Motorhome travel
in France.

Driving rules, and the ones that bite.

France drives on the right, the motorway limit is 130 km/h, and daytime headlights are not required. The drink-drive limit is lower than in England and Wales, so treat it as roughly two-thirds of what you are used to at home. The emergency number is 112.

Police give on-the-spot fines for speeding. Fixed speed cameras are common and well-signed; mobile cameras are common and often unmarked, and their fines must be paid in cash.

Driving tips

• Carry your passport or photocard licence at all times. Police can ask you to prove your identity on the spot, and you are required to do so.
• Keep your doors locked in slow-moving or stationary traffic. Opportunist theft at junctions does happen, particularly near the Channel ports and around Paris.
• Covering your face in a public place is illegal and can result in a fine of 150 EUR.
• On a motorway accident, use the orange emergency phones located every 2 kilometres along the hard shoulder.
• The priorité à droite rule still applies in some rural areas and on certain roundabouts. It is marked by a red triangle with a black cross. Where you see it, traffic joining from the right has priority over you.

The péage, and the sticker you order early.

France uses a ticket-based toll system called the péage. You collect a ticket when you join the motorway and pay when you exit. Cards are accepted at all toll booths. There is no vignette: unlike Switzerland or Austria, there is no annual sticker to buy, you pay per journey at the toll.

Toll-free routes do exist. On French road signs, look for routes marked Bis. They are slower and better suited to shorter legs, or when you want to explore rather than cover ground.

The Crit'Air vignette

Crit'Air is a colour-coded windscreen sticker showing your vehicle's emission class. You need one to enter low emission zones in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and a growing number of other cities. It is compulsory between 8am and 8pm on weekdays in the affected zones, and some older vehicles are banned outright regardless of the sticker.

Order online at certificat-air.gouv.fr. The cost varies by vehicle type, and the lead time is around four weeks as stickers are posted from Strasbourg, so order well in advance.

Read our complete guide to motorhome tolls and vignettes in Europe, and our guide to low emission zones.

What to carry, and what to bring.

France requires a set of kit to be carried in the vehicle. Most of it is cheap and worth having anyway, so pack it before you leave rather than buy it at a roadside price.

• UK sticker. The UK sticker replaced the old GB sticker. You need one displayed when driving on the Continent.
• Reflective jacket, one per occupant. Required in France and most other European countries.
• Warning triangle. Required, and kept accessible rather than buried in a locker.
• Crit'Air sticker. Required in French ZFE-m low emission zones and during some pollution episodes. Check the official ZFE map before city-centre driving.
• Winter tyres or snow chains. Compulsory in designated mountain areas from 1 November to 31 March. Check which roads are affected before heading into the Alps or Pyrenees.

Documents to bring

For your own vehicle, carry your passport, UK photocard driving licence, vehicle log book (V5C), insurance certificate and proof of travel insurance. For a rental or hire vehicle, you also need a VE103 certificate, a driving licence check code, and an international driving permit if you still hold a paper licence.

From August 2025, UK trailers over 750 kg need to be registered with the DVLA before travelling internationally. If you tow a caravan or trailer, check the current DVLA guidance, and note that towing will almost certainly change your toll classification and increase your costs.

Gas, electric, and the weekly shop.

France uses the Dish fitting for Autogas refills. LPG, called GPL in France, is easy to find at supermarket fuel stations such as Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour and Super U, and at most motorway service areas. The main local bottle brands are Antargaz and Le Cube, and you need a matching regulator pigtail to connect them to a UK motorhome. UK Calor bottles cannot be swapped or exchanged anywhere in Europe.

Electric hook-ups

Most French campsites offer 6A hook-ups, roughly 1,380 watts. Some sites have 10A pitches at extra cost; 16A is unusual. A domestic kettle draws more than 6A on its own and will trip the breaker immediately. Bollard boxes are usually locked, so if you trip the breaker you cannot reset it yourself and will need to find the warden.

Reverse polarity is common on French campsites, so carry a socket tester and a crossover cable. On larger coastal or Loire valley sites, voltage can also drop from 230V to around 200V at the far end of a long daisy chain of pitches, which can be enough to make your fridge switch back to gas automatically.

Where to shop

Budget chains are Lidl, Aldi and Netto; mid-range are Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour, Auchan and Super U; Monoprix sits at the premium end. Supermarkets open roughly 08:30 to 20:00 on weekdays and Saturdays, but most close by 13:00 on Sundays. In rural areas, shops frequently shut between 12:00 and 14:00 for lunch.

• Pick up paracetamol and other medicine from a pharmacy, marked by a green cross. Supermarkets do not sell it.
• Bread is best bought fresh each day from a boulangerie. Even tiny villages usually have one.
• Most towns hold a weekly market, the marché, worth seeking out for local cheese, fruit and veg.
• French supermarkets stock an excellent range of wine, with good bottles from around 3 to 5 EUR.

More detail in our guides to gas and LPG and electric hook-ups across Europe.

Taking a dog, and crossing the border.

To take a dog to France, your dog needs a rabies vaccination at least 21 days old at the time of travel, a microchip, and an Animal Health Certificate issued by your vet within 10 days before entry. For the return to the UK, a vet must administer a tapeworm treatment between 24 and 120 hours before you arrive back. France restricts certain breeds, so check with the French embassy before you travel.

Pack a dog lead, a water bowl, vaccination records and the AHC. Note that meat, milk and products containing either cannot be brought into France from the UK; the main exceptions are powdered baby milk and medically prescribed pet food.

Useful links

• Bison Futé for road conditions.
• Crit'Air sticker, the official ordering site.
• Météo France for mountain and fire alerts.

See also our complete guides to the Schengen 90-day rule and taking a dog to Europe.

The questions people ask most.