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[dippydave]

How can a £35 flight cost £105 and then some.....!!!!  

need a little vent after spending hours trying to book transportation to southern France in august! you'd think it'd be fairly simple but noooo.

Firstly, last year i went on the Eurostar and TGV which was fast, cheap and fabulous. but you can't book further than 3 months in advance and it doesn't go that near to where we're staying this time.

Then investigated flying. there's only one airport within a hundred miles and only one airline flies there from the UK. (air france etc will do a connection jobby but that gets expensive and slow!) So we're left with Ryanair.  

Used them a long time ago, know plenty of people who get on just fine with them but oh my god is the website frustrating! One flight a day, charges are per flight not per trip and boy do they add up.

Found an outbound for £15, a return for £20. bingo i thought. Oh but then after reading the terms and conditions, the thing had timed out and had to search all over again! Finally ticked ok, added some taxes (£45 worth!) and the £35 return is £80! But then we had to add the ryanair additions, taking it to £105! £25 made up of little numbers like  £6 each way to take a bag. £3 each way to check it in, £3 each way to pay by credit card - and then to make it worse the second ticket went up by a tenner!!  

then i discover parking at stansted is £8 a day minimum, this cheap flight isn't looking so cheap! specially for 3 or 4 of us!

So i started thinking about taking the mig, fuel plus tolls plus train/ferry  could be similar cost methought. I went to drive-alive.co.uk and their route planner is genius! £36 tolls, £150 petrol each way.

allowing £150 for a crossing, I make it £520 to drive there which makes it cheaper than flying (just)!! probably take twice as long but still, it makes me think!

Anyone else driven to southern france and would recommend/disuade us?  :-/

[HolyCount]

Never driven there -- but, when we fly we use FlyBe -- not a lot cheaper, but they fly out of exeter and southampton which makes it more convenient for us country folk! And we fly into Avignon ---- where are you trying to get to ?

Cheapest method is probably the coach on Eurolines -- but it can be a hell of a journey if you are stuck in rather close proximity with the wrong people !!!!!

[dippydave]

yikes. i took a coach to Bordeaux once - it took 27hours including the ferry! nice to travel through Lemans but still an experience i'd rather avoid! indeed especially with the wrong people!!

We're going to a site near Rodez which is in the middle of France, sort of between Toulouse and Montpellier. The inlaws are taking their caravan the week before and us kiddies are popping out for a break!

I've used bmibaby ( ) FlyBe, Go, and Easyjet. all ok but KLM, BA and others were nicer! This time, the other airlines just don't get close enough - it's either the trip to Stansted here or a longer one through France!

or the meega...... :-/

[Debs.]

French 'Payage' toll-roads to the South are brill!....direct and fast and with lovely Aires to enjoy an off-road relax, but avoid travel on French public holidays (if poss.) as they get busy....and stick to posted speed-limits as they are average-speed monitored.
I love continental driving (where roads are much quieter than in the U.K) and much prefer it to airtravel; where one is made to feel like dishonest livestock in exchange for the ticket-fee.  

Eurotunnel is a nice experience if a little pricey....and the ferry offers a nice cruise and a chance to stretch your leggies.

Couldn`t get a better long distance cruiser than a Miggy, so `wont find me trying to persuade you to go by air!  

P.S One flight a day budget airline routes can be troublesome if your booked plane goes 'tech' or weather is bad as it may be some days before you can get a replacement seat; especially in high season.

[Varche]

Drive. If you have a look around there are some great crossing deals with the smaller ferries.

France is lovely driving country (but stick to the speed limits). I agree the motorways are fast but there are some uncrowded direct side roads which are quite good. Just avoid French Hols and towns like Tours.

If you fly you have no transport at the other end unless you hire.

Hope you have a good time.

varche

[Weds]

Anyone else driven to southern france and would recommend/disuade us?  :-/

I've flown and driven to the French Alps, prefer to drive, much less stressful, and takes about the same time when adding up travelling to the airport, sitting around in departure. Ferry cost only about £88 by Sea France (hopefully they wont be on strike) Roads are so much better than ours with less traffic. We had 3 drivers so swapping over every few hours.

One of our drivers had never driven in France or an automatic car found it easy, I found the wife confusing MPH with KPH, caught her doing 110mph at one point, had to remind her that the speed limit of 135 was in KPH not MPH

One of the only places that I've found a use for cruise control.

[Andy B]

.....and stick to posted speed-limits as they are average-speed monitored......

Is this a recent thing? We took the Omega to Vendee about 4 years back. We didn't drop much below 100 mph all the way, & I wasn't on my own in the outside lane (of 2) It was brilliant how, after overtaking people dropped back into the nearside lane again  , not like over here where people see a car a mile away in the nearside so stay where they are in the outside lane.  

[Debs.]

.....and stick to posted speed-limits as they are average-speed monitored......

Is this a recent thing? We took the Omega to Vendee about 4 years back. We didn't drop much below 100 mph all the way, & I wasn't on my own in the outside lane (of 2) It was brilliant how, after overtaking people dropped back into the nearside lane again  , not like over here where people see a car a mile away in the nearside so stay where they are in the outside lane.  

It`s used on the Payage toll-roads; the ticket booths use entry/exit/distance-covered timings and the Gendarmerie get the head`s up automatically and pull-speeders as they leave the booth.

[Andy B]

....
It`s used on the Payage toll-roads; the ticket booths use entry/exit/distance-covered timings and the Gendarmerie get the head`s up automatically and pull-speeders as they leave the booth.

Grand frère strikes again We used some kind of toll, whether it was a Payage or not I couldn't say. SWMBO told where to go!   I just drove.  
We did see one Gatso type thing in the central reservation though, & just as over here, everyone obediantly obeyed the limit as we passed.

[dippydave]

oh. the thought of unstressed cruising makes me want to drive now!!

thanks for the tips with ferries, sounds more fun than the brilliant train! i'll check some prices now

When are the french hols tho? July/August same as ours? or for longer!?

[Richie London]

i always drive to france when i go, love the relaxation on the ferry.

richie

[craykent]

DRIVE   last year i drove over[ not in my mig] the only thing we thought was the french like to cut in rather sharply mind you i was
only doing 45mph on the autoroute [ need a turbo ]

[bedders]

Oh do take the car, we go every year, a great driving experience.
We use the tunnel, paid for with Tesco vouchers, so it costs nothing vitually (they are worth 4 times their face value)
The French take their holidays in July/August, so the N roads can be busy. As mentioned already, lane discipline is excellent, but they can tailgate, this is not being agressive, but the way they are taught apparently.
Rodez is a beautiful place & for a day out would recommend visiting the Millau Bridge (bridge in the sky)
You have the ideal car for the trip & should make well over 30mpg.  

[Martin_1962]

Oh do take the car, we go every year, a great driving experience.
We use the tunnel, paid for with Tesco vouchers, so it costs nothing vitually (they are worth 4 times their face value)
The French take their holidays in July/August, so the N roads can be busy. As mentioned already, lane discipline is excellent, but they can tailgate, this is not being agressive, but the way they are taught apparently.
Rodez is a beautiful place & for a day out would recommend visiting the Millau Bridge (bridge in the sky)
You have the ideal car for the trip & should make well over 30mpg.  

How do you get an LPG car throught the tunnel

[Gaffers]

I used to live in Paris and travelled many times to te south by car and it was great!  Excelent motorways, there is rarely congestion like we see here in the UK.

The only thing I would say is that the frech police are pretty ruthless if they catch you speeding.  They will drive you to a cash point to get their fine if they have to.  That said I went up and down to Lott and cruised at 95 and never once saw any police.  Check your insurance covers you (see if you need a carte verte)  stick on a beret and drive away mon ami!!