Access and transports

in Poitou-Charentes

By road

Whether you are travelling by car ferry and then by car or renting a car once in France so as to get wherever you want to go, you will have no trouble discovering the region along motorways and other roads -- highways and byways.
Driving through Poitou-Charentes is a great way to get around the countryside, discovering each and every nook and cranny.
Poitou-Charentes by car is the most convenient way to take an insider’s tour of the region!

Distances between main cities in Poitou-Charentes

By train

For travel arrangements, timetables, prices and bookings, visit www.raileurope.co.uk.

Rail Europe Ltd is the official UK distributor for SNCF – French Railways.

From Paris - Gare Montparnasse: the TGV Atlantique service offers frequent runs to the high-speed train station at Futuroscope (1 hour 20) and those of Poitiers (1 hour 30 minutes), Angoulême (2 hours and 15 minutes), Niort (2 hours 12 minutes) and La Rochelle (2 hours 51 minutes).

From Paris - Gare d’Austerlitz: Express services provide access to the same destinations and to Cognac, Saintes, Rochefort and Royan, as well.

From Bordeaux there are services to Angoulême (52 minutes) and Poitiers (1 hour 34 minutes).

Eurostar

From Lille-Europe: connections with Eurostar services, there are daily direct trains to Poitiers (3 hours 30 minutes and Angoulême (4 hours 15 minutes).

Come and discover Poitou-Charentes when vacationing in France with your family, with friends, or on a romantic escapade!

Our region is easy to reach, near Brittany, adjacent to the Loire castles, Périgord and Bordeaux.

One week or even two, a weekend or 3-4 days, whatever may be your means of transportation or your budget, there are many ways of getting to Poitou-Charentes.

You may desire calm and greenery, you may be planning action-packed family holidays, perhaps you are dreaming of a romantic weekend, two in love on the seaside or some isle in the Atlantic; in any event, a one-hour flight will change your environment !

Climate

The Poitou-Charentes coastline enjoys an exceptionally high number of hours of sunshine, setting it on a surprising par with the French Mediterranean coast. Temperatures are always pleasant and the sea air is revitalizing and reinvigorating. After a mild winter allowing mimosa to flower on the coast as early as January, spring is prompt to arrive.

Summer remains the peak tourist season, but late summer and early autumn are truly ideal periods for relaxing holidays and enjoyable sightseeing.

By boat

Think Freedom at your steering wheel. Think Ferry!

Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, Transmanche Ferries, Norfokline, P&O-Ferries, SeaFrance, Speed Ferries Ltd and LD lines all offer regular links with French Channel ports just a half day’s drive from Poitou-Charentes.

In order to get close to our region, take Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Saint-Malo, from Poole to Cherbourg, or from Plymouth or Cork to Roscoff. Once in France, the car journey to Poitou-Charentes is an easy one!

By air

The 3 airports of the region, Angoulême, La Rochelle and Poitiers, offer direct flights to many of the main cities in Great Britain and Ireland.

To reach Poitiers

Direct flights from Edinburgh and London Stansted by Ryanair

Direct flight from Barcelone-Girona by Ryanair

To reach La Rochelle-Ile de Ré

Direct flights from Birmingham (Flybe), Bristol (Easyjet), Bruxelles Charleroi (Ryanair), Cork (Aer Lingus), Cork (Ryanair), Dublin (Ryanair), Edinburgh (Jet2), Glasgow (Flybe), Leeds (Jet2), London Gatwick (Easyjet), London Stansted (Ryanair), Manchester (Flybe), Oslo (Ryanair), Southampton (Flybe)

To reach Angoulême-Cognac

Direct flights from London Stansted by Ryanair

These flights are not necessarily scheduled every day of the week and all year long. Please check out the hours and periods of scheduled flights on the websites of the region’s airports.

You can also fly to Paris and then take a TGV from the Charles-de-Gaulle Airport or Paris-Montparnasse train stations to Poitiers and other cities in the region.

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