Millau Bridge in France - Europe's highest bridge

Writer: Helena Bergström

Millaubron in France, or Millau Viaduct as it is called in French, is Europe's highest bridge. When built, it was the world's highest road bridge in terms of overall structural height, and the tallest of the pylons measures an impressive 343 metres.

Millaubron in France

The Millaubron is impressive in its design and visible from a long distance. You can drive over it if you want or you can do as we did, and go to the viewpoint to check it out.

Millaubron is located in the department of Aveyron in southern France, about 100 kilometres northwest of the city of Montpellier.

Europe's highest bridge

The Millau Bridge is a motorway bridge, of the cable-stayed type, which crosses the Tarn River valley. Inaugurated in December 2004, the bridge was designed by French bridge engineer Michel Virlogeux in collaboration with British architect Norman Foster.

When it was built, the Millaubron was the world's highest road bridge in terms of total construction height, with the tallest pylon at 343 metres. Today the record is held by The Si Du Bridge in China, which rises 496 metres above the ground.

However, the Millau Bridge is still Europe's highest bridge for cars in terms of structural height. The bridge measures 2 460 metres in length and has six main spans of roughly equal length, the longest of which is 342 metres.

Visiting Millaubron in France

Anyone who wants to can drive over the bridge, via the A75 motorway, and as we understand it this involves paying a motorway or bridge toll. Another way to experience the bridge is to go to the viewpoint Millau Viaduct site at one end of the bridge, where a visitor centre has been built with parking spaces and various services.

There are parking spaces for both motorhomes and caravans, as well as a service station for motorhomes with fresh water and the possibility of emptying grey and black water.

In the middle of the visitor centre is a building with a restaurant, souvenir shop and exhibition about the bridge.

From the car park you can walk up to the viewpoint. The walk is slightly uphill, and once at the top you get your reward!

From here you have a really nice view of Europe's highest bridge, and of course many people choose to take a selfie here ...

There is also an information board showing what you can see from the viewpoint.

Another photo spot, along with the name of the department, i.e. Aveyron, is located near the car park.

Continued travelling with the motorhome and fricamping

After the visit to Europe's highest bridge, we continued our journey in a southerly direction. We never crossed the bridge, as we had set our GPS to avoid both toll roads and motorways.

This can be done if you are not in a hurry and, in addition to avoiding motorway tolls, also means more exciting driving and more beautiful views.

This night we chose to free camp, at a nice rest area (Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon) that we found via the Park4Night app. We were two motorhomes standing here at night, with magical views of the surrounding countryside.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

Nearby we can highly recommend visiting the scenic canyon Gorges du Tarn - one of the most beautiful places we visited in Europe! We can also recommend visiting Carcassonne and on the coast, for example in Sète and Palavas les Flots.