Ferry to France and Transport after

cintaxox

Hi im travelling to Cherbough in France on the ferry with my boyfriend at the start of september. I was just wondering does anyone know the best way we can travelling around France as neither of us drive and was hoping to travel over to Saint Jean De monts and spend our holiday their. Plus flying is not a option. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

P. Breathnach

The obvious thing to consider is rail, but it might be cumbersome, with several changes, and there is no station at St Jean de Monts, so the last leg of your journey would be by bus.

The station in Cherbourg is about 2 km. from the ferry terminal. I never noticed a taxi service to meet the boats, but I was never looking for one. I am sure that somebody in the terminal would help you find or call a taxi if you don't want to walk the distance.

Are you decided on St Jean de Monts? I am sure that there are other good destinations that you might get to more easily.

cintaxox

Thanks for your advice, we haven't been to France before so not sure where to go, have you any suggestions? we wanted to go somewhere where the weather would be nice and near a beach.

P. Breathnach

I'm no expert on French Railways, as I normally take my car with me on the ferry.

I had a quick look at a railway map (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:French_railway_network.svg, but it's not very informative unless you already know France, because it doesn't gives the names of places). Basically, the line from Cherbourg goes towards Paris, and if you want to go in any other direction you would have to change trains at least once, maybe twice. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, just that you should be aware of what you might be letting yourself in for.

I have been in France in September quite a few times, because it fits nicely into the rhythm of my life. The weather at that time of year seems to be a good bet but, of course, there are no certainties. I don't go for sun holidays, and I'm not a beach person, so my point of view might not fit with your preferences.

You might consider St. Malo. It's not very far south, only about 200 km from Cherbourg, but it's a lively interesting place, and the seaside resort of Dinard is right beside it. BUT: while it is a two-hour drive, it takes the best part of five hours to get there by train, including making two changes.

I found a website for interurban bus services in that part of France, and it does not look too encouraging.

Maybe you should settle for Paris! There are worse places.

babaduck

We go to France at this time every year (we may even be on the same ferry!). The further south you go, the better chance you have of nice weather. We were in Tregastel last May 09 & the weather was vile - if it wasn't for the car I would have cracked up! Deauville and Trouville are both lovely beach resorts in Normandy & not too far from Cherbourg.

If you fancy a train trip for a nice beach holiday, get the train to Paris, transfer to Gare Montparnasse & then head for La Baule/Pornichet via Nantes. Beautiful area, fantastic beaches & great food - we stayed here two years in a row and loved it.

If you are planning to travel by train, it is MUCH cheaper to book in advance rather than rock up to the station & buy on the day...

cintaxox

Thanks for that you wouldn't know what web site to buy the train tickets off ?

babaduck

I use www.voyages-sncf.com but the website is in French. A friend of mine swears by Irish Rail in Abbey St, Dublin 1 for booking his French rail tickets

Spanish Eyes

Agree with babaduck. That sncf website is not the easiest to navigate, but after a while it's ok. If you speak French that is! The translator is brutal.

When you open the link, at the very top in very small black letters click "tous les sites SNCF" that will bring you to the TGV, the bullet train that will get you to places like Nice and Marseilles etc. quicker than a plane. The "TER" section is for local trains within a region, for example from Toulouse to Carcassonne to Narbonne etc.

Best of luck, France is fab, but maybe if you don't speak or read French the CIE place would be the best bet for your rail tickets?

I would pick a place like Nice, Biarritz, or wherever, and go to Paris on the train from Cherbourg. Stay a night or two in Paris and get the TGV to your place of choice in the South for the good weather and the beaches. Somewhere that is not too far away is Arcachon outside Bordeaux, again can be reached by TGV from Paris. It's about halfway down the west coast. Bear in mind that places on the coast other than Nice, Marseilles etc. tend to close down pretty quickly after the August holidays in France, so choose you spot carefully if you want a bit of life around the place!

olaola

The Deutsche Bahn website is great for all things train related - even in other countries: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml