By Plane
Ryanair offer flights (some heavily discounted,
especially to early bookers) to La Rochelle and Poitiers from Stanstead. Both these
airports are only about 1hr drive from Les Pommiers, Ligueuil.
Flybe runs daily flights to La Rochelle from both Southampton and Birmingham airports
A number of hire car firms operate in the area and are easy to find on the internet.
Hertz (booked through Ryanair website ) is generally the cheapest at around 130-150
pounds per week depending upon size of vehicle required.
By Ferry/Car
The two largest companies that provide sea crossings are P&O Ferries and Brittany Ferries. Condor Ferries provide a good value daytime fast ferry service to St.Malo (about
5hrs)
If you found us through Chez Nous then you may use our Chez Nous advertisers
reference number to receive a discount of most normal ferry prices.
The main crossings closest to us include:
Poole or Weymouth to St.Malo, Portsmouth to St.Malo, Cherbourg, Caen or Le Havre
By Train
Surgères has the closest rail station with a regular TGV service from Paris (Montparnasse) to La Rochelle stopping there. You can find all of the details of timetable and prices on the SNCF website.
Local car hire companies will either meet you or leave your car at the station to
pick up. www.europcar.com is a popular choice
for car hire.
Our Recommendation
With flights and car hire getting cheaper every year as competition builds up; flying
to France is becoming ever more popular. Flying can actually work out less expensive
than taking the ferry during peak season ( if you book flights months ahead in order
to get the cheapest seats).
For those who prefer to drive, catching the
overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo is an excellent option. You arrive
early the next morning and it is only an easy 4 hour drive from there. The late
night sailing from Caen back to Portsmouth is also popular. In our experience it
is worth paying a bit more for an overnight ferry and have a relaxing time, with
a shower in the morning before a (relatively) easy drive than to spend all day in
the car. Alternatively you could go Dover-Calais and stop off for a night on the
way down here.
Driving
The motorways in France are generally well maintained and uncrowded. For some sections
there is a toll. To plot the best route down to Ligueuil visit the
Mappy route planner website (There are in fact two villages in France named similarly as Ligueuil. We are located at the Ligueuil with the postal code: 17330). We find that the quickest route is usually from St. Malo, with a journey time of about 4-5 hours.
Motorway Tolls in France
These can really mount up if you take the Motorway all the way from Calais (approx
70 Euros in total). From St. Malo most of the motorway is free, except for a section
of the A83 from Nantes to Niort (about 8 euros).