Les Auvergnats Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 We've just returned from our 5th trip to St Etienne having finally bought our much longed for maison secondaire in the Livradois Forez area (63) only to find dear Ryanair are stopping the service from 4 June and transferring it to Grenoble. Drat to put it mildly!Can anyone out there suggest an alternative route on a cheapie airline? Have never paid more than £30 return so realise this is going to take some matching. There doesn't seem to be anything not via Paris into Clermond, Limoges looks much more expensive, and Grenoble is at least a 2 hr drive away. Lyon may be possible but I can never seem to find anything very reasonable. Alternatively, has anyone experience of SNCF fares to Issoire?Guess the moral is, never rely on Ryanair being a permanent fixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Eastjet do have flights from £14 excluding taxes from Stansted to Lyon, but you will have to plan carefully to get these cheap flights. Alternatively for £50 including taxes BA fly from Heathrow to Lyon (Saint Exupery) and you are not treated as cattle. It has been said many times on this site never rely on low cost airlines maintaining their routes, Ryanair especially seem to chop and change.Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Jacques Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Oh dear thats a shame!We have a house in 71 and is about 1.5 hours from St. Etienne. Although we often missed the cheapest fares as we always have to travel in the summer holidays it will be sad to lose the option. We have used Lyon a few times but you are right fares even with Easy Jet are nearly always prohibitive. BA are sometimes better but again of course not during the school holidays!Have checked the trains too but again really expensive, so we now just put up with the 8-9hr drive from Calais which is ok if going for a week or more but not much good if just popping over for the weekend! DaleP.s Les Auvergnats notice you have oxon in your tag, where abouts? we live between oxford and henley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Auvergnats Posted March 26, 2006 Author Share Posted March 26, 2006 Thanks Baz. You've confirmed what we suspected. Most of our trips will be by car but sometimes it's nice just to nip over on a cheapie for a day or two. I'd be very interested to hear though of any future developments through Clermond which seems to have been avoided by all the cheap airlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliap Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hello I have just spotted the same as you today - Ryan Air ceasing to fly to St Etienne. Our holiday house is in Chabreloche (63) and often, I have driven there for a full week with our children and my husband has flown out for the weekend to St Etienne to join us. It's a bit of a blow and,at the moment, we would probably opt for flights to Lyon Saint Exupery (spelling?). I keep hearing rumours about flights to Clermont Ferrand but have seen nothing as yet. At Easter, I have managed to book my husband on an airmiles-paid Eurostar train from Ashford to Paris. Then, via RailEurope (www.raileurope.co.uk), I have got him a fast SNCF train from Paris to Clermont Ferrand for £15 which seemed a bit of a bargain. I doubtI'll alwasy be able to get such a good price though, but from time to time it might be handy. I anyone else knows any other good possiblities ofr reaching the Auvergne (or thereabouts), I'd be really interested.Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Perhaps Brive Airport will be of some use when it finally opens.Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Yes I agree it is a pity the St Etienne flights are ceasing, however with the current timetabling this enforces an overnighter in Stanstead so it is quicker for me to drive.The one time I used easyjet it was cheaper than the near standard "business class " Ryanair fare - very few cheap cheap offers on this route - but still not expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 I really can't see why on earth Ryanair are going to Grenoble. Yes, it's closer to the Alps that St E, so should be easier for the mountain tourists and probably cheaper to use than Lyon. But if they had chosen Chambery, it would have been a significant journey saving for those heading towards the ever popular Tarentaise and probably no worse than Grenoble for the southern Alps. (Judging by the web sites, Chambery and Grenoble seem to be in a consortium so perhaps it was decreed).Oh well, as long as FlyBe keep the Southampton to Chambery route, then I am happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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