Travel to La Charpenterie

If you need any personal help with travel advice in France please ask, but here are a few ideas that may help. The Google map shows our exact location and can be used to discover best routes and mileage from ports, airports etc.

Most guests tend to travel to La Charpenterie in their own car as it is particularly easy to drive from the channel ports, or from elsewhere in France, or Europe.

However, with the rapid growth of low-cost airlines, a number of other possibilities are now available by flying, or rail using the TGV and channel-tunnel rail link. However, it is important to point out that if you are not bringing your own vehicle, car hire will be essential for your day to day needs as taxis are very expensive.

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Travel by Ferry & own car

From Calais, the journey by car takes about 5-6 hours via Rouen and is usually faster than the western crossings from Portsmouth and Poole except if you already live in the southwest. you are also likely to have the greatest choice and most competitive prices. Autoroutes take you from the ports direct to Saumur with tolls of approximately 22€ each way.

Another lower-cost operator Louis-Dreyfuss-Lines crosses between Dover and Boulogne as well as Portsmouth and Le Havre. we suggest that you try this link if you live closer to the southwest of England. They now also have taken over the former Speedferries route between Dover and Boulogne.

Other carriers include Le Shuttle, P&O, SeaFrance, for the short crossings and Brittany Ferries from Poole to Cherbourg and Portsmouth to Caen and St Malo. These crossings are better if you are having an extended touring holiday on the way to and from La Charpenterie. From Scotland Superfast Ferries operate between Rosyth and Zeebrugge, while P&O offer sailings between Hull and Zeebrugge for those travelling from the north-east

These are the current flight connections that we think make sense from airports from the UK and Ireland

Ryanair	Fly to Nantes from - Dublin, East Midlands, Leeds, and Shannon Fly to Poitiers from - London Stansted Fly to Tours from - Dublin and London Stansted Fly to Paris Beauvais - Prestwick, Edinburgh and Dublin
Easyet	Fly To Nantes from Gatwick Fly to Paris CDG from Liverpool, Luton and Newcastle
Flybe	Fly to Nantes and Rennes from - Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guernsey, Inverness, IoM, Jersey, Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle and Newquay
BMI	Fly to Nantes from East Midlands

Car hire is available from all the big names at the airport but Alamo seem to offer a well priced basic package. If you are flying into Paris, it will be cheaper to hire a car at the airport, than travel down by train and hire in Saumur.

If you need any guidance, please telephone as we have used most carriers over the years.

Flying to Paris and TGV

If you fancy a few more days stop-over in the lovely city of Paris then why not fly into Paris (CDG) with

For TGV connections from Paris (cost about 90€ return each) you will need to either travel by AirFrance cars to Montparnasse station in the south of Paris (cost about 12€), or wait for a direct train to Angers, or Tours- St Pierre de Corps which both have frequent links to Saumur. There are only a few direct trains from the airport each day.