sat nav question ? (1 Viewer)

greyman1

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Aug 7, 2011
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off to france soon and in the absence of not having a motorhome/truck specific sat nav, ie tom tom start. am i right in thinking that if i select quickest routes avoiding tolls this will be the next best thing ? i presume that this would keep me on free motorways and the type of main roads i would of chosen on my map anyway, so in theory, as long as i keep a look out for low bridges etc i should be ok in the van ! is this correct, because we all know about theories dont we !! cheers garry
 

WAG2CRU

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May 31, 2012
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That depends whether your sat nav has a similar sense of humour to mine!

For avoiding tolls look at About-France.com.
 

june123

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Shouldn't be a problem - but include narrow road widths in your looking out. Choosing no tolls and shortest route can sometimes result in some very hairy country lanes. A good way of seeing the real France but sometimes you can have too much of reality! We don't have a truck satnav and get around fine. You should always glance at your map before setting off, sometimes something we don't always remember to do..

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Feb 26, 2013
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off to france soon and in the absence of not having a motorhome/truck specific sat nav, ie tom tom start. am i right in thinking that if i select quickest routes avoiding tolls this will be the next best thing ? i presume that this would keep me on free motorways and the type of main roads i would of chosen on my map anyway, so in theory, as long as i keep a look out for low bridges etc i should be ok in the van ! is this correct, because we all know about theories dont we !! cheers garry

After a couple of hair raising moments on our first trip in March I purchased a truck sat nav for about £45 from eBay and it is one of my must have products! It took all the pressure out of travelling on our recent trip to France knowing we were not going to come across a narrow road or low bridge and it is easy to select alternatives to avoid tolls. It shows the alternative so you can opt to keep a toll road if the alternative was too long and not worth doing. Definitely worth the cost ::bigsmile:
 

laneside

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Our only advice after using ordinary Tom Tom last year is pre-check on a trusty map which way it is about to send you.

If it tells you to turn make sure the signpost says that is where you want to be heading as it is a devil for cutting corners off and taking a "short" cut up totally un-suitable roads
 

Easyliving

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Dec 4, 2012
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Hi

We have a Tom Tom Start too and totally relied on it in France / Germany with just an occasional check in the map book.

If you say 'no tolls', which we did, it will take you down some very narrow and bumpy roads sometimes, little more than tracks if you let it. Mostly this is easily avoided - if it tells you to turn into a narrow looking road just ignore it and see if it finds another route quickly. If it doesn't its time to get the map book out.

As has been said, the roads in France are a different kettle of fish to the UK's. If you find yourself driving along a narrow country lane the chances are you won't meet anyone coming the other way so no problem.

Paul
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Why avoid tolls? They tend to be traffic free so average speed is better.

You dont see any thing. Just like travelling on the M 1 but a lot quieter. BUSBY .::bigsmile:

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Aug 18, 2011
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I think i have only seen two or three low bridges in France in over ten years, ( ie under 3.0 metres) BUSBY.::bigsmile:
 
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greyman1

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thanks guys, i opted for no tolls so that i wouldnt just be sent to every destination via the nearest pay motorway. a few years ago i had to come back from nice to calais via the autoroutes and it cost about £175 ! ialso remember reading on here, not to always go for the shortest route because this nearly always would include any[ car] navigable lanes etc and you could find youself in a bit of difficulty in a motorhome . i see the importance of not following a sat nav blindly on a regular basis, in the form of foreign artic drivers having to reverse their way back down a narrow lane away from the 3 ton weight restricted bridge that crosses the manchester ship canal at warburton ! you would think that rigs costing 80k plus would have the proper truck set up wouldnt you !! cheers garry
 

mikebeaches

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Feb 22, 2010
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We manage fine in France with an ordinary TomTom sat-nav. As everybody has said, just use a tad of common sense and if in doubt about a suggested route (ie narrow lane) take a look at the map. You should be fine. :thumb:

Oh, and yes, we did have to make a sharpish about-turn at a low bridge on our way home last month. So do keep an eye out. :Blush:

Mike

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oldun

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Mar 23, 2008
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It took all the pressure out of travelling on our recent trip to France knowing we were not going to come across a narrow road or low bridges ::bigsmile:

When talking about any sat nav I would replace " knowing we were not going to.... with " being reasonably sure that we were not going to....."

All sat navs do their best but even with perfect software they have to rely on the information stored in the maps they are using and this can never be fully up to date.

I use mine as a very useful aid to navigation but I rty not to blindly rely upon it.
 

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