Driving to Italy - Petrol Prices in France - a cheaper option

07/11/2013 - 04:25

Petrol prices in France are now comparable with the UK, except on the French Autoroutes.One option is to fill up at the L'Eclerc superstores with their SP95 E10 petrol [its a petrol with some ethylene in - generally used in France - which is OK for vrtually all cars produced since 2000]L'Eclerc sites are often close to the autoroutes, on the edge of major towns. You can find where they are [with maps] on the L'Eclerc site [just click on the map of France]. Each shop has different petrol prices, and these are quoted on the shop websiteDriving from Dunkirk towards Lille, we topped up at Ballieul - cost about £1.26 a litre [so we didn't fill up at Dover this time]

Topic

Travel

Comment

Ethylene is a funny thing to add to petrol, do you mean ethanol?

I've also had bad experiences with suprermarket fuel in France, albeit some years ago. BP diesel works best for me.

" Ethylene is a funny thing to add to petrol, do you mean ethanol?"I think you are right

Thanks for all of the above Alan. I'm driving a diesel engined car. We'll need to refill around Strasbourg/Colmar/Mulhouse area. Is there anywhere around ther that is cheaper than the norm? Last year I filled up at a Swiss service station and tbh we were so delighted to be heading to Italy and in holiday mood that we never really noticed the cost of the diesel in Swiss compared to say Italy or for that matter Colmar/Mulhouse.

Fuel prices - check the AA Fuel Report Compare these with the diesel prices on the L'Eclerc site to see if they are lower. [They should be - it seems to be about 7 Cents lower than the AA 'average, but each L'Eclerc shop has its own fuel prices]. Diesel is shown as 'Gazole' on the french site. Switzerland is more expensive than France or Germany [but Luxembourg is cheapest], so fill up before Switzerland, and just top up the tank just before you leave Switzerland, as Italy is more expensive than Switzerland. If driving through the Gotthard Tunnel/Pass, don't fill up on the motorway, take the turning to Locarno and there are plenty of cheaper fuel stations within about a mile of the motorway junction

Thanks for this. Road fuel of whatever sort is so expensive these days so it feels good to at least know that you're getting the best deal you could hope to get. I'll make a note of the prices we pay and post the details here. Then anyone else can take advantage of the cheaper places to re-fuel.