France & Belgium (diesel prices)

Hello all.

I'm off on a Battlefield tour next month. Following the foot steps of my Grandfather. Mainly Begium on this trip, Messines ridge and Passcheandale.

Do any members know if diesel is cheaper over there than here?

Also, so i don't look a twit at the pumps, What do they call diesel over there?

Any hints and tips welcome. Not driven over there for a long time.

Cheers.

Hi M,

Came through Belgium on Wednesday and France on Thursday, last week.

At the Texaco Station at St Ghislain in Belgium I paid €1.503 per litre, which is £1.21 per litre.

At the Total Station in Calais I paid €1.55 per litre which is £1.24 per litre.

Avoid the supermarket cheapy stuff as it's worse than Tesco or Morrisons at creating smoke on overtaking.

Diesel in French is correctly referred to as 'gasoil' - pronounced 'gazwal' as opposed to petrol which is 'essence'.

Mind you just about everyone calls it -------diesel.

What route are you taking? Dover to Calais and then to Lille?

Singvogel.

Singvogel said:

Hi M,

Came through Belgium on Wednesday and France on Thursday, last week.

At the Texaco Station at St Ghislain in Belgium I paid €1.503 per litre, which is £1.21 per litre.

At the Total Station in Calais I paid €1.55 per litre which is £1.24 per litre.

Avoid the supermarket cheapy stuff as it's worse than Tesco or Morrisons at creating smoke on overtaking.

Diesel in French is correctly referred to as 'gasoil' - pronounced 'gazwal' as opposed to petrol which is 'essence'.


Mind you just about everyone calls it -------diesel.

What route are you taking? Dover to Calais and then to Lille?

Singvogel.

Click to expand...

I'm Dover - Calais' then onto Ypres for the hotel. An ideal base to cover the salient

MULDERKE said:

I'm Dover - Calais' then onto Ypres for the hotel. An ideal base to cover the salient

Click to expand...

Have a good trip mate.

Have you seen the warning from the British Embassy / Foreign Office regards the 'broken down' British tourists?

Apparently gangs of 'Eastern European looking' people have been flagging down British cars for help - and then robbing them or taking them at gunpoint to a cash machine.

They operate close to the French /Belgium border so they can skip over into the next country and confuse the local police - or at least delay the enquiry enough to get clean away.

They have British registered cars and often use a woman and a couple of kiddies to create the impression of a British family in distress.

This is fresh news from the FCO this last week.

I know that normally I would stop for another Brit in trouble - but not now - or at least until they catch these bast*rds.

Be aware - and wary!

Here's the link to the FCO:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/belgium

Singvogel.

Singvogel said:

Have a good trip mate.

Have you seen the warning from the British Embassy / Foreign Office regards the 'broken down' British tourists?

Apparently gangs of 'Eastern European looking' people have been flagging down British cars for help - and then robbing them or taking them at gunpoint to a cash machine.

They operate close to the French /Belgium border so they can skip over into the next country and confuse the local police - or at least delay the enquiry enough to get clean away.

They have British registered cars and often use a woman and a couple of kiddies to create the impression of a British family in distress.

This is fresh news from the FCO this last week.

I know that normally I would stop for another Brit in trouble - but not now - or at least until they catch these bast*rds.

Be aware - and wary!

Here's the link to the FCO:

Belgium travel advice

Singvogel.

Click to expand...

Singvogel.

Many thanks for the advice. As i would stop as a matter of course.

I really need to get to Ypres as quickly as possible on the day. Iwas looking at taking the A16 onto the N225 then into Ypres by the N38.

Sorry to go off topic, but are any of these toll roads? If so, how much?

Just so i,m ready with the right change and straight off again

Cheers

MULDERKE said:

Just so i,m ready with the right change and straight off again

Cheers

Click to expand...

just get a Telepéage electronic device - yu dont need change or have to stop - a lot of the '40 guys have them when in France.

Sorry Mad Hat Man.
Youv'e lost me. Is this an electronic device?

An easy option for France is to sign up for a Telepéage electronic device which is read as you pass through the toll. This requires a credit card for online purchase, a deposit of 30 euro and a fee of just 2 euro per month which is only charged for months used (plus of course the toll itself). The benefits are rapid passage through the tolls and no leaning across the car to pay at left-sided toll booths. Visit Sanef -Â*Concession et exploitation de réseaux d'autoroute where you will find a box to join and pay by credit card, although it is in French

Much cheaper than I thought, its from here: France autoroute tolls, French motorway charges, autobahn, autostrada, autopista fees and costs. - paying tolls is always a problem in a GT40

MULDERKE said:

Singvogel.

Many thanks for the advice. As i would stop as a matter of course.

I really need to get to Ypres as quickly as possible on the day. Iwas looking at taking the A16 onto the N225 then into Ypres by the N38.

Sorry to go off topic, but are any of these toll roads? If so, how much?

Just so i,m ready with the right change and straight off again

Cheers

Click to expand...

You're OK - No tolls on that part of the E40 (A16) going North or on the E42 (N225) towards Lille. No tolls in Belgie. Should take you under an hour and a half to get to Ieper.

Have a good trip.

S.

Hi,

just registered and introduced myself. I am from Belgium.
Maybe some tips on filling up over here.
First, don't ever fill up on a highway station. They are always overpriced.
Try to find a town with some stations at a small distance from each other. Competition is good for prices over here
Concerning supermarket fuel. I always fill up at DATS24, by far the cheapest and never had problems with black smoke or anything else.
There are differences, but every station here takes his fuel from 2 main companies. Or maybe I'm just lucky
For the moment price range is between 1,36 and 1,5..€

A small note to end. A few weeks ago our police force was adviced to fill up with 'normal' fuel instead of V-power, excellium or whatever they call their fancy fuels. The benefits don't outweigh the costs.

In French diesel is indeed gasoil or gazole or simply diesel

Have a nice stay over here!! (btw I have some far relatives round Ypres)

We didn't find much to do or look at in Passcheandale but just down the road there's Tyne Cot and in the "wipers" there's a war museum. Loads of small cemeteries on the way, some with just six graves, a very sad place.
The German cemetery is also worth a visit. you can easy do Ypres as a day trip.
So is the farm shop wotht a visit just by the border selling 100s of different bottled beers

My new disco outside Tyne Cot

Hi Nadjila, and welcome to LandyZone,

I've been visiting / passing through Belgium 6 or 7 times every year for the past 20 years or more, on my various travels. usually going from Lille to Luxembourg - or the other way home, although last week I crossed from Aachen to Lille - just for a change of scenery.

I completely agree with you regards fuel prices on the autoroute. I have a Euroshell, card and my contract is for the average price in whichever country I use it. So I'm not too concerned about the price displayed on the actual pump.

I try to buy as little fuel in F or B as I can as usually I brim the tank in Lux as it's the cheapest country on my journey. However prices are creeping ever closer as governments 'fiddle the figures'.

I think you've been lucky with the supermarket diesel, but of course I haven't experimented with the Belgian ones as much as I have in the UK.

As for premium fuels, I think it depends on the use of the vehicle - load - short journeys, city traffic etc. What I do know for sure is that I get better performance.

On those long climbs from Namur to Arlon on the E411 with the big trucks in the 'crawler' lane, I can stay in top gear with the cruise control and the auto box doesn't change down a gear as it does with the 'cooking grade' diesel.

But your right in that I probably do not get enough overall improvement in the fuel consumption to justify the cost.

A bientot!

Singvogel.

Hi Singvogel,

I don't have that much experience with supermarket diesel, but the one I use seems ok.
I know there are more problems with small independant stations, although it's much better than in the past. Some relatives had engine troubles after filling up (petrol as well as diesel) at the same very local shop.
I completely agree that the use of the vehicle is a major factor.

For the moment my Freebie runs very well but maybe I have to use premium fuel for a month of 2 to see if there's any difference.

And the goold old days of driving over to Lux just to fill up are over, like you say.

Thanx for the welcome and although I'm Dutch speaking : a bientot (tot binnenkort)

discool said:

We didn't find much to do or look at in Passcheandale but just down the road there's Tyne Cot and in the "wipers" there's a war museum. Loads of small cemeteries on the way, some with just six graves, a very sad place.
The German cemetery is also worth a visit. you can easy do Ypres as a day trip.
So is the farm shop wotht a visit just by the border selling 100s of different bottled beers

My new disco outside Tyne Cot

Click to expand...

Hi discool.

There will be lots for me to do!

Iv'e been researching for some time now my Grandfathers path through the World War One. Which his first major Battle is Messines Ridge, i can now plot the exact path taken by his Battalion the 47th, Australian Imperial Forces. There were 19 mines blown on the morning of 7.6.17 using mad amounts of explosives which was intended to blow the enemy of the Ridge. The effects were felt in London. As you come out of Tyne Cot to the South you will have crossed the old Ypres- Roulerse Railway line, as the embankment rises, that is where troops took cover from the shelling and machine gun fire on the disastrous attack of 12.10.17. Where to the fields to the Left of Tyne Cots Cross of Sacrifice were a sea of mud all the way to Passcheandeale Village.

Totaly off topic, but hope it's OK...

LEST WE FORGET..

Singvogel said:

We SHALL remember them.​

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Well i'm back, 950 miles on two and third tanks of diesel. 320 miles down to Dover on £53.00 of juice, but quiet a bit of traffic in places and stopping and starting.

Singvogel said:

We SHALL remember them.​

Click to expand...

Well i,m back. Did 950 miles on two and third tanks of juice. I brimmed it, and it took £53.00 to Dover at 320 miles. Whats that in old money? about 32?

Here's a pic of ossie soldiers taking cover by the Ypres / Roulers train line. If you are ever at tyne cot, go out of the bottom gate, turn left and keep going, after 500yrd' you will see a tree line to your left, your there, it's now a bike path.

Well done - my next trip is timed to take in 17th to 25th September Operation Market Garden route from Leopoldsburg to Arnhem.

Singvogel.

Singvogel said:

Well done - my next trip is timed to take in 17th to 25th September Operation Market Garden route from Leopoldsburg to Arnhem.

Singvogel.

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Great stuff, Singvogel.

Love Holland, Great people. Lived there for a while.

Eres The Menin to Ypres road, me last.

Yes, I agree, I like The Netherlands.

My dad who had his 90th birthday on Thursday spent some time there in 1944, on his way to Germany.

His travel arrangements then were courtesy of 51st Med. Regiment Royal Artillery.

We did a family tour together a few years back - starting in Normandy - looking for names on headstones and memorials of comrades he will never forget.

We were made very welcome everywhere we stopped.

S.