🇫🇷 Same-country drive · France
Driving from Bordeaux to Toulouse
A practical guide for driving the A62 autoroute between Bordeaux and Toulouse, covering tolls, speed limits, and travel tips for this southwest France route.
- Drive time
- 2h 41m
- Distance
- 244 km
- Same day?
- Yes, half day
- under 4 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €38
- petrol · diesel ≈ €32
- Tolls
- ≈ €24
- per-km
- EV charging
- Unknown
- not yet surveyed
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+1h 50m- Distance:
- 263 km (+19 km)
- Duration:
- 4h 32m
Via: D 1124 · D 10 · D 930 · D 655
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 25, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You peel away from the Bordeaux ring road onto the A62 and quickly trade the dense urban sprawl of the Gironde for the lush, flat vineyards of the Garonne valley. The journey is an uncomplicated push southeast, dominated by the rolling Garonne river basin that provides a consistent, gentle backdrop for the duration of the drive. Keep a close watch on the sky as you pass through Agen; heavy summer thunderstorms in this region can reduce visibility and trigger the French wet-weather speed limit reduction, dropping your maximum from 130 km/h to 110 km/h instantly.
This is a classic French autoroute experience defined by its toll barriers. You will pull a ticket at the entrance and settle the balance upon exiting near the Toulouse orbital. Budget time for these stops, especially during the Friday evening rush when local traffic heading into the 'Pink City' can cause significant congestion at the final toll gates. The road surface is generally excellent, but the long, straight stretches can lead to a false sense of security; stay alert for the frequent speed cameras positioned near junctions.
As you approach Toulouse, the landscape shifts from quiet agricultural plains to the bustling aerospace hub of Haute-Garonne. The city's ring road, the Périphérique, is notoriously busy. Navigating it requires patience, as the junctions can be complex and merging traffic is heavy. Remember that fuel at the motorway service stations is significantly more expensive than in the surrounding supermarket zones near the city entrances, so it is worth timing your fill-up before you hit the main arterial routes.
Route highlights
- The vineyard landscapes of the Garonne valley
- The transition into the Toulouse aerospace region
- The historic river views near the Garonne river basin
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Easy one-day drive
Comfortable as a single day for one driver. Leave after breakfast, arrive with time to settle in.
- Distance:
- 244 km
- Duration:
- 2h 41m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Marmande 🇫🇷 fr
≈81 km≈ 8.7 km detour from the main route
-
Valence 🇫🇷 fr
≈163 km≈ 6.1 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Tolls on motorways in FR
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Order your Crit'Air sticker before the trip
Must knowParis, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, Toulouse and a growing list of cities require a Crit'Air air-quality sticker visible on your windscreen — even for a single drive-through. It's €4.51 from the official site and ships by post (allow 2–6 weeks abroad). Without it, expect on-the-spot fines from €68. Your registration document tells the issuer your emission class.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Contactless works at every autoroute booth
UsefulFrench autoroutes use a ticket system: take a card on entry, pay on exit. Every barrier accepts contactless tap-to-pay — pull into the "CB / bank card" lane (orange "t" logo means Liber-T transponder only, avoid those). For frequent EU travellers a Bip&Go transponder pays itself off in two trips by skipping the queue.
What your car must carry
Hi-vis vest in the cabin, triangle in the boot
Must knowA reflective vest must be reachable without leaving the vehicle (in the door pocket or under your seat — boot is too late). One warning triangle is also mandatory. The 2012 breathalyzer rule was scrapped in 2020 but is still nice to keep. No spare-bulb requirement.
Driving rules & habits
Priorité à droite still applies in towns
UsefulOn urban streets without signs, traffic from your right has priority — even from a side street that looks subordinate. Outside cities the rule is mostly retired, but in residential French villages it survives. Slow at every right-hand junction unless a yellow diamond on your road tells you you're on the priority road.
Fuel stations
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Smaller stations close on Sundays
TipMotorway service areas (aires) run 24/7 with a fuel-price premium of about €0.15/L. Off-motorway stations in towns under 20k people often close Sunday afternoons and overnight Mon–Sat. If you're fuelling on a Sunday route, plan around motorway stops — supermarket pumps (Carrefour, E.Leclerc) are your cheapest option but typically 9:00–12:30 / 14:30–19:00 on a Sunday, where open at all.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
A 62 Autoroute des Deux Mers230 km
-
D 1113 Route de Toulouse4 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 95%
- Secondary
- 2%
- Other / rural
- 3%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Easy
Straightforward drive. One driver, one day, little to worry about beyond fuel and a toilet stop.
- No major complicating factors — motorway-heavy, single country, comfortable length.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €38
18.3 L × €2.08 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €32
14.7 L × €2.16 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €24
43 kWh × €0.55 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €24
- FR — €0.10/km on the motorway network (≈ 244 km in-country ≈ €24)
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-11.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇫🇷 Bordeaux
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
11°
4°
|
13°
4°
|
15°
7°
|
18°
9°
|
21°
12°
|
26°
16°
|
27°
17°
|
28°
17°
|
23°
14°
|
21°
12°
|
15°
8°
|
11°
5°
|
| 97mm | 81mm | 108mm | 79mm | 91mm | 119mm | 36mm | 52mm | 83mm | 117mm | 132mm | 79mm |
hot mild cold
🇫🇷 Toulouse
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10°
3°
|
12°
4°
|
15°
6°
|
18°
8°
|
21°
11°
|
27°
17°
|
28°
18°
|
30°
18°
|
24°
14°
|
22°
12°
|
15°
7°
|
11°
5°
|
| 72mm | 46mm | 72mm | 74mm | 110mm | 90mm | 54mm | 64mm | 52mm | 67mm | 93mm | 69mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Toulouse
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sat 23
⛅
31° / 22°
—
-
Sun 24
☀️
32° / 18°
—
-
Mon 25
☀️
34° / 19°
—
-
Tue 26
⛅
34° / 18°
—
-
Wed 27
☀️
34° / 22°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 14 manoeuvres
- Place Gambetta
- Cours Aristide Briand
- Route de Toulouse (D 1113)
- Route de Toulouse (D 1113) 4 km
- —
- Rocade Extérieure (A 630) 0.4 km
- Autoroute des Deux Mers (A 62) 41 km
- Autoroute des Deux Mers (A 62) 184 km
- Périphérique Intérieur - Autoroute des Deux Mers (A 62) 5 km
- Route d'Agde (M 112)
- Route d'Agde (M 112)
- Avenue Yves Brunaud
- Rue Lapeyrouse 0.1 km
- Rue du Poids de l'Huile
By coach from Bordeaux to Toulouse
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 2h 50m
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~2
- Approximate based on the published schedule.
Show coach corridor on map
Schedules sourced from the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus GTFS feeds via transport.data.gouv.fr. Times are indicative; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Booking link coming soon.
Frequently asked
Are there any vignettes required for this route?
No, there are no vignettes required in France. Instead, you pay distance-based tolls on the A62 motorway.
What is the speed limit on the A62?
The speed limit is 130 km/h in dry conditions, dropping to 110 km/h when it rains.
Is the route difficult to drive?
The route is straightforward and flat, following the Garonne valley, though traffic around the Toulouse ring road can be dense.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.