Driving from Lyon Airport to Clermont-Ferrand

[crépuscule]

Does any one have a view on the best route to take?

Google Maps suggests what looks like quite a tortuous route round the north of Lyon: D29, D147, D302, N346, A42 then eventually on to the A89 to Clermont.

My satnav suggests a more direct route via the A43 through the middle of Lyon to pick up the A6 just across the river then eventually on to the A89 as above.

I have driven through central Lyon before and did not enjoy the experience but the satnav route does look more direct and maybe easier to follow. Which of these routes is better or is there any other?

[andyh4]

I do not know either of the specific routes, but I have had to drive through and round Lyon enough times to give some general advice.

Critical to giving you a good answer is to know what time of day you will arrive and even what day and month.

If you are arriving at St Exupery on the last BA flight from LHR then through the centre is by far and away the better route. There is little traffic at that time of night.

If you are arriving at say 17:00hrs on a Friday in August, I would avoid the centre like the plague. You will have the rush hour traffic boosted by the weekend get away traffic boosted by the holiday traffic.

[HoneySuckleDreams]

I would re-iterate what Andyh4 says. It all depends on what time you mean to travel. I've done it several times, and to be honest, the central route is best.

 

[crépuscule]

Thanks for the helpful replies. Assuming my flight is on time, I would be starting out from the airport at about 16:00 on Wednesday 2 September so missing weekend traffic but probably hitting rush hour traffic if I go through Lyon.

[andyh4]

I think it is fairly certain that you will hit the rush hour by the time you get to the car and set off. And by early September, just about everyone will be back at work and the schools will have re-started.

I would therefore take the Google suggested route. Looking at the map and linking in to the bits of it that I do know, I think the description makes it sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. The first bit, where you change road number half a dozen times is in fact the trade route from the airport to North Lyon.

[crépuscule]

I've noticed that my satnav suggests an alternative route via St Etienne: A46, A47, A72 then A89 to Clermont. It looks a lot longer but it's autoroute all the way, avoids central Lyon and the satnav & google maps suggest it's only about 15 minutes longer. Any views?

[andyh4]

That route I do know as far as St Etienne.

The one big problem is that the A46/7 to Givors is only 2 lanes in each direction. I there is a problem (accident, broken down truck etc.) it backs up very quickly because it is "the" bypass to the city centre. Heavy goods pretty much have to use this route because they are banned from the Fouvriere tunnel. There was a period when every time I was approaching there seemed to be a problem.

If your French is OK, I would suggest listening in to 107.7FM - autoroute info. If there is a problem on the A46 south, then stay on the A43 to the peripherique and take this (direction Marseille) to the A7 and then exit at the A47. Reception of the radio station will be cr@p at the airport because you are between networks (APRR and AREA) but before you get to the A43 it should be fine.

[crépuscule]

The A46/7 through Givors sounds like the Edinburgh bypass and my French isn't good enough to listen to the radio and drive an unfamiliar car at the same time. However, on consulting the map to follow your advice, the best route looks like A43 to the D383 (peripherique), head SW towards the river. At J16, go S downriver and then cross the river at J1 on to the A7 going back up river. Then, just after going under the railway turn left into the tunnel on to the A6. Then follow signs for the A89. I have followed this route on google street view and it looks easy to follow albeit it might be busy late afternoon.

Is there any flaw in this suggestion?

[andyh4]

The only likely hold up point is at Perrache where the A7 reduces from 3 to 2 lanes prior to the tunnel and where there are two slip roads joining the motorway just as you enter the tunnel. This can lead to significant tail backs, but no route that I know is guaranteed problem free.

[crépuscule]

I'm sure you're right but I think I'll give it a go. Thanks for your help.

[andyh4]

Just thought. There is another point where you will run into some hold ups and that is coming off the peripherique and onto the A7.

The road splits into three lanes each going to a different location, and as well as the problem of traffic filtering into a single lane, you get the numpties who don't look at the signs and realise too late they are in the wrong lane as well as the wise boy lane hoppers who try to get 4 cars further up the queue.

It is still probably a good route.

Good luck

[crépuscule]

Thanks.

One of my friends who has just come back from Lyon says the airport is a complete building site at the moment so it will probably take much longer than usual to get from the plane to the Europcar depot. So maybe I'll miss the rush hour on the peripherique (and miss my dinner too)!

[crépuscule]

I'm happy to say that the A43/Peripherique/A7 route from Lyon Airport was pretty straightforward with only slight congestion at the first tunnel. Arrived in Clermont in plenty time for dinner.

However, on Saturday, we came back from Beziers on the A9/A7. 45 minutes away from the airport, we hit terrible traffic and it took more than 2 hours to get to the airport.

[LisaInFrance]

I concur with what has been said. Two summers ago we went on a long holiday touring the south of France in an RV we rented from this website and drove that exact route. We flew to Lyon, picked up the RV and then drove via the north of Lyon to Clermont-Ferrand. Of course in an RV we were automatically inclined to avoid city centres as much as possible, but I had also heard a lot about making sure to avoid the rush hour during my research. From Clermont we drove on to Bordeaux and then down to the southern coast, over Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseilles, Nice and finally back up to Lyon. Of course we took our time and made plenty of stops. It was a truly memorable trip and I can only recommend it.