Travel to the Languedoc by air, rail or road.
Useful information on airlines, rail and roads
Flights to the Languedoc
The Languedoc is very well served by Airports. The two larger airports are Montpellier and Toulouse, at either end of the Languedoc region. In between the two, there are the smaller airports of Beziers, Perpignan, and Carcassonne, and to the east of Montpellier, Nîmes. To give you an idea of where you can fly in from, I’ve listed below a range of airlines flying to and from each city. Choose the city you want to fly to, and then you can see where you can fly in from. For those of you flying in to Europe (except people from Montreal), the easiest places for you to fly in to are Ireland (Dublin or Belfast), England (London or Manchester), France (Paris) or Spain (Madrid or Barcelona), and then link up with the information below.
Montpellier
- Ryanair ................London (Stansted) and Frankfurt (Hahn)
- Air France...........Paris (CDG and Orly) and Barcelona
- Iberia................... Barcelona and Madrid
- Easy Jet...............London (Gatwick)
Toulouse
- Flybe....................Birmingham (England)
- Easy Jet................Bristol, London (Gatwick) Paris (Orly) and Madrid
- KLM ...................Amsterdam
- Europe Airpost.......Cardiff
- Air France............Paris (CDG and Orly)
- Air Transat............Montreal
- Aer Lingus.............Dublin
- Jet2.com................Belfast, Edinburgh, Leeds-Bradford
Beziers
- Ryanair ..................Bristol
- Airlinair..................Paris (Orly)
Perpignan
- Ryanair....................Birmingham, London (Stansted), Brussels (Charleroi)
- BMI Baby................Manchester
- Flybe........................Southampton
- Air France.................Paris (CDG and Orly)
Carcassonne
- Ryanair.....................Shannon, Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, East Midlands, London (Stansted) and Brussels
Nîmes
- Ryanair.....................Liverpool, East Midlands, London (Luton), Brussels
LINKS
Ryanair www.ryanair.com
BMI Baby www.bmibaby.com
Flybe www.flybe.com
Air France www.airfrance.fr
Iberia www.iberia.com
Easy Jet www.easyjet.com
KLM www.klm.com
Airtransat www.airtransat.com
Airlinair www.airlinair.com
Aer Lingus www.aerlingus.com
Jet2 www.jet2.com
Trains to the Languedoc
There are two routes in France from Paris to the Languedoc. You have to aim for either Toulouse or Montpellier. These then link up with Carcassonne, Beziers and Narbonne, but you will most likely have to change trains at Montpellier or Toulouse. Occasionally trains got straight through to either Carcassonne (from Toulouse) or Beziers, Narbonne or Nîmes from Montpellier. You can find out on
www.sncf.com
If you’re landing in Spain first, there is a train that comes up from Barcelona straight through to Narbonne and Beziers. Take a look at
www.talgo.com
Driving in the Languedoc
The main roads in France are brilliant. They are toll roads, and not that cheap, but it is a pleasure to drive along the “auto-routes”, and you can be down from the North of France, in to the Languedoc in just 12 hours of driving, or from Paris in just 8 hours. If possible, avoid driving in on the French auto-routes in August, as it is the month when everyone goes on holiday, and the auto-routes get clogged up with so many cars, that you have to wait at least half an hour at each toll gate (péage). Not much fun!
Off the main roads, the roads are much more peaceful, almost sleepy… except at midday! At midday everyone one is driving home from work to have their lunch, and for some reason they all drive like madmen!! Watch out for “madmen” if you’re driving at that hour… but apart from that, enjoy the scenery and explore the beauty of the Languedoc.
If you’d like to rent a car, there are many car rental agencies in Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Beziers and Montpellier (see links) and they always have agencies at the airports and train stations. Shop around, as they do vary in price dramatically, and sometimes companies like Sky Cars can have some incredible deals.
www.skycars.com
If you’re renting a car in Spain to drive up to the Languedoc, you will have to return it to Spain. For some reason you can’t drop off a Spanish car at a French agency (and visa versa), even if it’s the same company.