Suzanne in France

+33 (0)2 33 48 62 11

Travel Links To/From Normandy

When you choose Normandy to purchase a property, not only do you choose to live in a wonderful region of France steeped in rich history and culture, you also choose a part of the country that has superb links back to the UK and beyond.

We have detailed below, the main points of accessibility for you by road, train, plane and boat. All of our properties are approximately 1 hour 15 minutes from our base here in Sourdeval. For ease of reference, we have used an average of our properties location, to calculate the times for the following routes. These are approximate and will depend on where your property is located in Normandy. However, our properties are always in this surrounding area, so please do carry out your own research.

Ferry Services UK 

Starting with the furthest point and working our way down, here are the following routes to and from the UK to France. We have calculated the average time to drive. In addition, we have given you the average sailing times.

Dunkirk – Dover (5 hours drive) crossing time 2 hours DFDS Ferries

Calais Dover (4 hours 30 mins hour drive) crossing time 90 minutes DFDS Ferries

DieppeNewhaven (3 hours) crossing time 4 hours DFDS Ferries

Le Havre Portsmouth (1 hour 30 mins) crossing time 4 hours 30 minutes

Cherbourg – Poole/Portsmouth (1 hour 30 mins) crossing times 4 hours 30 mins/3 hours – High Speed Ferry in Summer months less than 3 hours crossing Brittany Ferries

Caen Portsmouth (1 hour) crossing time 5 hours 45 minutes Brittany Ferries

St Malo – Portsmouth, Poole and Weymouth (1 hour) crossing time 7 hours/6 hours 15 mins/5 hours 15 mins Brittany Ferries

Condor Ferries

You can also take a ferry from Roscoff (Brittany) to Plymouth should you need to be in this part of the UK.

These really are impressive ferry links to the UK. You can also catch a ferry to Jersey or Guernsey. Condor Ferries/Manche Îles

St Malo – Jersey crossing time 1 hour 25 mins

Granville – Jersey crossing time 1 hour 20 mins

Carteret – Jersey crossing time 1 hour 15 mins

 

St Malo – Guernsey crossing time 1 hour 50 mins

Cherbourg – Guernsey crossing time 3 hours 30 mins

Dielette – Guernsey crossing time 1 hour 20 mins

This is why Normandy is a perfect location if you would like to return on a frequent basis, which may be more time consuming, whilst living in another part of France.

Ferry Service To Ireland 

Let us not forget, that you can also travel from Ireland, to either Saint Malo (approx 1 hour) or Cherbourg (approx 1 hour 30 mins). Alternatively, you could take the ferry into Brittany to Roscoff (approx 3 hours to Normandy).

Eurotunnel

The Eurotunnel is also another great way to cross the channel and the quickest by far. Simply drive your car onto the train and you will cross the channel in 35 minutes! An incredible feat of engineering. This service has multiple crossings and is very flexible in that if you arrive early (even without a flexible ticket and providing there is space) you will be put on an earlier train.

Eurotunnel Website

Train 

What better way to discover Paris than from your holiday or main residence here in Normandy? Simply hop on a train from Vire, Villedieu, Flers or Granville (it is on the same line) and it will take you directly into Paris, Montparnasse. A relaxing way to spend 2 hours 30 minutes. There is ample parking at Vire, for example, and it is free! A very popular train is the 9.30 am that gets into Paris at 12 pm

SNCF Normandie

Train Line

Ouigo

Flights 

There is an even more convenient way to travel back to the UK, take domestic and/or international flights, these are available to you at Rennes Airport. This is only an hour away, just across the border into Brittany, for many of our properties. Here you can pick up cheap return flights to Gatwick.  Parking is very reasonable and it is small, easy to use, airport.

Rennes Airport Website

Easy Jet

Having taken a train or driven to Paris you will find international and domestic flights available, as you would expect, from a major international airport. An alternative airport, and only a 2 hour and 30 minute drive from us, is Nantes. Again, you will find both international and domestic flights so please, do weigh up the options available to you.

Paris Airport

Nantes Airport

Whilst Caen Airport no longer has flights going back to the UK there are some travel destinations that may take your fancy.  You can get direct flights to Corsica, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Nice for some winter or summer sun.  Forget the long drive down to the South and hop on an internal flight instead.

Caen Airport

Further afield at Deauville Airport (approx 1 hour 40 mins) you will be able to take flights to Mallorca, Crete, Sardinia and Sicily. Wow! What wonderful destinations we have available to us on our doorstep. Not only that, Deauville is a beautiful town to stay and visit.

Deauville Airport

There is another, little known airport, called Paris-Beauvais and is, actually in Normandy (approx 1 hour 20 minutes from Rouen).  This will take you approximately 3 hours 40 minutes to drive to but it does give you another option.  You can catch flights to Dublin, Rome, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and others. So please, do have a look at their flights available to you.

Paris Beauvais Airport

We hope this sets out why Normandy is a perfect location for anyone wishing to buy a property in France, in particular, if you want quick links back to the UK by various modes of transport.



Share this post

Latest News

Barenton

Read More