France

The country built for this. Fill up at supermarkets (Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour), never on the autoroute.

Drives on the right · EUR · reviewed 22 Oct 2026

Fuel this week

Diesel£1.962.35 €

Petrol 95£1.822.18 €

LPG£0.871.04 €

Per litre, with tax. Diesel is 3p cheaper than at home. Week of 26 Oct 2026, European Commission, Weekly Oil Bulletin (prices with taxes). Converted at the ECB rate of 30 Oct 2026 (£0.834 to the euro).

Spain → France +39p
Luxembourg → France +25p
France → Switzerland +24p
Italy → France +9p

What to know

Tolls and vignettes

Autoroutes are tolled by distance and class. A van over 2 m high (or over 3 m with a roof box) is class 2 and pays about 50 per cent more than a car: budget €10–12 per 100 km. The N and D roads parallel almost every one and cost nothing.

Clean air zones

Crit'Air sticker (€4.76, order at certificat-air.gouv.fr weeks ahead) is required to enter the low-emission zones in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Marseille, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Montpellier, Rouen and more. Pre-2011 diesel vans are refused in Paris on weekdays.

Sleeping in the van

Aires de camping-car: thousands, many free, most with water and emptying for a few euros. Wild camping is tolerated inland and banned on the coast and in national parks; a mayor's sign is the law.

Kit you must carry

Warning triangle, hi-vis vest in reach of the driver, headlamp adjusters, UK sticker. Breathalysers are no longer fined.

Speed limits, van under 3.5 t

130 (110 in rain) / 80 or 90 / 50

When to go

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Northern France	7°	8°	12°	15°	19°	22°	25°	25°	21°	16°	11°	8°

A dot marks the months we would pick: warm enough, dry enough, not yet crowded. Rounded from 1991–2020 normals. Coasts and mountains differ from their region.

Crossings

Channel

Dover – Calais

P&O Ferries, DFDS, Irish Ferries · 1 h 30 · every 30–60 min, day and night

Car £60–140 one way
Van or camper £90–220 one way (over 1.85 m or over 6 m)

Channel

Folkestone – Calais (LeShuttle)

Eurotunnel LeShuttle · 35 min · up to 4 an hour

Car £80–200 one way
Van or camper £120–260 one way (over 1.85 m uses the taller carriages)

Channel

Newhaven – Dieppe

DFDS · 4 h · 2–3 daily

Car £50–120 one way
Van or camper £80–180 one way

Channel

Portsmouth – Caen / Le Havre / St Malo / Cherbourg

Brittany Ferries · 3–9 h · daily, varies by route

Car £90–250 one way
Van or camper £130–350 one way

Mediterranean

Sète / Genoa / Barcelona – Tanger Med

GNV, Baleària · 28–48 h · weekly to several weekly

Car €400–800 return with a cabin
Van or camper €500–1,000 return with a cabin

Mediterranean

Marseille / Genoa / Palermo – Tunis

CTN, GNV, Corsica Linea · 20–24 h · several weekly in season

Car €350–700 return with a cabin
Van or camper €450–900 return with a cabin

Routes through here

Calais to Andalusia, the long way down: France at your own pace, then the whole of Spain.
The Alps, three countries in a week: Passes by day, valley aires by night.
Italy to the Peloponnese by ferry: Camp on deck, wake up in Greece.

Fuel: European Commission, Weekly Oil Bulletin (prices with taxes); Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Weekly road fuel prices (OGL v3); European Central Bank reference rate. EU figures are the week of 26 Oct 2026; UK the week of 26 Oct 2026; † marks hand-checked indicative figures for countries outside both series. Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Climate: rounded 1991–2020 normals from national meteorological services. Crossings and country notes are our own and dated. Something here is out of date already, so check before you go.