Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left
Rail tickets
Right
Coaches
Getting to Normandy
By Air
With no international
flights to Normandy, air
travellers must fly to Paris
or Lyon, and connect with
an internal flight to a
regional airport. Twin Jet
runs a Monday-to-Friday
service between Paris-
Orly and Cherbourg. Air
France operates regular
flights from Lyon to Caen
and Rouen. d
www.
welcome.aeroport-cherbourg.
com
•
www.airfrance.com
Fly-drive
Fly-drive deals tend
to be better value than
independent car rental.
They can be booked
through airlines, tour
operators and travel
agents, and sometimes
include accommodation.
The Travel e-Shop lists a
number of companies.
d
www.traveleshop.com
By Ferry to
Cherbourg
From mid-April to the end
of September, P&O have
four sailings a day (five
on Sat) from Portsmouth
(journey time around 5
hours by day, 7 or 8
hours by night); for the
rest of the year, they
have two a day. During
the same period, they
also run the high-speed
Seacat (journey time a
little under 3 hours) twice
a day. Brittany Ferries
operates one or two sail-
ings a day all year from
Poole (around 4 hours by
ferry; 2 hours by Seacat).
d
www.poferries.com
•
www.brittany-ferries.com
By Ferry to Le
Havre
P&O have the monopoly
on this route, with up to
three sailings every 24
hours from Portsmouth
(journey time 5 hours by
day, 8 hours by night).
By Rail
The excellent national
rail network, SNCF, runs
a fast, direct service to
Rouen, Le Havre, Caen,
Bayeux, Cherbourg and
Granville from Paris, which
links to other European
cities via Eurostar. SNCF
also offers rail-drive pack-
ages. d
www.sncf.com
•
www.eurostar.com
By Road
The Autoroute de
Normandie A13 toll
motorway starts in Paris
and runs south of the
Seine to Caen, from
where an extension leads
to Bayeux and Cherbourg.
Other motorways link
Normandy with the
northern Channel ports
and Brittany. By French
law, you must carry ID, a
driving licence, and car
ownership and insurance
details (it's also advisable
to take out emergency
breakdown cover). You
must add headlight beam
deflectors to a right-hand
drive car, and carry a fire
extinguisher, red warning
triangle and first-aid kit.
By Ferry to Dieppe
Two companies run
the service between
Newhaven and Dieppe:
Hoverspeed (one to three
2-hour Seacat crossings
per day, Mar to Oct), and
Transmanche (two or
three roll-on-off ferries a
day all year round; 4
hours by day, about 5
hours by night). d
www.
hoverspeed.co.uk
•
www.
transmancheferries.com
By Ferry to Caen-
Ouistreham
Brittany Ferries runs the
Portsmouth-Caen route,
with three boats a day
(journey time 6 hours by
day, a little under 9 hours
by night). You step off the
ferry in the traditional fish-
ing port of Ouistreham, a
short drive from Caen.
By River
The most romantic
way to arrive in Normandy
is from Paris by river. Two
companies organize a
seven-night Seine cruise
from Paris to Honfleur:
Viking River Cruises and
CrosiEurope Alsace
Croisières. Their itineraries
differ, but both include
stops at Vernon, Rouen
and Caudebec.
d
www.vikingrivers.com
•
www.croisiere.com
By Coach
The cheapest but
least relaxing way to get
to Normandy. Eurolines
and Intercars run coaches
between European cities
and Paris; from there,
you must use a local bus
company to reach your
destination - for names
and numbers, contact
local tourist offices
(see
p118)
.
d
www.eurolines.fr
•
www.intercars.fr
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