Getting there

by air

Access really is easy. Languedoc-Roussillon is less than a 2 hour flight from London, Stanstead. The airports at Toulouse and Montpellier connect to other international destinations. Other airports in the region include the Nîmes-Arles-Camargue, Carcassonne Airport near Toulouse, and Perpignan, all in France, plus nearby Barcelona in Spain.

There are several low cost airlines flying to this part of France :

RyanAir have daily flights from London Stansted to Carcassonne,Perpignan, Nimes, Barcelona and Montpellier (Tel 0871 246 0000).

In the summer 2 flights a day and in the winter 1 a day. They also have flights from Brussels to Carcassonne and a new schedule from Scotland, Glasgow Prestwick to Girona, north of Barcelona in Spain. There are also regular flights to Toulouse and Montpellier.

Another economical alternative with Ryanair is from Luton. The drive to
Stanstead for Ryanair flights can be a pain because of M1/M25 traffic problems. But Ryanair also flies from Luton to Nimes and there are certain dates available at .98p  Nimes is not too far from Gruissan straight along the autoroute.
You can if you wish return from another airport; car hire companies don't mind where you pick up or leave a car. See the Ryanair website for details

BMI Baby airlines are the low cost airline of British Midland (BMI) Airlines. From Cardiff to Toulouse. But operating mainly from British Midlands Airport, but with additional services from many other UK Airports. BMIBaby open a route from Manchester to Perpignan from 26^th March 2006 - a flight daily up to 28^th October 2006.

Flybe from Birmingham, Southampton and Belfast to Perpignan and Toulouse (0870 567 6676).

Béziers-Agde-Vias (50 km) 04 68 90 99 10
Perpignan-Rivesaltes (75 km) 04 68 52 60 70
Toulouse-Blagnac (150km) 05 61 42 44 00
Carcassonne-Salvaza (70 km) 04 68 71 96 46
Montpellier-Méditerranée (110 km) 04 67 20 85 00

You can easily get car hire at all these airports with Hertz, Avis, Budget and some smaller car rental companies. Car hire rates in the Languedoc are generally lower if the reservation is made outside France. Reservations can be made from the UK for collection at all serving airports. Or you can piick up a car just over the border in Spain which is still one of the least expensive locations for vehicle hire in Western Europe. Car Hire - Avis

the ferries

Seafrance : Dover to Calais

Hoverspeed : Dover to Calais, Newhaven to Dieppe

P&O Ferries : Dover to Calais, Portsmouth to le Havre, Cherbourg and Bilbao

Condor Ferries : Poole to St Malo, Weymouth to St Malo

Speedferries : Dover to Boulogne

Brittany Ferries : Portsmouth to Caen, Cherbourg, St.Malo; Poole to Cherbourg, Plymouth to Roscoff , Cork to Roscoff.

by road

The extensive road network and generally uncrowded autoroutes in France make driving long distances a pleasurable adventure. When route-planning, choose between the western A62/61 via Toulouse, the central and A75 (offering the shortest route from north to south via Paris and currently toll-free for much of the way), or the more easterly A9 by way of Lyons.

The RAC : web site can help you plan the route.

by train

Paris is just over a 5 hour journey by TGV train and other main stations of Languedoc-Roussillon are served by the TGV and Corail trains. There is also the fast TGV rail service from Paris which takes you to the Mediterranean in under 4 hours and is scheduled to extend as far as Barcelona and Madrid within a few years.

Eurostar London to Paris, then train to Carcassonne, Narbonne, Montpelier, Nimes or Perpignan.