you at the road side and crush your car and then, conveniently, offer to sell you a massive kit bag of stuff at a huge mark-up. I’ve been told you need an extinguisher too…

I would add to comply with their law you only need a single hi-viz accessible from the drivers seat.

The breathalyser law was massively unpopular in France with both Police and public and whilst it's current the Police don't enforce it.

The 'spare bulb' thing is actually really bad advise unless you read the small print - the police won't ask you to see it, it's not a requirement they don't care - what they can do is stop you and fine you if you have a bulb out - just like the Police here can do, the only difference is their fines are payable immediately. The bulb kit 'rule' is more about not being stuck in France trying to work out what the French for 'Halfords' is so there's little point rocking up with a standard issue Halfords spare bulb kit if you vehicle takes funny bulbs or needs half an F1 pit crew to access them.

Quite a few vehicles can be switched from LHD to RHD headlamps with a switch, I bought a masking kit a few years ago, still got it, it's light from before 5am and till nearly 10pm every time I go, I'm never driving outside of those hours.

there's little point rocking up with a standard issue Halfords spare bulb kit

Halfords offer kits specific to many cars, IIRC.

be sure to involve liberal amounts of HORN!!!

continental folk love using their horns

To be honest, the thing I always find the most difficult is remembering to drive on the left when I get home!

Definitely agree with this

Don't forget to paint your headlights yellow so that the RAF don't bomb you!!

If you're going a long way then the SANEF tags are good as they stop arguments about money, falling out of the window trying to reach the machine, reduce queuing

I'm not so sure on this - after the charge for the SANEF for one trip I don't think it saves anything.

All the peage I drove on took CC without issue anyway, and were automated. I only queued once, and I caused that by the car packing up at the barrier 😳

Lots of good advice here and some 😯

High-viz and warning triangle are the most important, first aid kit if you want (never been checked). Jackets need to be inside the car. Car registration and insurance.

Headlights best is if they are adjustable with the mounting screws (check manual), second best is black tape (lense usually marked for where that goes) or what I suspect most people do - nothing.

One thing not mentioned is "priority to the right" if you are mostly on the motorway it won't be an issue but note that where it does apply traffic coming from your right has priority even if you think you are bowling along on the "big road" and also note there will be no give-way road markings. You will find this inside the towns. Most roundabouts now are cedez-la-passage ie give-way with markings on the road, concentrate to ground round fhe right way 😉 my friend who lives in Brittany had never been on a priority to the right roundabout till he came to Paris so I doubt you'll come accross one but take care (basically you have priority to join the roundabout and have to give way once you are on it)

Speeding (dons tin hat) there are lots of cameras, French system is if there is a camera sign they will be 1, very occasionally 2 cameras within the next 2km. In all my years of driving in France I have never been sent a ticket (I have been sent 2 from the Swiss). I have been stopped by a motorcycle cop doing 137 in a 110 and just got a telling off (was rather surprised). Note also dual carriageway / motorway can be 90/110/130 so pay attention to the signs. No need really to speed as 110/130 is plenty anyway.

One thing not mentioned is "priority to the right"

Except in about fifteen previous posts.

Speeding (dons tin hat) there are lots of cameras, French system is if there is a camera sign they will be 1, very occasionally 2 cameras within the next 2km.

They're also tucked away near to the ground and quite difficult to see.

Best advice is just not to speed. There's a new law / agreement just come in (or it's due this month, not sure offhand) which basically allows sharing of offence info between countries; get clocked speeding in France and it will almost certainly follow you home.

To be honest, the thing I always find the most difficult is remembering to drive on the left when I get home!

Mearly had a head on on the bike cycling down the wrong side of the road 😐

OP say to yourself loudly everytime you get into the car "drive on the right" its when you first start off or do something instinctively (eg you are a bit lost) that you tend to get it wrong.

TAG, worthwhile if you are in a right had drive and have a sleeping passenger or no passenger. Did reduce queues for us by a big margin but this was a busy time of year.
The speed cameras are well signposted, but as Jamba says 110 / 130 is plenty anyway, especially if you have a big trip!

Always seems like you cover the distance quite quickly on the continent, all the signs are in KM so it rolls by quite quickly when you are used to Miles, which is nice. Bon Voyage!

Give way to Belgian drivers. Trust me.

Nickc speaks the truth.
Loads of them on the road at Easter. Big BMW's and Mercedes most of them.

OP mentionned Brocantes - I go over most years in the van to stock up in Brittany & Vendee, off again in a few weeks - but also look out for Vide Greniers (literally means 'empty attic') - our equivalent of car boot sales but usually less tacky & much better, particularly in towns when everyone seems to turn up, families, food, drink etc. Depending where you are heading, this is a good site for finding dates of them https://vide-greniers.org/

The good stuff gets sold on LeBonCoin.fr these days and vide greniers are often disappointing. Brocantes are still worth a visit, many advertise on the LeBonCoin. Either way have a look at LeBonCon for wherever you are going. (Madame picked up a nice art-deco 1930s chair in a brocante last week for 100e - found on LeBonCoin)

Yes agree leboncoin is good if look for stuff like on gumtree and your French is good for emails/phone, still prefer wondering about at a Brocantes or vide greniers though - ones I go to in Brittany are usually great.

I find driving in Europe much more chilled than over here, apart from when I came off the Motorway too early and found myself in the middle of Naples....

I'll add the middle of Lisbon to that list. that's half a day of my life i'll never get back, i only wanted to go round it too, not through 🙂

OP i found quite a good little sticker among the overpriced fluro vests and the (now not so) compulsory breathalyzers, its see-through and has a diagram of a road and roundabout with direction arrows, you stick it to the top corner of your windscreen, when you get back off the ferry/tunnel you flip it over and is right for the UK

Found it helped the first time i drove in europe especially if you have a "F***! which side of the road am i on?!?" moment.

But to be honest you spent the first hour out of the tunnel driving like its your test again then it becomes second nature. As others have said the most dodgy moments are leaving the hotel the next morning as you just jump in the van and go.

Be excited! And have a lovely trip - we've always found driving through France an absolute joy, especially if outside school hols (when the roads don't seem busier, but the rest areas do!).

Noting to add to all the good advice above.

All the peage I drove on took CC without issue anyway

This got me thinking. I've never bothered with SANEF before, but my cards have a non sterling transaction fee per use on top of the percentage, so that might be 15, 20 times in a trip. SANEF and one transaction for the total would be a good slice cheaper.

All the peage I drove on took CC without issue anyway

you will have one moment where you drive on the left usually when ther's no traffic but that'll be it. You'll be fine.

I took a wrong turn in a village last year, turned it round in a junction and carried on back the way I came. Couldn't understand why a crazy French bloke was driving straight towards me waving his hands about...
Tsk.... French drivers eh? 😳

The 'spare bulb' thing is actually really bad advise unless you read the small print - the police won't ask you to see it, it's not a requirement they don't care - what they can do is stop you and fine you if you have a bulb out - just like the Police here can do, the only difference is their fines are payable immediately. The bulb kit 'rule' is more about not being stuck in France trying to work out what the French for 'Halfords' is so there's little point rocking up with a standard issue Halfords spare bulb kit if you vehicle takes funny bulbs or needs half an F1 pit crew to access them.

It's hardly bad advice anywhere.... but I always found hyper-markets cheaper than Halfords... though that was with a better exchange rate.

The thing is there is a lot to me said for "Yes Sir/No Sir" when your on holiday with a vehicle. That applies most places but France the various police/gendarmes have a lot of leeway and I've found being rather effusive over compliance a good start.

Having lived in France for 7yrs but had my British car I did get stopped with a bulb out (driving back from the Alps to Paris) and pulled out high viz vests and such whilst apologising profusely and saying it was fine when I left that morning and I had spare bulbs ... they ended up being more amused I had a PUG 306 Gti6 with English plates and I don't remember them even checking the paperwork/license.

I've used a borrowed toll tag on two trips and paid with card or csdh on maybe ten or more trips.

Having a tag is nice but paying by card has never been an issue and when I last looked the tag had an intitial cost that made it poor value for one or two trips.

I've never bothered with headlight tape, I dont drive at night.

I dont speed either here or abroad so its a none issue.

I think I have a hi viz but it may be in the boot, it just go under my seat when travelling abroad.

Thats about it realy, otherwise I just get in the car and drive. I do agree its swapping back to driving on the left thats more difficult.

Speeding wise, some of the popular places to get caught are where motorways stop being 130/ 110 and go to 90 through cities/ big junctions etc. The rhone Valley from Lyon to St.Etienne and then onwards through St. Etienne towards Clermont....is rife and well known for constantly changing limits that are difficult to keep up with. Albertville is another one...

The only time I have been pulled over in over 9 years of living here and before that regular holidays here was my 1st trip out on my new (to me) motorbike. Regular check: they did the same for bikes ahead and behind me..they weren't too bothered that my insurance cert wasn't 100% as it should be due to newly purchased etc... but they just wanted to talk and talk and talk and check out my bike as it's 30 years old and a legendary model and in good condition etc....i..e they were more interested in chewing the fat than checking legalities! I felt I had passed their initial check in the first minute.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR V5/ logbook/ owner registration with you. In france you need to carry it with you at all times when driving (and ID at all times): in the UK (last I knew) you don't. This is a reason that so many french guys have manbags for all the stuff you need to carry: cheque book, owner papers, driving licence blah blah.

I used to stick a bloomin great "KEEP RIGHT" sign on the centre of the steering wheel when first driving over there. I don't bother now . I have to say though ..like a few others ..the most risky time is probably in the morning when you're joining a road and there are no other cars about to give you a subconscious cue . it's easy to swing across to the left side and suddenly get a frightening reminder as you see a car coming towards you on the same side. Hopefully it won't be on a bend and without collision. happened to me a few times over 40 yrs ..often when hung over .
Finally . a comment about the french car boots ...rarely found a good one unless at the large brocantes. Things seem more expensive than over here and they have a lot of real junk for sale at daft prices. I think the dealers picked through most of the good stuff years ago.