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
Dieppe – Newhaven (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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
