Weekly commute Brittany - London

[Albert the infopikey]

We'll be moving to Brittany in a year or so, and I'm in the process of working out how to earn a living. At present I'm a freelance IT consultant and frequently find myself in contracts far from home.

If I can't get a decent living in France (the preferred option) then I could consider doing about 3-4 months a year in London (or wherever) to get enough to take the rest of the year off. The question is "how to commute?"

As far as I can see, there are no suitable flights from Rennes or Nantes (out Monday early-ish, back Friday PM) and using the Western Channel ferry services would mean getting home Saturday morning and leaving again Sunday evening -- not good.

Does anyone know if there are any options that would fit my needs? I know things may change before I move, but I've got to start somewhere.

For comparison, a while back I had a colleague who could be back in La Rochelle from London before I got home to Gloucestershire.

[Eslier]

Ryanair Dinard to Stansted is probably your best bet - fine for coming home Friday but you might need to travel back to London on Sunday afternoon.  Fairly reliable all year around service providing Dinard Airport isn't closed by snow which happened a couple of weeks ago on a Friday!

For more options, you could consider taking the Condor fast ferry service from St Malo to Jersey (usually 8am out of St. Malo gets into Jersey 8.10am) and then more flight options to either Gatwick or London City from Jersey.

[Miki]

Albert,

By the way you have posted on the forum, you very much appear to be

still some time away from moving here ? I  know you said things

are likely to change and in that respect, what anyone tells you now,

could be well off the

mark by the time you arrive. Already flight destinations and companies

have come and gone, new ones have come and gone and new routes have

taken their

place, some have stayed, some have gone seasonal only and some have

gone again altogether but a few routes have stayed.

Now add that to the uncertainty surrounding ferry services and the

rising cost of B.F, I think logically, you should ask your question far

nearer the time of arrival, as what is here now, you can be certain, it

will have changed in a year or two years time.

Sorry Eslier but relying on Jersey/Guernsey as an intermediate place,

has caught a few friends and family out on one too many occasions. When

it works, it's fine but when it doesn't and one carrier is late or one

of the flights or fastcrafts are cancelled, a night on Guernsey for

instance, can be a right pain in the...............

[Albert the infopikey]

Eslier wrote "consider taking the Condor fast ferry service from St Malo to Jersey ... and then more flight options to either Gatwick or London City from Jersey"

Sounds like fun! Hadn't thought of that one. More research to do.

[Albert the infopikey]

Miki wrote "I think logically, you should ask your question far nearer the time of arrival, as what is here now, you can be certain, it will have changed in a year or two years time. "

Miki, thanks; that's true, but I'm more in the way of looking for options. For instance, I always thought of Dinard as being an internal airport. Also, with the prospect of organising a house build I may find myself having to come over fairly often a lot sooner.

One thing I am sure of is that I don't want to be dependent on a single carrier, especially one of the low-cost types.

[Jo53]

Don't discount Eurostar. If you were near a decent TGV station (Rennes?) you could be in Paris in 2.5 h, 40 min to cross Paris, 40 min farting about checking in to Eurostar etc, then 3 hours ish and you are at Waterloo. Some of this time you could be working on the train, so could maybe negotiate flexible start and finish times on that basis. It doesn't compare too badly with flying once you factor in travelling to the airport and long check-in times. Eurostars run from very early to very late. Fares can be extremely cheap (about 30 each way inc tax) if you book ahead. The limiting factor would be how early/late the trains go to and from Paris from your local station.

Still not exactly a relaxed lifestyle though!

Jo