Hotel barge Saint Louis has her home port at Lacourt Saint Pierre, a small village about 50km (30 miles) from Toulouse Airport, which has excellent European connections. If your cruise starts at Agen, this town is about 115km (70 miles) from Toulouse Airport. You can be collected or returned to Toulouse Airport (or hotel) by us in our air-conditioned Mercedes people-carrier as an integral part of your cruise. Alternatively, arrivals or departures are quite possible, as appropriate, at Montauban or Agen (both are served by high-speed TGV trains) or Bordeaux (international airport and TGV). Just let us know which is most convenient and we will arrange to meet you.
Toulouse Airport (Blagnac – IATA ref TLS) is France’s 4th airport (outside Paris) with 5m passengers per year. Toulouse is well-connected within Europe, with flight connections with Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome, Frankfurt and Munich, as well as Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly. There are also good UK connections with London Gatwick and other cities via British Airways, BMIbaby and EasyJet. The airport buildings are facilities are modern and of a very high quality and a large new terminal building is currently being constructed (without unduly affecting the existing terminals). Toulouse may see the introduction of transatlantic services.
Bordeaux Airport (IATA ref BOD) is also well connected, with flights from Madrid, Brussels, Barcelona, Rome and Amsterdam, as well as both Paris airports and London Gatwick, Luton, Bristol and Edinburgh. Again, carriers include British Airways, BMIbaby and EasyJet.
The town of Agen, where Saint Louis’ cruises start or finish, is worth consideration – it has two flights a day from and to Paris Orly via the local French airline Airlinair.
Coming from Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong?
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Consider flying Emirates via Dubai (the spacious new A380 airliner is an option), arriving either in London or Nice – in this case, the onward flight from London is quite easy. Connections from Nice are less easy, however, involving a train to Marseilles and then a flight from there to Toulouse – or a 3-connection train journey – or a 5½ hour hire car drive from airport to Saint Louis. |
By Railway
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The famous TGV (Train à Grand Vitesse – high speed train) links Paris with Bordeaux, Agen, Montauban and Toulouse. Most, but not all, TGVs stop at Agen and Montauban – but don’t consider taking the TGV to Toulouse unless you are doing a night-stop there since it is an impossible station at which to meet people! Montauban and Agen stations are both efficient and easy in this regard. On the French rail websites, the entry for Montauban is slightly confusing since there are several Montaubans! The one you want is Montauban Villebourbon. This is the link to the English language TGV website, “RailEurope” for information and booking tickets. |
By Hire Car
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For those guests who aim to have part of their holiday in south-west France before their week on the Saint Louis, the well-known international car hire companies have offices in Montauban and Agen (as well as Toulouse and Bordeaux). Car Hire 3000 have an office in Toulouse and were nominated in the 2009 British Travel Awards. |
Remember, we are here to be as helpful as we can, both in the planning of your journey, and in the flexibility to meet you at a place of your choice.
Enjoy the planning, and enjoy the journey!
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