Easter delays for drivers and ferries: 7 France travel updates

This week, we covered French airports being told to prepare for border changes to start on November 6 and taking a dog on a cross channel UK-France ferry.

We also looked at whether you can change a number plate on your French car and a scam involving a €50 note on your windscreen.

Here are seven more travel stories affecting France this week.

Road travel updates

Busy Easter weekend traffic forecast

Road traffic in France is heavy this evening from 17:00 (March 29) and drivers should expect the same on Monday as people travel to and from their Easter destinations, reports France’s official traffic monitoring site Bison Futé.

Traffic will be heavy across the whole country on Friday as people depart. There will be particular difficulties in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the A7 motorway, and the A6 and A10 in the Ile-de-France region.

On Monday traffic is expected to be ‘difficult’ across the country, with particularly heavy traffic expected in Normandy (A13), Hauts-de-France (A25), and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (A7, A43 and N85). Ile-de-France traffic is also expected to be heavy on the A10, A13 and A6 motorways as people return to the region.

Rail travel updates

Paris doubles metro price during Olympics

Paris will raise the price of a metro ticket during this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games to €4 from the current €2.10.

Île-de-France regional president Valérie Pécresse said the hike is to ensure that no one buys one ticket at metro station counters to avoid overcrowding.

Ms Pécresse advised Île-de-France residents to use the Navigo Liberté + pass, which counts your journeys, then takes payment the following month. Each journey costs €1.73 or a maximum of €8.65 per day with the pass.

For people who do not live in the region, or those visiting for the Games, she recommended buying a day pass, which costs between €10-€16 and will include transport to and from Paris’ airports. The passes can be bought online from May using the Transport public Paris 2024 app, which will be available in English.

Train disruption in Toulouse over Easter weekend

National rail operator SNCF is planning major works north and south of Toulouse’s Matabiau station between March 30 and April 1.

Disruption will affect the Toulouse-Brive and Toulouse-Agen routes from Saturday, March 30 at 13:20 to Monday, April 1 at 13:15.

The Toulouse-Pau, Toulouse-Latour de Carol, Toulouse-Auch and Toulouse-Narbonne lines will be affected from Saturday, March 30 at 21:30 to Monday, April 1 at 08:30.

Any lines affected will be served by replacement buses. Travellers can find out if their train is affected on the SNCF website.

Ferry travel updates

Travellers warned of delayed ferry crossings for busy Easter weekend

The ferry companies are expecting a high volume of traffic over the Easter weekend and were already reporting delays due to high winds on Friday morning (March 29).

Irish Ferries, P&O and Brittany Ferries have also reported delays, while the Port of Dover advises travellers to expect long queues.

The northern and western coasts of France have been buffeted by storm Nelson since March 28, with the bad weather set to continue over the weekend.

Read more: PHOTOS: snow in Brittany and 180 km/h gales as storm Nelson arrives

In addition, the Port of Dover said France was boosting border security checks after raising its terror alertwarning following the Moscow attacks, The Independent reports.

Read more: France placed on highest alert after Moscow attack: what changes?

Travellers are advised to arrive several hours in advance of their crossing and to check with their ferry company for updates.

Read also: Britons told to check passports as more people denied travel to EU

Air travel updates

EasyJet to open new Lille-Alicante route

The low-cost airline will open a new route from Lille airport to Alicante on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

The route will start from May 1 with tickets from €35.

Alicante will join easyJet’s five other routes from Lille – Bordeaux, Nice, Toulouse, Geneva and Mallorca.

New France - US route starts

Delta Airlines is to start daily flights between Nice and New York on March 30. The 14h hour flights leave Nice at 14:00 and arrive in New York at 17:10 local time.

The company said the new route would be “good news” for the local economy and bring many American tourists to the Cote d’Azur.

Flight prices from France increased in February

The prices of flights departing from France increased 3.4% in February compared to February 2023 according to the French civil aviation authority.

Domestic flights saw the biggest increase, with prices soaring 16.3% year-on-year. International flight prices increased 0.9%.

The medium-haul network, which covers the European Economic Area, Switzerland and UK, saw an increase of 16.6%, driven mainly by low cost airlines.

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