1.   Brittany Ferries

The largest carriers of cars and passengers across the channel. There  are numerous routes, over and back, and either are possible. The most direct is Portsmouth to St Malo, an overnight crossing where you will need to book a cabin. The drive from St Malo to the property is 35 to 40 minutes.

Other crossings on this carrier are from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Poole to Cherbourg and Portsmouth to Caen. The travel time from Cherbourg or Caen to the property is between 2.5 to 3 hours.

One other crossing to consider if you live in the South-West is Plymouth to Roscoff. The journey from Roscoff to the house is 2.5 hours.

See www.brittanyferries.co.uk, www.brittany-ferries.com, or www.directferries.co.uk/brittany, for availability, prices and bookings. Tel 08705561600

2.    Condor Ferries

A smaller carrier that uses a Seacat to cross the Channel. This is a much faster ferry, that can do the longer crossing to St Malo in about 4 hours. Crossings are usually from Weymouth or Poole and go to St Malo or Cherbourg. The crossings to St Malo are rarely direct and often stop at Guernsey or Jersey on the way over. You then may have to disembark and catch another ferry to complete the journey. This inevitably adds time to the journey, and sometimes you may have a stop at one of the ports for up to 4 hours. However, this may give you the chance to do some extra sight seeing on the Channel Islands, fill up with cheap petrol on Guernsey, or have a nice relaxing meal. This crossing will also give you the opportunity of getting in some duty free shopping on the way over. (The Channel Islands are outside the E.U).

There are also conventional ferries from Portsmouth to Cherbourg or the Channel Islands by Condor Ferries, and then you will need to change on to a fast ferry service to St Malo.

See www.condorferries.com Tel 08702408003

3.    Flying

This will depend where you live of course and whether flights go to this part of the world. As new destinations are opening up all the time, you will need to look at your nearest airports and see what options are available. Rennes, about 1 hour away and the capital of Brittany has a regional airport, and flights now come from Exeter. Brest on the western tip of Brittany has some flights from GB, but is a good 3 hours drive away. Nantes is about 2 to 2.5 hours away.

There are other smaller airports that have local flights nearby, such as  Dinard, about 15 minutes from the property,

4.    Driving

With the opening of the  Channel Tunnel, those who live in South-East England might choose the option of the tunnel and then driving all the way to Brittany.

We haven’t explored this option, but a drive time from Calais to Dinan, will be at least 6 hours.

Directions

From the ferry terminal at St Malo follow toutes direction and then  signs to Dinard. Once you have passed over the Rance tidal barrier, follow the signs to Lamballe. At Ploubalay, continue to follow signs to Lamballe or Plancoet on the D768. On entering Plancoet, turn left at the first roundabout, towards Dinan and Corseul D794. At the next roundabout turn 2^nd right to St Michel de Plelan on the D19. Continue for 5 Kilometres into St Michel de Plelan and along the main street, passing the Tabac/café on the right and take the next small right hand turn, on the bend, where you will see a small sign for Les Hottieux. Follow this road round to the right and you will end up outside the property.

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