I am considering taking the family on Holiday to a location whereby we can take in the Warrington game out there in the middle of our stay.

We haven't been out of the UK before and I dont fancy flying (Size issues with seats rather than scared) so I am looking for some help and advice on how I would go about it.

Where should we be looking to stay, Family of 4 with 2 kids aged 12 and 16

Also how do I book it, individually or as a package and if so where do I go to look for such a thing?

i drove a couple of years ago , stayed at a camp site in canet plage , 15 minutes out of perpignan , excellent facilities and a fantastic beach . Campsite is mar estang and i booked through euro - camp . Its a long drive so we stayed just south of paris on the way down and just east of paris on the way back . the good thing about driving is the trip across the millau viaduct ( thats if your a bridge geek like me )

Geordie. there are a few options and the one you choose will depend if you want to drive part of the way and if so how much driving do you want to do. If you don't want to Fly France is not a bad place to get around because the rail system is very good. You used to be able to stick your car on the back of a train in Calais or Lille and get down to the south of France overnight and you could hire a sleeper cabin. I think you can get a car ferry from Portsmouth to Northern Spain (Santander) and drive the rest but this used to be a 24 hour ferry crossing and the Bay of Biscay can be pretty rough when I have done it. I am probably going to drive to Dover. Stick the car on a ferry to Calais (£115 return) drive to Paris and stop there for a couple of nights. Then continue on to a campsite on the south coast of France about an hour away from Perpignan. Stop in a glorified caravan (£800 for 7 nights) and on the day of the game either get a train to Perpignan or drive and get a hotel for the night. I have stayed in Perpignan for the game a couple of times when I have been with the lads but would not do it with the family. They might get bored of the bar outside the castle after a couple of days. I have missed the boat a bit as my first choice camp site ( canet, a 20 minute bus ride to Perpignan) is fully booked. Good luck.

I wondered if the milau viaduct would be on my way down there. If it wasn't far of the route, I was going to take a sneaky detour without telling the missus. She would kill me if I took a detour to see a bridge ( even if it is the tallest in the world).

You thought of going by Eurostar instead of flying ?

We have driven down three times now, but driving down in peak season (July-Aug) is just so much harder than when weve played in early/mid june, the traffic is ridiculous.

we have taken the now defunct speed ferry twice in the past, and then weve stayed overnight in a premier class hotel (cheap) in Boulougne, then done the full 12 hour drive across france the following day getting to Canet for tea time..!! which was quite easy

got it a bit wrong last year when we tried the eurostar (which was brilliant by the way...) we stayed in a travelodge in folkestone then got the euro very early in the morning and again did a full drive across france but the early start and the bad traffic was a killer...

in peak season, whatever method of crossing the channel, I think i'd agreee with the driving as far as the other side of Paris then having an overnight stay to break up the journey.

(the milau bridge is on the way btw no need for a detour)

Stay in Corsica, then get a boat to Toulon then 3 hour drive to Perp

Funnily enough we booked two weeks in Tossa De Mar a few hours ago. We are flying out of Liverpool to Girona with Ryanair. As regards the flying issue, I have flown before with bigger people than yourself and although a bit of a squeeze there have been no problems other than the slight embaressment of them having to ask for a seatbelt extension. Cost us £410 for four - considerabley cheaper than the driving options. Maybe worth contacting the airlines for a bit of advice. We found a hotel apartment (with some excellent reviews online) in Tossa De Mar using www.sunshine.co.uk. A touch over £1700 for two weeks but includes Half Board. The Half Board option worked out at an extra £8 per person per day - quite reasonable for breakfast and evening meal. I will then be booking a transfer from Tossa to the game with Catalan Sports Tours which will cost me £25 each. Tossa is only 90 miles from Perpignan so maybe staying in the Costa Brava is a worthwhile option for you even if driving. Total cost for the holiday (excluding the matchday transfers) worked out at £2,200 for two adults two kids (14 & 7). Everything was booked seperately but the total price included airport parking at Liverpool, Flights, transfers to and from the hotel and half board accomodation. PM me if you want any further info.

Funnily enough we booked two weeks in Tossa De Mar a few hours ago. We are flying out of Liverpool to Girona with Ryanair. As regards the flying issue, I have flown before with bigger people than yourself and although a bit of a squeeze there have been no problems other than the slight embaressment of them having to ask for a seatbelt extension. Cost us £410 for four - considerabley cheaper than the driving options. Maybe worth contacting the airlines for a bit of advice. We found a hotel apartment (with some excellent reviews online) in Tossa De Mar using www.sunshine.co.uk. A touch over £1700 for two weeks but includes Half Board. The Half Board option worked out at an extra £8 per person per day - quite reasonable for breakfast and evening meal. I will then be booking a transfer from Tossa to the game with Catalan Sports Tours which will cost me £25 each. Tossa is only 90 miles from Perpignan so maybe staying in the Costa Brava is a worthwhile option for you even if driving. Total cost for the holiday (excluding the matchday transfers) worked out at £2,200 for two adults two kids (14 & 7). Everything was booked seperately but the total price included airport parking at Liverpool, Flights, transfers to and from the hotel and half board accomodation. PM me if you want any further info.

I usually stay in Lloret in spain, plenty to do around there and some nice cheap hotels, then i get a coach over to france for the game.

I think a few of us are driving this year though

Quote ="Deus Dat Incrementum"I wondered if the milau viaduct would be on my way down there. If it wasn't far of the route, I was going to take a sneaky detour without telling the missus. She would kill me if I took a detour to see a bridge ( even if it is the tallest in the world).'" DO IT ! it's worth the trip and it's not off-route if you are driving from the channel ports try www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... aires.html from the channel ports head for Rouen - this way you miss Paris heading south then turn off to Clermont Ferrant which will take you straight down to Perpignan via the Millau bridge coming back try www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... raires.htm this will allow you to pass by Carcasonne,a medieval city as well as Toulouse which is a nice place then www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... aires.html which will take you north on the A20 with nice towns like Cahors,Brive ,Limoges etc on the way bon voyage

Quote ="Deus Dat Incrementum"I wondered if the milau viaduct would be on my way down there. If it wasn't far of the route, I was going to take a sneaky detour without telling the missus. She would kill me if I took a detour to see a bridge ( even if it is the tallest in the world).'" DO IT ! it's worth the trip and it's not off-route if you are driving from the channel ports try www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... aires.html from the channel ports head for Rouen - this way you miss Paris heading south then turn off to Clermont Ferrant which will take you straight down to Perpignan via the Millau bridge coming back try www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... raires.htm this will allow you to pass by Carcasonne,a medieval city as well as Toulouse which is a nice place then www.autoroutes.fr/preparez-votre ... aires.html which will take you north on the A20 with nice towns like Cahors,Brive ,Limoges etc on the way bon voyage

Quote ="Geordie"I am considering taking the family on Holiday to a location whereby we can take in the Warrington game out there in the middle of our stay. We haven't been out of the UK before and I dont fancy flying (Size issues with seats rather than scared) so I am looking for some help and advice on how I would go about it. Where should we be looking to stay, Family of 4 with 2 kids aged 12 and 16 Also how do I book it, individually or as a package and if so where do I go to look for such a thing?'" Dave,at Ctalan Sports Tours is worth speaking to (no,i'm not on commision !) if it was me I would contact one of the gite companies and fix up a 2 or 3 bedroom gite in the area try www.gites-de-france.com/ click on to the english sign and look through the available places to stay - don't hang about as they go quickly in the season - we use them all the time and haven't been dissapointed yet - or try www.sawdays.co.uk/accommodation/ ... oll=France we have used them also over the years and have not been let down good luck

Quote ="Geordie"I am considering taking the family on Holiday to a location whereby we can take in the Warrington game out there in the middle of our stay. We haven't been out of the UK before and I dont fancy flying (Size issues with seats rather than scared) so I am looking for some help and advice on how I would go about it. Where should we be looking to stay, Family of 4 with 2 kids aged 12 and 16 Also how do I book it, individually or as a package and if so where do I go to look for such a thing?'" Dave,at Ctalan Sports Tours is worth speaking to (no,i'm not on commision !) if it was me I would contact one of the gite companies and fix up a 2 or 3 bedroom gite in the area try www.gites-de-france.com/ click on to the english sign and look through the available places to stay - don't hang about as they go quickly in the season - we use them all the time and haven't been dissapointed yet - or try www.sawdays.co.uk/accommodation/ ... oll=France we have used them also over the years and have not been let down good luck

Geordie I'm larger than you round the middle and have had no problems with flights with bmi Ryan air or easyjet when it comes to flying. I'm taking my ten year old this year for the first time flying into girona then getting le frog bus to Perpignan 45 min journey. Last year got train to canet for day trip and bus is cheap as chips for days out for families loads of places to visit around Perpignan

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"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"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.

We're staying in Tossa, then getting the bus into Perpingian for the game. Perpingion is too expensive.