Whats the best and/or cheapest way to get from Oxfordshire to Sarlat (France)?

Spursman180

The route crossing from Portsmouth to Caen and then run down through Le Mans, is not only the shortest but avoids the spin round the M25 and M20 down to the shuttle, but also avoids Paris. If you've not driven abroad then avoiding Paris is best done.

I would suggest with young ones look for a late ferry crossing, keeping them awake until you hit France and they should sleep through the night, driving down overnight is more relaxed.

The satnav is a must as are a potty and loads of wipes, we used to pack a fridge bag with the kids breakfasts in tupperware type bowls and make a bit of a picknic breakfast. The are loads of stopping points on the motorways, to have one. A couple of flasks of tea and coffee are useful as well, nothing worse than fancying a break and having to disturb the kids and have them winge their way through a Routier cafe. Most stopping areas have a kids play area and somewhere to tidy the car up.

Similarly on the way back leave in the evening and do it in reverse.

Spursman180

The Eurostar journey is one of the more difficult ones they do, I usually try and travel via Lille, it is an easier station to do so and you avoid Paris, although from Gare du Nord to Austerlitz is a single train journey and no changes. Your challenge will be 2 tots and the fact that they'll have as much luggage as you will, you sound a bit nervous and whilst the Metro is easy to use it will take a bit of fortitude with kids and baggage. Tickets on Eurostar vary in price and it's too early to check, you will have to pay for the 4 year old and I would reckon it will be in the £500 region plus metro, tube etc? Parking in London for 2 weeks could easily be in the £200+ bracket for secure parking.

The car would be for me the favoured option as you can pack it with all the bits and pieces to keep the kids comfortable and happy, whilst the other half has the driving to do? Once he settles in it is manageable and he might enjoy it.

I've done a few runs further down south (with 4 kids) and we got in to a routine, they were a bit older than yours, needed a day really to catch up from the drive so I wasn't a grouch monster but other than that no problems. The language is not an issue although they do seem amused but not rude when you try. Parisians can be a bit 'awkward' I suppose but the locals/ more rural types are pretty laid back. And the kids all made their own friends neither being able to understand each other but that did not seem to matter.

A story the missus didn't realise what was going on....I took her to buy a swim suit in Palavas, not able to try it on in the shop, when she tried it on back where we were staying it was too small...took it and her back to the shop next day, in my very poor French I managed to explain to the sales girl that it was a nice costume and that my wife was too big for it!!! When the girl picked herself up from the floor she changed it no problem. Fortunately the wife don't come on here and you good people won't grass me up.



I would drive

martindow

If you are considering the train look at https://www.seat61.com which has lots of helpful information. Eurostar/TGV is a very pleasant journey to the south of France

pompeyrich

taliwillow wrote: »

So far the flights that I have found will cost around £1000 to Bergerac leaving around a 1 hour drive after landing, or around £650 to Nimes leaving a 5 hour drive after landing. As we also need to buy passports which we believe are going to cost us £253 then flying to Bergerac is going to cost us £1253 whereas we estimate driving and going by ferry is going to cost us £666 and driving going by tunnel will be around £607. So as we are looking at such a reduced amount by road then it almost seems the best option but if I can get an idea of costs for tolls and maybe any stops that may seem essential due to the long drive then I can work out which is the best option. I tried to do a search to find out what other airports there are in that region of France but wasn't very successful at finding any so not sure if they don't exist or whether I just couldn't find them.

As sunshinetours suggested, the Via Michelin site HERE, is very good and shows tolls, seem to be around €45 each way from Calais, or €20 e/w from Caen, around an 8 hour drive from Calais, or 6 from Caen. Given the much cheaper prices on the Dover/tunnel option, imo that would be the better route if driving.

claire16c

taliwillow wrote: »

I'm sorry for sounding so stupid. I'm not like this about most things but due to anxiety issues (fear of death through a plane falling thousands of feet to the ground, fear of being arrested in another country due to the prescription drugs my husband and I are on possibly being illegal in that country, fear of my children getting ill and can't get them help as I don't speak the language - and the list goes on) I've not travelled out of the country before. I still have those anxiety issues but I can't let them hold my children back like they have held me back. I want my girls to have an interesting and exciting life!

Good on you. Maybe after this trip you will be more au fait with travelling and one day can take them to Disney or something.

Voyager2002

Personally, I would be terrified driving in a country where I don't speak the language.

(I was once questioned by the French police, and they didn't speak any English, and that was bad enough. At the time my French was very basic, but it in the end it did the job.)

There have been some very helpful posts about train travel, and I still think that is the way to go. I did check on the timetable, and sadly there are no journeys shown from Lille to the OP's destination that do not involve the change of stations in Paris. The metro is easy, but always involves lots of stairs, so would be tricky with little children and all the luggage for them.

sunshinetours

Train fares for a whole family in peak season will be high though. Driving in France is very easy - I've done it for years and have never been stopped yet by police. Just take it easy as stick to speed limits and make sure you comply with the well publicised requirements

Noone should be "terrified" of driving in France unless they are terrified of driving in the UK IMO

emay

We did the tunnel to Nontron earlier in this year, unless there will be 2 of you to share the driving I wouldn't recommend it, unless you are willing to stop at a hotel part way, it's a long drive.
We're going by ferry to le harve this time, still a long drive, but at least we'll have had a nights sleep on the ferry.
They do have a lot more service stations along the motorways than we do here so you don't normally have to drive far between them (although some of them are just toilets and picnic tables!)
The tolls were about £40, and we used via michelin to plan the route and that tells you not only were the tolls are, but how much it will be, so no struggling to understand them at the booths you can just hand over the right money.
If you're not a confident map reader I would defiantly recommend a satnav too (they have a tendancy to give the same road more than one road number!)