driving route thro france - around paris

Unknown

Can anyone offer some advice on a route thro france, i'm travelling from zeebrugge to poitiers. Route planner takes me right into paris, around the peripherique and onto Poitiers.
Question is, does anyone know what the periperique is like to drive on, sounds like it can be bonkers at the best of times. Should i be trying to give paris a wider berth

Pirahna

The Periphique is a bit like the North Circular if you've ever driven in London, it's busy but fine. Sit on the inside lane, take it easy and don't, whatever you do, miss your exit.

You can alway drive down the coast to Calais, Rouen, Le Mans, Tours and then Poitiers. Not sure about the Belgian bit but it's Peage for a lot of the way and is a pleasant enough drive if you're not in a rush. Personally I'd go this way but then I always go into Calais.

Uncle Mort

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Pirahna</i>

The Periphique is a bit like the North Circular if you've ever driven in London, it's busy but fine. Sit on the inside lane, take it easy and don't, whatever you do, miss your exit.

You can alway drive down the coast to Calais, Rouen, Le Mans, Tours and then Poitiers. Not sure about the Belgian bit but it's Peage for a lot of the way and is a pleasant enough drive if you're not in a rush. Personally I'd go this way but then I always go into Calais.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

That sounds like good advice. I'd go that way too if I was going there from the Belgian coast and wasn't in a huge rush. Plenty of places to stop off for meals as well.

The peripherique can be a bit grim, but it's not that bad usually.

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<font size="1">In his mid forties and still unusual</font id="size1">

chewa

Agreed,

I drive the peripherique a lot and it can be fine - or a nightmare- all it takes is an accident or breakdown and it can be at standstill for donkeys.

The alternative route is a good one

plus je vois les hommes, plus j'admire les chiens

john ponting

Paris also has an outer ring road that misses the Periphique.

Tourist Tony

I agree with Pirahna(?)'s route. Nice and simple; choice of Peage in some places or old N-route.

If I had a stalker, I would hug it and kiss it and call it George...or Dick

bahzob

I drove around Paris quite a lot a 4-5 years back and actually quite got to like the Peripherique. Like any busy road its best to avoid peak times and a crash can cause havoc but it serves its purpose well and is a lot better than the North Circular (it doesnt have traffic lights). One good feature about it is that its signs give a remarkably (I found) accurate estimate of the time that it will take to get to exits ahead. If you do end up taking it a couple of pieces of advice:
> The exits have names not numbers so do some homework and find out the names of the exit you will take plus the couple before (part of the way the Peripherique works is that you move into the lane for your exit early, normally after the junction before it)
> Directions are often "interieur", "exterieur" which mean "clockwise" and "anti-clockwise" respectively.

Unknown

thanks all for your advice. i've been looking at the outer ring road (A86)for an alternative route. i expect to have an overnight stop en route and around paris seemed like a good idea. i'll have a look at the other routes suggested