Information regarding travelling to the Vendee in Western France - including details of ferry crossings, budget flights, car hire...

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The Vendee - an easily accessible French holiday destination.

The Vendee region of France has a great advantage...it is a part of France that is very easy to get to, yet it is  located far enough South to enjoy a warmer climate, which makes it an ideal choice for families with children.

On this  page we can offer various suggestions for your travel*.

For planning your trip to the Vendee and getting to your holiday cottage, you can use the Michelin or Mappy websites or rely on your GPS/Sat-Nav, but please beware of errors and omissions. In all cases, we recommend that once your are in the general area you make use of the detailed directions and arrival instructions that are provided with your holiday accommodation paperwork, as these are based on real local knowledge.

See also - Hints and tips for holidays in the Vendee.

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Travelling to the Vendee by car

If you are planning a sea crossing, the following chart of distances from the ferry ports will help you in deciding your holiday travel arrangements. The shortest sea crossings from the UK are Calais and Cherbourg, whereas the shortest drive in France is from St Malo (only 3 hours to central Vendee).

See below for a full list of ferry crossing routes.
The RAC website has excellent information on ferry crossings to France.

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Ferry   Port                Km       Miles

   A       Roscoff         424        265

    B       St Malo         296        185

   C       Cherbourg   416        260

   D       Caen              358        224

   E       Le Havre       461        288

   F       Calais            715        447

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Distances to the town of Lucon, by the usual road route.  Travel times and distances to individual holiday properties may vary from this depending on their exact location.

Flydrive to the Vendee, France

You can easily fly to the Vendée, various airlines offer a competitive and convenient solution. 
Two airports are located nearby:
Nantes Atlantique Airport to the north of the area.
La Rochelle Airport to the south of the area.
Depending on exactly where you are staying, these two airports are within 30 to 90 minutes drive of most of the Vendee.
You can also fly to Poitiers Airport (90 minutes from central Vendee).
Car hire is available at these airports (see below).
You can contact the the usual low-cost companies for flights to these airports (links below) o you can check the various flight comparison sites.

Air travel links 

Airports:
Nantes Atlantique
La Rochelle
Poitiers
Taxis and transfers from airports
Car hire in France

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Air companies and low costs flights:
Air France
British Airways
EASYJET
FLYBE
RYANAIR
 

Car hire in the Vendee

Car hire is available for pick-up at the airports in this region, Nantes, La Rochelle and Poitiers. Rhino Car Hire and Holiday Autos offer various great deals on holiday car rental in France.
Take care to specify the pick-up and drop-off times to correspond with your flights as some car hire companies can be a little inflexible in this respect at the smaller airports. Child seats can usually be provided, but make sure on this point.

Getting to the Vendee by train

There is now a TGV (high-speed train) link from Paris to Vendee which takes less than 3 hours, stopping at La Roche sur Yon and Les Sables d'Olonne. This, combined with the Eurostar cross-channel service, offers a convenient alternative to ferry or plane.
Car hire is also available for pick-up at either of these stations.
Please check the various timetables and prices on www.voyages-sncf.com or the TGV site

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*Suppliers mentioned in this document are only suggestions. The client makes his/her own free choice as to their suitability and we do not take part in any arrangements or purchases that the client may make through these companies.

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cottages and Villas with pool