Aquitaine Travel by Air, Sea, Road or Rail

• The Aquitaine region is a major centre of communication which offers lots of transport facilities to the rest of France, and main European cities.
• Bordeaux the capital of Aquitaine is located only 350 miles southwest of Paris.
• Aquitaine is only 1h55 mins by plane from United Kingdom thanks to the low costs companies operating throught the airports of Bordeaux, Pau, Biarritz and Bergerac.
• Aquitaine also disposes of an excellent rail network allowing travellers to visit and pass the 5 departments including the well-known TGV Atlantique.
• We can also notice the harbours of Bordeaux and Bayonne added to an excellent road network including the incontrovertible 560 kilometres of motorways to satisfy the most demanding visitors and inhabitants.

Links to the Aquitaine transport pages:

• For Air travel click here.
• For Trains and stations click here.
• For the road network click here.
• For Ferry trips click here.

Useful Information: Comprehensive Aquitaine Guide

		Travelling to Aquitaine by Air
Air traffic		In 2006 more than 4,8 million passengers travelled through Aquitaine main airports.
Largest Airport		Bordeaux Mérignac is the largest airport accounting for 2/3 of total air traffic in Aquitaine.
Local Airports		Agen Airport,Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport, Pau Airport and Bergerac Airport operate through all the France via national companies.
International Airports		Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport: British Airways flights from Londres Gatwick. Flybe flights from Southampton. Easy Jet flights from London Luton. BMIBaby flights from Birmingham and Manchester. Aerlingus and Air France flights from Dublin. Bergerac Airport Flybe and Ryanair flight from Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham,Exeter,Southampton,London Gatwick, London Stansted, Bristol. Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne Airport Ryanair flights from London Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin. EasyJet has also been providing flights to numerous destinations in England since February 2008. Pau Airport Ryanair flights from London Stansted.
Useful Contacts		Airline bookings and pricings: www.airfrance.co.uk, www.ba.com, www.bmibaby.com, www.flybe.com, www.easyjet.com, www.ryanair.com
		Travelling to Aquitaine by Train
Passengers		More than 5 millions train passengers a year in Aquitaine.
Regional Rail Network		Efficient mainline railways (Corail)and local railways(TER*)operate throughout Aquitaine.
National Rail Network		TGV* from Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux (3 hours). TGV* from Paris Austerlitz to Bayonne and Biarritz(5 hours). TGV* from Tours to Bordeaux called TGV South Europe Atlantic. Estimated completion railway line by 2016.
International Rail		Connection to Eurostar via Paris. Connection to Eurotunnel via Calais.
Useful Contacts		Railway bookings and pricings: www.eurostar.com, www.raileurope.co.uk, www.sncf.fr, www.eurotunnel.com
		Travelling to Aquitaine by Road
Daily Trafic level		More than 27300 total vehicles in use every day accross the regional road network.
Road network		Aquitaine accounts for 5,4 % of the national road network, including 561 kms of motorways and 1511 kms of roads. "Grand Gabarit Itinerary"(IGG*)especially planned between Bordeaux harbour and Toulouse for Airbus A380 transportation.
Mains motorways		A10 "l'Aquitaine": from Paris to Bordeaux, via Orléans, Tours,Poitiers, Niort and Saintes.(543kms) A62 "L'autoroute des deux mers"from Toulouse to Bordeaux, and then to Narbonne and Montauban. A63 " l'autoroute des Landes ":across the Landes, from Bordeaux to Hendaye and spanish border(Biriatou). A64 " La Pyrénéenne":from Toulouse to Bayonne via Tarbes Lourdes and Pau, also crossing the south of France from West to East "Bayonne to Nice". A89 "La Transeuropéenne":covers 306kms from Lyon to Bordeaux via Clermont-Ferrand. Future A65 "Langon-Pau" : from Bordeaux to Langon, Mont-de-Marsan,Pau. Estimated completion date october 2010.
Distances		Driving distance from Paris to Bordeaux:5h30mins(600kms) Driving distance from Paris to Pau:8h00mins(750kms)
Useful contacts		Car Rental: www.hertz.fr, www.avis.fr, www.rentacar.fr, www.europcar.com, www.easycar.com Trafic Information: www.autoroutes-trafic.fr, www.infotrafic.com, www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr Itinaries: www.www.viamichelin.fr, www.mappy.com, www.igg.fr
		Travelling to Aquitaine by Sea
Mains Harbours		Bordeaux and Bayonne harbours offer the opportunity for boats to dock close to city centre.Tourists passengers consists of only 1,8% of all trafic passing to Aquitaine harbours.
Cargos Traffic		Total freight for the ports of Bordeaux and Bayonne consists of 12.6 million tons a year. Record traffic level of 4.3 million tons in 2004.
Canals Network		Canal du Midi,Canal de Garonne and Canal des Landes are used for touristic itineraries and freight transportation.
Ferry Ports		There is no ferry port in Aquitaine. The nearest are: In Brittany : Roscoff from Plymouth via Brittany Ferries or St Malo from Poole via Condor Ferries. In Spain Bilbao from Portsmouth via Acciona Trasmediterranea or Santander from Plymouth via Brittany Ferries.
Useful Contacts		Ferry bookings and pricings : www.brittanyferries.com, www.condorferries.com, www.hoverspeed.com, www.norfolkline.com, www.POferries.com,www.seafrance.com, www.speedferries.com,www.transmancheferries.com

* TGV (Train à grande vitesse = high speed train)

* TER (Train express régional = regional fast train)

* IGG (Itinéraire Grand Gabarit = wide load itinerary)

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