5 Benefits of Toll Roads
If you have a holiday booked in Europe that involves a lot of driving you may be wondering which are the best routes to take and whether or not you should stick to the toll roads or head off the beaten track. Although an adventure is often tempting, in reality navigating your way around an unfamiliar, foreign country can cause its own complications and problems. In this post, we endeavour to tackle popular misconceptions associated with using toll roads, giving you five examples of the benefits of toll roads vs alternative routes.
Main Advantages of Toll Roads:
1. Saves time
One of the most well-known benefits of toll roads is that they can save a considerable amount of journey time when compared with other routes. As toll roads tend to be quite smooth and of good quality, you can travel a lot quicker cross-country on them, as opposed to alternative back-road routes.
You may have heard people disputing the time-saving element of toll roads due to queues that occur at the toll booths, but with a toll tag, there is no need to queue or even stop! Emovis Tag, which can be used in Spain, France and Portugal, fits to your car and allows you to travel through a dedicated toll gate that simply scans your tag and allows you straight through. To find out more about how a tag works and how it can save you even more time on your journey, visit our dedicated, informative website page.
2. Less wear and tear
As toll road routes are normally very straightforward and also acclaimed for being of good quality and car-friendly, there is much less chance of any damage occurring as a result of the road. Whereas, on unfamiliar back-road routes, there could be random potholes and uneven road surfaces, which could potentially result in some small damage occurring to the car’s tyres.
3. Saves Money
When discussing the benefits of toll roads, it may seem strange to think that using toll roads could save you money on your journey. However, when considering the alternative route to your destination, the petrol cost vs the toll road cost could surprise you. As many of the toll road routes are designed to reduce journey time, using a different route could be adding a considerable amount of miles to your journey and therefore cost you much more in fuel.
4. Safety
We’ve all heard the saying, ‘safety in numbers’ and this is just as true when driving than for any other situation. As the toll routes tend to have more cars using them, should you breakdown at night or need to pull over in an emergency, there are normally dedicated lay-bys which are well lit. Should you break down on a different route, in an area you are not familiar with in the dark, you may feel unsafe, and it could be potentially dangerous.
5. Pre-planning
When planning and budgeting your European break, toll roads can be easily factored in once you’ve locked down your route, and if you have an Emovis Tag, you don’t need to take money for the toll booths with you, as it will be taken from the bank account registered on your tag account.
If you are using a map or Google maps on an alternative route, both of these can be unreliable, and you could end up taking an unnecessary detour in the other direction. Signs on toll road routes are well marked and easy to follow, so even if your sat nav or Google maps don’t work, you’re still much more likely to be able to make your way there than on an alternative route.
If this is your first time visiting Europe for a driving holiday, then please check out our driving in Europe checklist to ensure you are up to date with the laws and requirements. Should you wish to order a Tag for your trip to France, Spain or Portugal then please sign up via our subscription page.