G,

In the past I have looked into driving down etc, but flying down really is the best and cheapest option.

You could book a package holiday to somewhere like Llorett and just hop over to Perpignan for the game.

Before the match last year I was speaking to a guy who put his car on the train all the way down France but it cost him £1,100. We had paid £120 for return flights for the two of us plus one weeks car hire at £140 which made it less than a third of the price he paid.



If we go to Perpignan this year then without a doubt we will get a flight with Ryanair to Carcassone or BMI Baby to Perpignan and then a weeks car hire at the airport (pre book the car though its much cheaper).



If driving down is a must then you could get the ferry from Plymouth to Santander which is on the north coast of Spain and then drive across the North of Spain. Driving through France in August is a nightmare because that is when the WHOLE of the north of France drive down to the south coast and the traffic jams are legendary.

yes,flying is the easiest option (fly-drive ?) and the Santander is an option if you want to take the car - shouldn't worry too much about the french traffic tho' - it's always heavy in the season but allow more time ie.set-off earlier - you are not obliged to take the busy motorways for most of the journey across to Perpignan - take the motorway from Biarritz to St Gaudens and take the normal 'N' roads cross country through Foix etc - it's a nice run with great scenery as you follow the Pyrenees all the way from coast to coast.

Just to double check - the game is definitely going to happen in Perpignan and not Barcelona as was rumoured a while back?



Is there any way they could change the location on us?



As I was planning on making my 1st visit to this game with a mate.

Mate just fly, its 2 hours, if that. Its cheaper, quicker, and as to size problems i wouldnt worry. Its 2 hours of discomfort, much better than 18 hours of travelling and ars*ing about worrying about traffic, train delays etc etc etc.

obviously easier to fly but it's nigh on impossible to see the Millau viaduct at 30,000 feet wouldn't you say ?

Geordie.

August is the worst possible time to drive through any part of France as the last 2 weeks in July and the first 2 weeks in August are official french holidays. If you are looking to go over by Ferry start shopping around and book it asap as the prices will start to rise sharply. I go over 5-6 times a year and the cheapest option since Speedferrys went bust is probably Dover to Dunkirk. It's 2 hours on a slow ferry, but it giver the driver a break ande there's plenty of entertainment for the kids.

As already mentioned, steer well clear of Paris. The Peripherique is hell at the best of times, but at holiday time it's just a circular carpark. One other thing, the french motorways are excellent, but they are almost exclusively toll roads, so you will be paying a fair bit in tolls as well as the petrol ( the good news is that the petrol is cheaper than here.).

Not much diff petrol but Diesel is cheaper currently



€1.44 ltr petrol = £1.20

€1.27 ltr diesel = £1.06



I would love to drive. Just not in July or August..

No, google earth satellites are much higher than that, and it makes accessibility to Millau Viaduct far easier!

yes, avoid Paris by going via Rouen and cutting across



a lot of the motorways are toll roads but they are not obligatory - everywhere you see a toll road there has to be a free alternative,usually the previous 'N' class road - for example the A20 is the m'way going down towards Toulouse from Paris part of it is free because there is no alternative and the rest is toll because the original road still exists - everyone makes a bee-line for the m'ways but you will often find the old 'N' roads comparitively quiet at peak times ie Brive to Toulouse is a great 'N' road and the road from Toulouse to Narbonne then onto Perpignan is also pretty good - at least you see the sights and don't get caught up in the m'way jams - it saves you money and probably time in some cases so don't be put off the 'ordinary' roads in the busy months.

Quote leagueorunion="leagueorunion"No, google earth satellites are much higher than that, and it makes accessibility to Millau Viaduct far easier! '" can't argue with that - even easier look on : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct or even : www.leviaducdemillau.com/english/index.html you can see it for nothing !

Quote leagueorunion="leagueorunion"No, google earth satellites are much higher than that, and it makes accessibility to Millau Viaduct far easier! '" can't argue with that - even easier look on : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct or even : www.leviaducdemillau.com/english/index.html you can see it for nothing !

We are going Ryanair Liverpool to Reus, staying in a hotel in Lloret de Mar for ten days, £1500.00 for the five of us. Traveling or staying in France bumped the price right up.