Getting there

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To see where the house is in France, look at the map of the area on the "Location" page.

You can get to the house travelling by air, rail or road.

Air

More and more visitors to Le Vieux Mas fly to the area and then hire a car.  There are a number of  airports nearby and a number of airlines flying to them.  Research pays off, on a site such as Skyscanner or the Languedoc Page cheap flight section.  It is usually best to book early, especially for peak periods, but most airline promotions stretch only a few months ahead so it can pay to wait.  The nearest airport, Nīmes, is just over an hour away, and Ryanair flies there from Luton, East Midlands and Liverpool.  Marseilles is a bit further but because the right side of the city is still not much over two hours.  It is served from Gatwick (BA and Easyjet), Stansted (Ryanair) and Birmingham (  BMIbaby.com).  Montpellier, about two hours away, is served by Easyjet (Gatwick) and Ryanair (Stansted).  Rodez, which is two and a half hours, has a Ryanair flight.  Newly, flights to Avignon (also about two hours) are provided by Flybe (Exeter and Southampton) and Jet2 (Edinburgh and Leeds Bradford).  It is difficult to keep up to date - checking the Languedoc page may give new options.

Rail

Train travel to the house is easy and relaxed.  On summer Saturdays you can travel by Eurostar direct from London or Ashford to Avignon in less than six hours, arriving mid-afternoon (the return journey leaving late afternoon).  Otherwise, one easy change at Lille or a short metro trip in Paris gives you many more journey options, including arriving at Nīmes which is slightly more convenient for the house.  Fares start at £100 for early booking, direct with Eurostar or via Rail Europe.  The latter can also book sleeper trains (available at Lille, via a 100m walk to Lille Flandres station) and Motorail. The SNCF (French Railways) site also allows you to buy tickets direct and have them posted to your home.

Getting the cheapest tickets to travel by rail is still a bit of an art (as in the UK itself).  The main guidelines are:

  • book as early as possible;
  • plan and cost your entire return journey in advance.  Travel via Paris is usually slightly cheaper, there are more trains, and it may also be quicker.  Changing at Lille is very easy and stress free.
  • Eurostar booking opens four months (120 days) before travel except for the summer Avignon special which opens as early as Christmas (check the date carefully as the cheapest tickets sell quickly).  Eurostar tickets are always much cheaper if you buy return tickets, so plan your purchase for four months before your return date.  
  • SNCF tickets are sold three months (90 days) in advance.  However SNCF tickets are priced as singles so to ensure the cheapest fares book the outward journey 90 days in advance and the inward journey separately, when you reach the due date.  This avoids paying more for the outward journey by delaying until you can book the return.
  • so the optimum purchasing plan is:(1) buy return Eurostar tickets 120 days before your return date, (2) buy outward SNCF tickets 90 days before outward French journey, (3) buy return SNCF tickets 90 days before return French journey.  This may seem over-elaborate and risky, but if you have fully planned your journey and remember to make the bookings on the right days, there is no problem.

Supplementary points:

  • Euostar now sell through tickets to French destinations (90 days in advance).  Usually these are more expensive than buying the separate legs, but  they can sometimes be competitive;
  • the same for SNCF, booking from London.
  • if you have children buying a Carte Enfante can save even on a single journey.  You can test this on the SNCF without buying the card by checking the relevant box when specifying passengers.  The card can be bought online.
  • SNCF run "iTGV" trains which are very cheap and can (usually must) be booked more than 90 days in advance.  The ordinary SNCF site includes iTGV trains, so long as they are not fully booked but you may find that the times do not suit your travel well.

Road

Although it is easily possible to drive to the house from the northern French coast in one day, a stop-over en route, perhaps around the Loire region can add to the pleasure of the holiday.

For crossing the channel, some visitors, especially from the midlands northward, may find advantage in the crossings to Normandy, as this gives the chance of some sleep and an early start in France. Brittany Ferries goes to Caen, and Transmanche to Caen and Dieppe.  For the northern ports, Speedferries are a new lower-cost company going to Boulogne, which is convenient for the A16 and a route round the west of Paris on to the A71/A75.  P&O, SeaFrance and  Hoverspeed go from Dover to Calais, as does Eurotunnel.  A useful site for all crossings is Directferries. 

I am very happy to give advice on routes to the house.  For many visitors, the best route is down the centre of France on the A71/A75 by Clermont-Ferrand as this is quieter, cheaper and more attractive.  Another route mainly avoiding the busy eastern autoroutes takes the incomplete A77 which leaves the A6 east of Paris.  To plan a route try the Michelin route planner, which has reasonably clear directions and details of hotels and restaurants en route.  Bison futé is a useful site on roadworks, heavy traffic etc.

Car Hire

If you travel by air or train, you'll want to hire a car.  Check all the main car hire companies as rates vary unpredictably.  To explore rates you might want to start at the link below, but if you are a member of the AA or have other affiliations check independently.  Don't assume that the offer you get from your airline or rail company is a good deal - it may be, but often will not be.  For a car rental search site try Carrentals.co.uk or Mastercars - but check the direct providers too, as they may have special offers only on their own sites, or may offer better discounts for your affiliations.

Bookings, etc

 To make travel arrangements you may want to book via Chez Nous which can offer discounts if you give them my property booking number.  However don't assume that these discounts are the best you can get, shop around.  For example if you are a member of the AA or RAC they may be able to book your travel at good rates as well as provide other travel services such as insurance cover for driving outside the UK

A general site which can give you details on travel to France is the French Travel Centre.