Getting Here

There are lots of ways to get here. You can drive all the way, take the train, or fly and hire a car at the airport.

Driving

The best way to drive to south-west France is to take the Portsmouth - St Malo route on Brittany Ferries. The route is served by The Bretagne, which is more like a luxury cruise-liner than a cross-channel ferry. You get on-board about 8pm for an 8:30 departure, just in time for a delicious meal in the very affordable restaurant. Then there's live entertainment, usually with a cabaret and a magic show, and a good night's sleep. The cabins have en-suite showers and there's time for breakfast before you arrive in France about 8am, just as sleepy St Malo is coming to life. It's then about 400 miles on good dual carriageways and motorways down the western side of France, well away from the bulk of the holiday traffic. You don't even need a map, just follow the signs to Rennes, Nantes, and then Bordeaux. You can stop for a leisurely lunch and easily be in Mimizan by 4pm. Unfortunately this crossing is expensive, but make sure you ask us for our Brittany Ferries discount code and you'll get 20% discount. For the return journey, consider Caen - Portsmouth as the last ferry leaves late at night, allowing you plenty of time to get to the port. Even if it costs a little more, this route is by far the easiest. And no, we don't get any commission!

Brittany Ferries also operate from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander in northern Spain, and in 2011, they took over the former P&O route from Portsmouth to Bilbao.

The cheapest crossings are usually from Dover to Calais or Boulogne, where several ferry companies compete with Eurotunnel, leading to much more competitive pricing. But it's a 600 mile drive from there to Mimizan so you may want to make an overnight stop, and there are more tolls to pay, so you do need to look at the full end-to-end cost. France has lots of small, informal hotels where you can spend a very pleasant and relaxing evening, and it's well worth taking some time to find something you like the look of. You can try Active Hotels and Formule 1, but there are many more.

There are several other ferry routes. LD lines offer several routes, as do Condor, or try one of the web sites that compare ferry prices for multiple routes and operators, such as Direct Ferries.

The company that collects tolls on French motorways have a useful website in English, with a journey planner and toll calculator, and details of how to apply for the Liber-t automatic toll payment service.

Flying

The nearest airports to Mimizan are Bordeaux and Biarritz. Both are about an hour and a quarter drive from Mimizan. Bordeaux is a little easier but there isn't much to choose. We try to keep this table of airlines and destinations up to date but it frequently changes.

Parking at the smaller airports can be a lot cheaper than at Heathrow or Gatwick.

Car Hire

Car hire prices vary and it's best to shop around on the web and book in advance. Try here for Biarritz, or here for Bordeaux, or go directly to the hire companies. Bordeaux airport has Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Alamo and Budget, among others.

For an airport transfer service, try Unique Holidays.

Trains

Some of our guests drive one car down, while other members of the party fly. But flying isn't the only option - you can take the train all the way. The Eurostar from London to Paris takes about two and a half hours, and the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux takes about three and a quarter hours. The Eurostar can be expensive and it's not the only option. For example, you could travel as a foot passenger from Portsmouth to Cherbourg and the TGV would get you to Bordeaux in just over 7 hours for under €100. The SNCF website will tell you the price of any train journey in France and you can book online.

There's a shuttle bus (Navette) from Bordeaux airport to Bordeaux central station, which takes 45 minutes in either direction. From Bordeaux central you can get a train to Ychoux or Labouheyre - book online at SNCF . Labouheyre is about 20 minutes by road from Mimizan. Ychoux is about 30 minutes.

Buses

RDTL run buses around the region. Their website is absolutely dreadful, especially if you don't read French, so ask us if you need help. Service 13 connects Mimizan and Labouheyre station, but there are only four buses per day, and they don't run on French bank holidays!