Driving in France

Briefing

Driving in France divides cleanly into three experiences: the autoroute network, the secondary départementales, and the cities — each with its own rule set. The autoroutes are the easy part: well-maintained, generally 130 km/h (110 km/h in rain), and almost entirely tolled by private concessionaires (Vinci, Sanef, APRR).

Expect roughly €0.095–0.13 per km on class-1 vehicles in 2026 — the southern axes (ASF, ESCOTA) are at the top of that range. A Liber-t / Ulys tag in the windscreen lets you use the télépéage "t" lanes and skip the cash queues; pay-as-you-go credit cards work in the other lanes but contactless coverage is patchy on older barriers.

The secondary network is where the rules get political. After the July 2018 drop from 90 to 80 km/h on undivided two-way roads, the 2019 LOM law let departments raise it back.

By early 2026 around 52 departments have done so on at least part of their network — Eure was the latest, restoring 90 km/h on roughly 4,200 km of its roads. Always read the signs; the limit can change on either side of a department boundary.

Cities are the real trap. ZFE (Zones à Faibles Émissions) now apply in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Reims, Marseille and a dozen more agglomerations, and a Crit'Air sticker on the windscreen is required to enter — about €3.81 from the official certificat-air.gouv.fr (avoid the €20+ resellers).

Inside the A86 around Paris, Crit'Air 3, 4, 5 and unclassed vehicles are banned, though Paris extended its "pedagogical phase" through 2026 and isn't fining yet — Lyon, by contrast, starts enforcing Crit'Air 3 from 1 July 2026. The other quirk that catches foreigners: priorité à droite still applies in many residential and small-town intersections — if there's no stop, yield, or priority diamond, the car coming from your right has priority, even from what looks like a minor side street.