Driving Times

From port to house. St Malo - 3 hours: Cherbourg - 5 hours: Caen - 4.5 hours

From airport to house. Paris - 4.5 hours Nantes - 1.0 hour

FERRIES

Portsmouth-St Malo (9 hrs crossing time; approximately 3 hrs driving time in France);
Portsmouth-Caen (6 hrs / 4-5 hrs);
Plymouth-Roscoff (6 hrs / 5 hrs);
Poole-Cherbourg (4 hrs 15 mins / 5 hrs);
Cork-Roscoff (April-October) (17 hrs / 5 hrs).

Portsmouth-Cherbourg (4 hrs 45 mins crossing time; approximately 5 hrs driving time in France);
Portsmouth-Le Havre (5 hrs 45 mins / 6hrs).
Also a summertime fast catamaran service,
doing the Portsmouth-Cherbourg journey in around 3 hours (takes cars, but not caravans).

Poole-St Malo (4 hrs 30 mins crossing time; approximately 3 hrs driving time in France);
UK reservations 0845 345 2000

IRISH FERRIES

Rosslare-Cherbourg (17 hrs crossing time; approximately 5 hrs driving time in France);
Rosslare-Roscoff (16 hrs / 5 hrs)

AIR

BRIT AIR / AIR FRANCE
London (Gatwick) direct to Nantes (1 hr 10 mins), for about £180 return; fly-drive weekends (Fri-Mon) available.

GB AIRWAYS / BRITISH AIRWAYS
This UK-based airline operates a Gatwick-Nantes service, with slightly cheaper fares than those of Brit Air (see above). One flight daily in each direction - from £129 return. Information fromBritish Airways

RYANAIR
Ryanair has set up summertime routes that include Stansted to La Rochelle and Stansted to Poitiers, . Return flights about three times a week to each city; fares start from around £22 single.

RAIL

Eurostar
London (Waterloo)-Lille Europe / Lille Europe-Vendee (total journey time 8 hrs); this is a very easy change (just swop platforms at Lille), and take the TGV to Niort  or La Rochelle where you might either arrange to  hire a car at the station, or have somebody pick you  up,

 CAR HIRE

Very reasonable with offices in La Rochelle (airport), Niort, Poitiers (airport) and Nantes.

Also Budget, Avis, and Eurocar operate from the airports and railway stations.