To Toll or Not to Toll

It’s a long drive to southern Europe, but with plenty of baguettes, continental coffee, cheese and thoughts of endless windsurfing, it will soon pass. Toll roads will certainly make the journey faster, but in most cases it won’t end up the most cost effective option. Some of the French dual carriage ways are just as good as the toll roads, but it’s worth hopping on the toll for a few key parts of the journey, particularly between Bayonne and Biaritz, through to Spains’ Vitoria-Gasteiz which will cost about 15 euros in a small van. Crossing the south of France quickly to catch a forecast is a waste of time unless you jump on the toll roads, check out viamichelin.com for good up to date prices.

In Spain, toll free roads are fantastic, plus they are constantly building more so make sure your map or sat-nav is 100% up to date. There’s nothing worse than creeping around a mountain road to see that there’s actually a brand new toll free motorway next to it that wasn’t on your map.

Portugal is pretty slow to travel around without getting on a toll road, particularly its central region. This unfortunately makes the journey a little more expensive, but don’t avoid the country for this reason, its incredibly beautiful and offers endless wind and waves. In 2010 many non-toll roads saw the introduction of a camera controlled toll system, a bit like the congestion charge, but they don’t seem to charge tourists. In the south, the IC1 is a fast route between Sagres and Guicho, and not much slower than the toll road running parallel. If you venture to Northern Africa, the tolls are super cheap and certainly worth the extra, you will have plenty of opportunity to get a feel for the driving culture when the toll road finishes further south!