Driving down to Beziers which way?

[Roony]

Hi All..

Driving down to Beziers on the 18th August via the tunnel. plan on doing most of the driving on Friday, train arrives in Calais at 8am French time.. Staying over near the Millau Viaduct bridge, So our planned route is down the a1 then around Paris picking up the a10..
Are we likely to get around Paris at 1130am on a Friday... more so than the mad Saturday?

any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Rushjob]

I live between Montlucon and Clermont Ferrand and always go via Rouen and Chartres rather than Paris, getting on to the A10/A71 at Orleans ( junction 12 IIRC ) not much in it time wise, a cheaper run for tolls and avoiding the busier bits around Paris.

[psi310398]

Rushjob said:

I live between Montlucon and Clermont Ferrand and always go via Rouen and Chartres rather than Paris, getting on to the A10/A71 at Orleans ( junction 12 IIRC ) not much in it time wise, a cheaper run for tolls and avoiding the busier bits around Paris.

^ This. Much less stressful. There really is no good time to be driving in or around Paris, especially the approach from the North (Beauvais etc).

Peter

[Roony]

Thanks... We normally go via Rouen when we travel down to the Vendee area... So you would recommend this route over the Paris route? How long would you say to Clermont from Calais?

[psi310398]

Roony said:

Thanks... We normally go via Rouen when we travel down to the Vendee area... So you would recommend this route over the Paris route? How long would you say to Clermont from Calais?

Around seven/seven and half hours driving time. Say eight and half with comfort stops?

[Herdwick]

We drive down to Beziers area 3 or 4 times a year.
Usually try to hit Paris around 1 in the morning, then its a nice easy run through, then 6hrs down to bezier from S. Paris.
If we need to travel daytime, Paris can be a nightmare so as stated above, we go through Rouen/Chartres to Orleans. Seems to take about an hour longer that through Paris (with no traffic), but cheaper on tolls, and nice cheap fuel stations along the way. probably the better way on Friday am.

If you are staying at Millau, it should only be a couple of hours to Beziers, BUT remember the road will be very, very busy on the Sat morning. (Think of M5/A30 down to Cornwall on a busy Sat in summer).

Enjoy the sunshine, we are down there in 3 weeks.!

[rdjohn]

By the 18th most Parisians will have already left Paris, so it will inevitably be quieter than normal.

My suggestion would be to see what route Google Maps suggests on each of the weekdays before at arround 8am. Their traffic data is realtime so you can see where the blockages are likely to be.

Depending on how long you are staying, your much bigger problem could be your return journey. Getting through a peage can be a disaster as everyone returns to Paris. The same applies to a lesser extent trying to get on A13 near Rouen.

[Roony]

Thanks for all the feedback... we normally do Saint Jean D'mont (love it there but the weather has been so hit or miss over the past few years) or Mimizan on the east coast... this year we are going right down to the south... the sat nav gave us the Paris route saying around 9hrs? Looking at the map again.. I guess down to Rouen, then 154 via Chartres, onto A10 then A71 at Orleans? makes sense.. ?

plenty places to stop for breaks? assume its 130KMH? on those roads too?

[Roony]

Thanks for the tip regarding the drive down from Millau which we will be doing on the Saturday morning... Ive just done the M5/A30 this weekend heading to Lyme Regis.... (nightmare)! best hit the road early then?

on another note could you suggest any places to visit near Beziers? thinking medieval villages etc... ? Decent places to visit for evening meals?

Thanks

Herdwick said:

We drive down to Beziers area 3 or 4 times a year.
Usually try to hit Paris around 1 in the morning, then its a nice easy run through, then 6hrs down to bezier from S. Paris.
If we need to travel daytime, Paris can be a nightmare so as stated above, we go through Rouen/Chartres to Orleans. Seems to take about an hour longer that through Paris (with no traffic), but cheaper on tolls, and nice cheap fuel stations along the way. probably the better way on Friday am.

If you are staying at Millau, it should only be a couple of hours to Beziers, BUT remember the road will be very, very busy on the Sat morning. (Think of M5/A30 down to Cornwall on a busy Sat in summer).

Enjoy the sunshine, we are down there in 3 weeks.!

[phil y]

Sète is well worth a visit, described as the Venice of the Languedoc. They have a festival in late August involving jousting on the canals, great fun to watch. Traffic can be a bit of a nightmare at busy times though.

[Fatt McMissile]

Le Grau, hopefully still simple, Cap d'Agde for a look - we saw the first piles driven into the marshes there in 1970......look out for the naturist / non naturist bifurcation on the autoroute!
Steve

[mikey77]

Pazenas is well worth a look/meal stop. I'll second the recommendation for Sete and Agde - the old town - is interesting. If you want to try Cap d'Agde go ahead - but make sure you put a report on here afterwards!

[Mike-tf3n0]

Just come half an hour toward Toulouse and you have Carcassonne, a World Heritage site and the longest medieval ramparts in Europe. It gets a bit touristy in summer but well worth the trip as it is still very much alive and lived in. On the other side of the river is the 'modern' town which is still pretty ancient, good shopping there and plenty of eateries in both places. Scattered around the area are all the ancient Cathar castles, most in spectacular positions on top of rocky crags to try and escape persecution by the Catholics, by about the 1340s they had been entirely exterminated in a series of horrendously bloodthirsty pogroms called the Albigensian Crusades, the Pope then residing in Albi. For history buffs this area is the tops!

[Roony]

Thanks guys... will put them on the list...

Out of interest does any one know how long it would take to drive down to Barcelona from Beziers?

[vsonix]

Roony said:

Thanks guys... will put them on the list...

Out of interest does any one know how long it would take to drive down to Barcelona from Beziers?

Three to four hours ish depending on traffic, if you're in a hurry or not etc etc. If you do have a bit of time to spend I wholeheartedly recommend the coast road from the bay of Roses across the border and then down onto France, rejoin the Autoroute at Perpignan/Sigean.

[Roony]

ok thanks..

vsonix said:

Three to four hours ish depending on traffic, if you're in a hurry or not etc etc. If you do have a bit of time to spend I wholeheartedly recommend the coast road from the bay of Roses across the border and then down onto France, rejoin the Autoroute at Perpignan/Sigean.

[Beggarall]

I travel this route quite often. You have already had some good advice and suggestions. You might consider taking the A86 tunnel round Paris - it is much quicker and nicer than risking the Boulevard Périphérique - but costs a few euros in tolls (€7 I think). The route via Rouen has improved with long stretches of dual carriageway down to Dreux but then you can get caught behind convoys of lorries. Bezier's to Barcelona is all on autoroute and will take about 3hours but make sure you know where you are heading once you reach the city because signposting is very inconsistent. Have a nice trip!

[vsonix]

Beggarall said:

I travel this route quite often. You have already had some good advice and suggestions. You might consider taking the A86 tunnel round Paris - it is much quicker and nicer than risking the Boulevard Périphérique - but costs a few euros in tolls (€7 I think). The route via Rouen has improved with long stretches of dual carriageway down to Dreux but then you can get caught behind convoys of lorries. Bezier's to Barcelona is all on autoroute and will take about 3hours but make sure you know where you are heading once you reach the city because signposting is very inconsistent. Have a nice trip!

If you do use the tunnel, if it's the one I'm thinking of, make sure you know which junctions you need ahead of time as if you're in the tunnel then you won't have contact with GPS satellites and there are one or two junctions actually inside the tunnel.

[phil y]

The Canal du midi is good for walking/cycling along, find a nice stretch lined with trees to saunter along. There's a boat which does trips along the canal and through the Malpas tunnel runs from Colombiers which is about 15 mins outside Beziers.

[Roony]

nice one fella's... some good info again...