By air:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/
http://www.flybe.com/
http://www.bmibaby.com/bmibaby/html/en/splash.htm
There are low cost flights from many UK/Ireland/Northern European airports to:
Perpignan (25 minutes away, directions supplied)
Ryanair from London (Stansted), Birmingham and Bristol
Flybe from Southampton
BMIbaby from Manchester
Air France from Paris (Orly)
Barcelona/Gerona (Spain - 1 hour 20 minutes away, directions supplied - VERY EASY MOTORWAY CONNECTION)
Ryanair from Blackpool, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Charleroi, Dusseldorf, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dublin, East Midlands, Eindhoven, Frankfurt (Hahn), Glasgow/Prestwick, Karlsruhe-Baden, Liverpool, Luton, Paris (Beauvais), Shannon, London Stansted (4 flights a day), Stockholm and Teeside.
Montpellier (1 hour 20 minutes away, directions supplied)
Ryanair from Stansted
Carcassonne (1 hour 20 minutes away, directions supplied)
Ryanair from Dublin, East Midlands, Liverpool and Stansted
Airport Car Hire:-
Car hire is available at all the above airports. http://www.holidayautos.co.uk/ and http://www.travelsupermarket.com/ search for the most competitive rates.
Transport from Perpignan Airport:-
At Perpignan, a shuttle bus waits for each flight`s arrival (except the bmi flight from Manchester) and then transports passengers to Perpignan Bus Station and Railway Station. The cost is around 8 euros per person. Ille-sur-Tet is on the main bus and train route from Perpignan to Prades and costs around 5 euros per person. Last bus 6.30pm. Last train 7.50pm.
There are also taxis waiting outside the airport. Perpignan Airport to Ille-sur-Tet is a 20 mile journey - all dual carriageway.
By car and ferry:
http://www.ferrycheap.com/
This useful website links you to all the cross channel ferries. We usually use Brittany Ferries as they travel to St Malo and that means we get well down into France before we start to drive. Our apartments in Ille-sur-Tet are about 10 hours drive from St Malo but you would need to plumb in breaks. The other ferry crossings would be fine if you intended to rest overnight "en route".
A good budget hotel chain website link is: http://www.premiereclasse.com/
This will also link you to the Campanile and Kyriad group. All these are well known for overnight stops in France.
By rail:
http://www.eurostar.com/ goes from London (St Pancras) to Lille or to Paris
http://www.sncf.co.uk/ (TGV) - Lille or Paris to Perpignan then the local rail line (TER) - Perpignan to Ille-Sur-Tet. Last train to Ille is 7.50pm so you may need to get a taxi for the last leg of your journey.
Useful website: http://tetvalley.com/car-hire-train.htm
