The routes below are only suggestions based on our experience. They give the route to Longue, our nearest town. For details from there to the house please see LOCATION

CAR & FERRY

For most people the easiest route is Portsmouth - Caen on Brittany Ferries. The UK motorway system leads right up to the terminal in Portsmouth - a lot to visit if you arrive early. The crossing takes about 7 hours and can be done overnight. There are 3 sailings a day in summer. The journey from Caen to Longue takes about 3 hours.

St Malo - Longue takes about the same driving time but the ferry crossing is 2 hours longer.

Cherbourg, Le Havre & Dieppe are about an hour further away.

The Newhaven-Dieppe crossing is much shorter for those not enamoured with the sea.

From Caen there are 3 main routes.

Route 1 - N158 Caen - Falaise - Argentan - Sees. N138 Sees - Alencon - Le Mans. N23 Le Mans - La Fleche. D938 La Fleche - Bauge - Longue

Route 2 - D562 Caen - Thury Harcourt - Conde-sur-Noireau. D962 Conde-sur-Noireau - Flers - Domfront - Mayenne. N162 Mayenne - Laval. D306 Laval - La Fleche. D938 La Fleche - Bauge - Longue

Route 3 - The same as route one to Le Mans then the A11 & A85 peage to Longue.

We prefer route one, but route two does take you through the edge of the "Suisse Normande" National Park and Domfront & Mayenne which are very interesting old hill towns. It does take longer. The motorway (peage) is the quickest but you will be charged for using it. Petrol is about the same price in France.

TRAIN

Simple - Eurostar from Waterloo International to Lille. Change for the TGV to Tours. Change at Tours for Saumur. Total travelling time to Saumur 6 hours -if the connections work.

You can go via Paris on the Eurostar but be warned the cross-town Metro from Gare de Nord to Gare Montparnasse for the TGV to Tours is a pig. Especially in summer with luggage. You could of course take a Parisian cab…….!

PLANE

More difficult unless you own your own light aircraft - there is an aerodrome at Saumur. There are flights from Paris and some UK airports to Nantes which is about 50 minutes by car to "La Grange Dureau" or the same to Saumur by train.