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Don't like flying


Deb
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I may have to travel back to the UK to commute for a while (approx 3 months at a time) and am not very keen on flying.  The journey will be from the Tulle area to the East Midlands.  Has anyone had any experience of this sort of journey by train or by coach? To drive myself would, I think, take too long.
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Deb

Two of our close friends from UK visit us here in Poitou Charente every year. Mr doesn't like flying; in fact he's terrified! They came the first time by BMIbaby, from Manchester to Bordeaux (before the other options of Limoges and La Rochelle were available), and the thought of flying back completely ruined their break. Now they come by coach, Eurolines. It works well for them and in fact they travel to other European holiday destinations this way. The journey starts for them in Manchester, and the first leg is to London. Then London to Lille and finally Lille to Niort. It takes about 20 hours door-to-door, a good part of it during the night, and quite honestly the thought makes me ill, but then that's what he hates about flying! The connections work quite well, without overlong waiting time. I think many of the French routes only operate during the holiday season. Check the website www.eurolines.com

My personal preference, if I had to go overland and not driving myself, would be the train. The price is the off-putting factor, although there are some special offers from time to time. www.voyages-sncf.com You can get to London OK but the fares from London to the provinces are expensive!

Why not check a route for driving yourself? www.viamichelin.fr  You may find that just breaking the journey near the Channel ports is enough to make it comfortable for you? Generally we stay overnight in a motel at around 50€ for a room - there's plenty of these chains around - but we use www.hotel-bb.com and pick one near Boulogne or Calais and then catch an early morning crossing and arrive 'oop north' in the afternoon. No sweat! If you're only doing the trip every 3 months I'd go for that, AND you'll have your car when you get there!

Bon voyage

Sid

 

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Hi Sid,

Many thanks for taking the time to give the advice.  I think that for me the coach might be the way to go (I can hear you going into a decline as we speak!), I know it takes ages but each time I get on a plane I manage to embarrass myself totally with the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.  There is a limit to how much fun I can stand!

Thanks again,

Deb

 

 

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Deb, I've done the journey by coach from Leicester to Brive by which seems similar to the one you are planning.

At Leicester we were ushered on to the first of three coaches because we were going straight to London Victoria. We were thrilled at first until it dawned on us that it meant we'd have to spend longer at the London coach station. We eventually set off in fine form from Victoria  and then the coach broke down outside the Home Office and we all had to get out so that it could be jacked up. We froze and the security guards outside the Home Office tried to move us on.

Once all that was fixed the journey was efficient and uneventful although I wouldn't call it particularly pleasant. The main problem wasn't the coach  it was our fellow passengers. That said, I got chatting to a couple who often travelled this way. They were highly organised. They had a bag each with various items of food and drink which meant that they weren't at the mercy of the local food providers. I suggest that you sit near the front so that you are close to the drivers. If you hate flying so much it has to be worth a try. Victoria Coach station isn't quite as bad as Stansted.

Hoddy

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Hello Hoddy,

Thanks for the reply, this does sound about right for me.  I live about 40 minutes away from Brive.  Please can I ask the following, did you get the train from Brive to Paris or does the coach do the whole trip?  Is the coach bit with 'eurolines' the european bit of National Express? Do you cross on the ferry or through the tunnel?

Sorry about all the questions but this seems to be the way forward for me, and again many thanks for taking the time to help out.

Regards

Deb

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We did the whole journey from Leicester to Brive by coach. The next stop on that route is Cahors which I presume wouldn't help you. We booked the whole thing through National Express. We crossed the Channel by ferry.

I'm happy to answer any other questions if I can.

Hoddy

 

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You can get the coach all the way to Brive from Victoria - I've done it some years ago and got off at Cahors but have to say it took a very long time and I didn't enjoy it, but then I don't like coach travel full stop (reason for doing it was I had been ill and advised not to fly).    You may also want to enquire about the train as we have quite a few clients who come to Toulouse by train and they can sometimes get deals although it does mean changing trains at Lille or Paris. 
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