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Getting here and getting around |
Making the most of your time |
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Bus |
Just the Perpignan-Quillan route at the moment | Guidebook |
The widest range available | |||
Car rental |
The cheapest car rental in the Perpignan area. | Insurance |
At affordable prices | |||
Ferries |
All the cross-channel ferries for you to choose from | Language |
It's never too late to learn! | |||
Flights |
Both discount and "real" airlines at a discount | Money |
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Trains |
Train tickets in the UK and Europe | Maps & routes |
Online and ones to carry around too | |||
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Mas Camps Hotel |
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English |
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Français |
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Nederlands |  |
Portuguese |
Perpignan (PGF) airport itself is very small but it has daily flights from London Stansted (via RyanAir), Birmingham (FlyBe/AirFrance) and Southampton (FlyBe/AirFrance). AirFrance also operates a number of daily flights from Paris. If you don't live near Stansted and need to fly there to pick up the RyanAir flight, it can be cheaper flying the whole way on a normal airline rather than discount ones; I once priced a flight that was over £200 on discount airlines yet £140 on AirFrance on the same route. You can book your flights via the link below
(try Skyscanner for discount airlines).
Other airport options are
Carcassonne (CCF, RyanAir), 90 minutes
Girona (GIR, RyanAir), 90 minutes
Toulouse (TLS, major airlines), two hours
Barcelona (BCN, major airlines), two hours
Somewhat further away (about 3 hours) but often with very cheap flights is Rodez (RDZ).
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You can book airport transfers from Perpignan airport to Mas Camps (for 6€ per person, minimum 12€). Transfers must be booked in advance.
Perpignan is a long way from the ports but if you're bringing your own car you can book the ferry crossing here:
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Train Tickets
Perpignan is on the TGV route from Gare de Lyon in Paris or indeed from London Waterloo. You need to book TGV tickets in advance which can be done via the link below. Our nearest main train station is Rivesaltes. You can book rail transfers to Mas Camps with us for 6€ per person, minimum 12€ from Rivesaltes or 12€ pp, minimum 24€ from Perpignan (these are normally only available from 9am to 9pm). Transfers must be booked in advance.
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If you are hiring a car, the best options are Girona and Barcelona as the rates are usually lower in Spain (the link below should give you the cheapest car hire rate available in Perpignan). Girona is a much smaller airport and avoids the hassle of driving through Barcelona.
In French airports you have a choice of up to seven car rental companies: Ada, Avis, Budget, Europcar/Dollar, Hertz, National/Citer/Alamo, Sixt (the Ada and Citer websites are just in French). However, in answer to which is the cheapest car hire firm, it's the one available from the link below (we checked all the car hire firms that we could find which is why we're sure it is the cheapest):
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Bus
The Quillan bus from Perpignan bus station takes about 20 minutes to reach Mas Camps. Take the bus to Estagel (from quai 9) and phone us (04 68 29 10 77)from there to collect you (Estagel is about 2km from us); if you're going to do this, let us know in advance. There are six buses each day, except Sunday, when there are none; click To Quillan or To Perpignan for the timetables.
Guidebook
Don't forget to get a guidebook! Allow about a week for delivery, two near Christmas. In general, my personal preference is for the Lonely Planet series but, at the moment, the best one to get is the Rough Guide to the Pyrenees or their Languedoc & Roussillon guide, depending on exactly where you're going. If you're travelling further afield in France, Lonely Planet France, is an excellent reference-book style guide. However, the Rough Guide France is less encyclopaedic and you may find it easier to use.
For a good online review of what there is to see in the Pyrénées-Orientale, see Pyrenees Themes.
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Insurance
You might think that you don't need travel insurance for France. Think again. Even in the days of the e111 (now defunct), it only covered you for emergency treatment and didn't cover things like flying you home, rebooking flights, and theft. It's true that most people don't use it, but since it's generally under a tenner, is it worth the risk?
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Language
If you're planning a last minute trip, you probably think that you've left this a bit late. Yes, it's true that you won't get fluent in a week, but it is a lot easier to learn a language when you're in the country so it would be worthwhile to take along a Linguaphone course with you.
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You've probably already got Visa and Mastercard but have you tried to get them replaced if they're stolen abroad? Far from easy and in fact we've not come across anyone who's managed it whilst they were on holiday. On the other hand, lose an American Express card and you just need to call into one of their offices which, of course, always speak English. If you're short on time, get their travellers cheque card, if you've a month or so to play with, apply for their credit card (it's free).
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If you've a bit more time to play with, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get money abroad is Citibank. Not only does their Direct Current Account pay a sensible rate of interest but it also gives you free cash withdrawals in the UK & abroad.
Maps and Directions
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For maps, you could go for the Michelin Tourist & Motoring Atlas but unless you're going well off the beaten track, you'll probably find that their Mini Atlas is much more practical (if you're flying, the larger version is far too big to bring anyway). In terms of online maps, Mappy seems to give the best coverage of France and it also gives reasonable driving directions. |
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To get to Mas Camps hotel from Perpignan, follow the signs to Foix (which is to the west of the Perpignan on the D117). You pass through two small villages before reaching us. The direction signs are displayed on the airport directions page and there is a map of the local area here. You turn left as you leave the village of Estagel (staying on the same road): we are the white building just over the bridge you cross 2km later. From Foix, take the D 117 towards Perpignan. We are on your right 7km after Maury, at the end of the long straight section of road. |
A Personally Chosen guide designed by Crystal Consultancy. Copyright © John Arnold Stewart. Last revised: July 27, 2006.
