Getting There and Getting Around

Getting There

By Road

La Cotte lies around 280 miles from the channel ports of Calais or Boulogne. There are two main routes to get there; either via Paris or via Rouen.The former takes around 4 hours and the latter about 4½ hours. Both use péage motorways with toll charges currently around €18 via Rouen or €30 via Paris . An itemised route card for the road via Rouen is available with the hire documentation. The route through Paris is entirely on motorways and dual-carriageways, but is complicated and anyone wishing to use it should thouroughly familiarise themselves with the many road changes beforehand.

There are a number of ferry and rail operators crossing the channel, but Speedferries
used to be by far the cheapest until it went into receivership in November 2008. An alternative operator offering good fares is Norfolk Line, although they go to Dunkirk, which is half an hour further from La Cotte than Calais or Boulogne.

A new ferry service operating between Dover and Boulogne has started up in 2009
and initial offer fares seem quite reasonable. The operator is L D Lines who may be worth checking out.

The Channel Tunnel offers the quickest and most frequent cross channel service although their fares tend to be high. Very off peak travel can be more reasnable. To check on availablity and cost go to the Eurotunnel website.

By Air

The nearest airport is Tours which is about 1½ hours away by road. The newly opened A85 motorway, to the south of St Viâtre at Romorentan-Lanthenay, connects to the A10 and Tours Airport.

There are daily flights between Stansted and Tours with Ryanair

Car hire can be expensive in France and the best deals appear to be from web based agencies. Cars can be collected and dropped off at Tours airport.

By Rail

The town of Lamotte-Beuvron is just five miles from La Cotte and has a main line railway station which has a regular two hour service via Orleans to Paris Austerlitz station. The Eurostar runs from newly refurbished London St. Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. The timetable for French railways is at SNCF Travel.

Guests have caught taxis to and from the station.

Getting Around

There is very little public transport around St Viâtre and Lamotte, although there is car hire in Lamotte. The railway station there connects to Orleans where there is a variety of public transport options to cover the whole region. For those with their own car, there is an excellent park and ride scheme operating in Orleans with several secure car parks on the outskirts and a new tram system to connect you to the centre. The cost is currently €2 for the car parking and return tram tickets for all of the passengers in the car.

For the more athletic, there are two bicycles at La Cotte on which you can peddle as far as you like! The local garage hires out bicycles by the day if you need more than two. Currently the rates are 15€ per day for adults or 10€ for childrens' bikes. There are discounts for hirings over 5 days.