French Road Numbers (1 Viewer)

[lunarman]

We are off to France in a weeks time, Does anyone know the state of the road renumbering scheme? I have a 2005 road atlas do I need a new one?

I have a Garmin with the latest maps loaded but like to check the route with a map.

Thanks

Lunarman

 

[strathspey]

Does anyone know the state of the road renumbering scheme? I have a 2005 road atlas do I need a new one?


The N Roads (Routes National) in France are the ordinary main roads (non-motorway), although some are dual carriageways. They are often very good indeed.

The D Roads are maintained by the various Departements, and vary from excellent to poor. Both those classifications of roads tend to deteriorate as they pass through towns and villages.

The Autoroutes (Motorways) are good quality highways, but the naming system is somewahat chaotic - sometimes They are labelld as E roads, sometimes as A Roads.
In short, you can't rely on using the road numers on these as easily as you can in Britain.
Have a good holiday!

 

[mondo]

You may find some of the roads have an N or an A prefix together due to this renumbering/reclassification scheme.:Sad:.I would definately buy an up to date road atlas and don't put all your faith in Sat Nav..sat nav is OK but a map does give a larger overall view..Collins do a really good large scale map of France thats the one I'd go for and indeed I hav:thumb:e..Sat Nav is not infallible mistakes do occur people tend to follow it blindly with some awful resultsoh:...use both maps and sat nav together it will work...above all enjoy!!

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[scotjimland]

We are off to France in a weeks time, Does anyone know the state of the road renumbering scheme? I have a 2005 road atlas do I need a new one?

yes.. some atlases have both old and new .. I would buy a Michelin road Atlas , they are the very best

 

[Randonneur]

We have learned over many years in France not to use road numbers but to go by Towns/Cities/Villages. Before we moved here 10 years ago we used to use road numbers but have found that it is much easier when map reading to head for the places and not look for road numbers.

The only thing that you need to remember is that Blue signs are for the Autoroutes and the Green signs are for the major roads.

 

[Taran_Las]

Lunarman,

<off topic mode on>

How did you get on with your battery problem?

<on topic mode on>

Phil

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[lebesset]

maybe I would never buy michelin tyres again , twice bitten , shy for the rest of my life .... but I have to agree with whoever said buy their maps ...the best

incidentally their green guides are great as well , except for france ; in france they say even the most ordinary things are wonderful ...could it be that they are biased ?

 

[billkce]

Drove thru France yesterday from Calais to Luxembourg; Its COMPLETELY random; Sorry but it is confusing even for Mr Sat Nav; Also DO NOT FORGET; If you need petrol on a weekend in France off the Auto Route _ FORGET IT;

Cheers Billkce

 

[vwalan]

hi, use any map dont worry about age of it .use the names of places as already said. stay off toll rds and have a lovelly time . never used sat nav,so dont need that.
i do buy some local maps a bit like ord survey if you find an area you like .can be good for bike rides and footpaths.
dont be in a hurry ,look around enjoy the journey france is great .visit the villages and small towns .
overnight parking every where .head for a church .
but most of all have fun ,
cheers alan.

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[sedge]

The thing I have always loved about "Mr Bibendum" 's maps is the green lines along some of the roads - indicating nice views - I always like to include some of those on the way from A to B, cos there is no rush to get there and you may as well !!!

(Other maps are also doing this now, but they never used to and I know from experience I like looking at what he likes looking at !)

If you use Viamichelin as your routeplanner, they actually depict the very road sign boards you will encounter - jolly useful when it's like the French equivalent of Spaghetti Jct ! (exceptionally good for the peripherique)

 

[Lenny HB]

I find Autoroute on my netbook with a GPS receiver is the best option much easier to route plan & you have a street map of every town to hand, the sat nav never takes the route I want & it's tedious putting in loads of waypoints, with Autoroute you can just click & drag the route to change it, also Autoroute shows toll roads in a different colour.

Be suspicious of road diversions they often route you to the next major road that can be 20 or 30 miles away, been caught on that one, best to check your map.

Also getting lost in France can be very rewarding stumbling across pretty little villages.

 

[sedge]

Oooh - the other thing I meant to say, the French are forever building new roads, some of which won't even be a dotted line on a 12 month-old road atlas!!!

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[vindiboy]

I wouldn't dispute the information offered so far but in my experience of France in the last few weeks is that the road numbering and Motorway Junction numbering are all to cock, very few of the numbers seemed to correspond to my maps or Sat.Nav. but we got around with no problems, getting confused is part of the fun isn't it ??:Blush::Blush:

 

[Lenny HB]

That is because they have been re-classifying & re-numbering the roads over the last few years.

 

[Lenny HB]

Oooh - the other thing I meant to say, the French are forever building new roads, some of which won't even be a dotted line on a 12 month-old road atlas!!!

Been caught by that one a few years ago we were planing to stop at a municipal in a nice little village we had stopped at 2 years before next thing we were sailing past the village several hundred feet above on a new viaduct across the valley with no way back for miles.

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