Driving to the South of France - Recommendations

I did that drive twice in a 1996 Jeep Cherokee in 2003/2004. Was great on the way down but on one trip I missed the last petrol station and had to coast into one in Calais, swear it started shuddering as I came to a stop.

Desperate to do it again.
 
On the way back, take the extra time to go on the east side of the Vosges - but on the French side of the river - and stop to taste some wines. The Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir wines are excellent.
 
jpaul said:
so have you got a nice dash-cam to record Napoleon ?, maybe it wouldn't do it justice

just watched a bit of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnE6mkX7aRg .... why are you going to Genieva
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I will definitely buy one beforehand :)

And it’s the Geneva Motorshow. Hence why I was going to go in March. But I may now just fly out there for the show then do this road trip in May instead and do more of Switzerland as well
 
Sorry for the hijack but it's a relatively recent thread and might also be beneficial to you Steedie!

I'm flying over to Nice on Saturday for a day trip, renting a car and wanting to see Monaco taking in some hopefully nice scenery in the process (even if it is winter). In nicer weather I'd have gone north-east from Nice and gone to the Col de Torini but I'm guessing that'd be a bit hairy at this time of year! Is it possible to join this part way up somewhere where it wouldn't be too wintery?

Could anyone map out a nice route between Nice/Monte-Carlo? It can be a longish route and not completely direct, but it can be made a few hours and it'd suit us. Possibly @geekman as I see you're familiar with the area (from another thread!)?
 
Sui said:
Sorry for the hijack but it's a relatively recent thread and might also be beneficial to you Steedie!

I'm flying over to Nice on Saturday for a day trip, renting a car and wanting to see Monaco taking in some hopefully nice scenery in the process (even if it is winter). In nicer weather I'd have gone north-east from Nice and gone to the Col de Torini but I'm guessing that'd be a bit hairy at this time of year! Is it possible to join this part way up somewhere where it wouldn't be too wintery?

Could anyone map out a nice route between Nice/Monte-Carlo? It can be a longish route and not completely direct, but it can be made a few hours and it'd suit us. Possibly @geekman as I see you're familiar with the area (from another thread!)?
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Here's the route I used to do regularly when I was living there. It's rather a lot of driving: if you'd like to spend more time sightseeing, I suggest you remove the Sospel / Breil-Sur-Roya / Ventimiglia part and just do base corniche (road nearest to the coast) to Menton, stopping at Monaco etc, then grande corniche (road 2 levels up from the coast road) back to Nice via La Turbie. The viewpoint at Tête de Chien and the grand corniche (av. des diables bleues) are a must-see IMO, stunning scenery and normally very quiet. Think I said it above, but when in Monaco park in the "green" labelled carpark under the casino as it's the most central, and usually the emptiest too. If you're feeling flush, you could also take a quick detour to Eze and have eat at La Chèvre d'or‎: great food, and a truly beautiful building.

Anyway, here it is:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Pro...2b1cc923c1b4!2m2!1d7.2148214!2d43.6597689!3e0
 
Monte-carlo ralleye over the next week .... so Sospel vicinity maybe less preferable.

my favourite - nice moyenne corniche -> eze -> route de la turbie > la turbie -> menton -> return MC via low route ... even continue from menton->ventimiglia for a coffee.;
... speed cameras on the moyenne corniche
 
Syla5 said:
Snow chains are compulsory, not winter tyres.


Any advise on why? Heading to Tignes in April and passing Lyon is pretty much a must.
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They changed it, or are proposing to at least, its a bit unclear, but it kicks in the coming winter, not the current one, ie 19/20 not 18/19

I will be in France in March so going to ask the English guy we know who lives over there what they are now saying. Its seemed to be something locally controlled but government allowed, but they were definately saying all cars needed winter tyres, but they seemed a little vague on where exactly. What they believed was it was going to extend to an area further out to where they impose the snow chain area.
When you get to one of the snow chain areas you can literally find the police there turning back anyone without chains. There can be plenty of disruption before you get to those points though which I think is what they were looking to correct.
To cover the sorts of areas where you get it looking like post 19, not chain conditions, but regularly not the area to be driving with summer tyres on.
 
something was changed ... would have to take the route napoleon more carefully too ... versus a few years back
What speed is 80 kilometres per hour (80kph) in miles per hour (mph)?
49.7mph is the new reduced speed limit imposed upon 400,000km of French roads from July 1st 2018.
Mathematically it now takes 9 minutes longer to drive 100km on French single carriageway roads, so not a big deal.

What roads are affected by the new speed limits in France?
All single carriageway roads in France that were formally 90kph are now restricted to 80kp/h unless other speed restrictions are in force.
Dual carriageway roads with some sort of physical separation can be 110kph or 130kph if no restrictions are in force.
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Doing something similar to this, albeit in April over 2 weeks. Ultimate destination is a town in the south called Ganges, visiting the other halfs gran for a few days. The plan is to make the trip down quite direct, but still take in the sights via Millau. If anyone has any suggestions of must sees on this sort of route I'd love to hear it.

The way back, we are planning to head out to Grasse/Cannes sort of area for a night then make our way up Route Napoleon and onto Grenoble, Troyes, Epernay, Reims and back to Calais.

Of course any suggestions would be much welcomed!


 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
They changed it, or are proposing to at least, its a bit unclear, but it kicks in the coming winter, not the current one, ie 19/20 not 18/19
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As I am currently knee deep in planning a skiing/snowboarding trip for this April, I definitely have seen nothing about enforced winter tyres, everything points to snow chains being compulsory to carry, and enforced use in areas that is controlled by police.
 
Syla5 said:
As I am currently knee deep in planning a skiing/snowboarding trip for this April, I definitely have seen nothing about enforced winter tyres, everything points to snow chains being compulsory to carry, and enforced use in areas that is controlled by police.
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Again, its for NEXT winter (19/20), not 18/19
When I posted this right at the start I thought it affected this winter, but it turned out later it was next.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Again, its for NEXT winter (19/20), not 18/19
When I posted this right at the start I thought it affected this winter, but it turned out later it was next.
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Actually you still said you were unclear, you would ask someone who lives there in march.

I was just confirming for the OP that it currently is not the law, and all he would require is snow chains for his trip that he is planning for this March.
 
Syla5 said:
Actually you still said you were unclear, you would ask someone who lives there in march.

I was just confirming for the OP that it currently is not the law, and all he would require is snow chains for his trip that he is planning for this March.
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Thanks for your confirmation some time after we already confirmed it. Helpful. Try reading the whole post not just bits if your going to jump in 2 weeks after the conversation start.

Jeez maybe you should scroll up a little. I was not unclear which year.
What is unclear even from reports from France is specifically where this will apply. As its down to the locals (prefectors or something) there is some view its going to be OUTSIDE the snow chain areas which is what you said it covered.

So 18/19 snow chain areas are all you need to worry about, to comply with the law.
19/20 there seems to be a view winter tyres will be expanded out to cover "the mountains" and there are plenty of areas where there are no requirements to have chains that are "the mountains"
A lot of the disruption previously was well outside snow chain areas, which was what was actually the trigger behind the changes.

Even if its not the law, your pretty daft to go into those mountains with summer tyres in the winter. There are plenty of occasions where you may have horrible conditions but using chains will trash your tyres as there isnt enough depth to the snow to avoid lots of tyre damage. They used to say there was an offence as well which they often stuck on tourists of damaging the highway, they did this to people who didn't remove chains when they should.
 
does depend where you are going in France #, if it's off-piste then winter tyres could help, otherwise I have found chains are fine - they do clear the roads well
those socks though, if you do not have room in your wheel arches for chains, they look very fragile,
have never had obvious tyre damage, damaged a side-wall irreperably on (ex avalanche) stones though.
have to practice putting them on beforehand too.

#edit: within french mountainous regions, of course

#edit2 ; wonder how many people discover their batteries are weak, at resorts; snow shovel useful too
 
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All this talk of mountainous areas, I assume the Route Napoleon in late April is highly unlikely to be snowy, and shouldn't have any requirements for chains? It would pain me to have to spend £200 on a set that.will basically never see use!
 
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