Local Buses
Estagel is served by several daily bus services that link Perpignan to Quillan. http://www.cg66.fr/institution/transport/bus/index.html provides links to bus timetables for the whole departement. Select Quillan to Perpignan for Estagel services. Note that there are no busses to or from the village on Sundays. Single tickets (“aller simple”) are about €5.
Top Tip: The service is operated by GEP Vidal, who run large golden coloured coaches which are easy to spot at Perpignan in the bus station. (“Gare Routiere.”)
Beware: the bus service is happily smoke free so the driver is often twenty minutes early or more, leaving him longer to feed his addiction when he gets to Perpignan. The journey should take about thirty minutes, less if the driver has a real craving!
By Air
We recommend www.skyscanner.net to compare routes and prices at a glance from all European airports. The site will produce a bar graph showing the best deals on any given route each day over a month. You can also use it in reverse to find our where the local airports listed below have services to. (i.e. put “Perpignan” as your point of departure so that when you click on the drop down list under “destination” you get a short list of airports that are connected to Perpignan and then choose the one most convenient for you.)
Perpignan airport (PGF) is the closest to the house, a mere 24 km (15 miles) from our front door. It’s so small that it looks like a child’s toy. Small, faded but efficient. Car rentals are available but foreign exchange is not. (There is an ATM outside by the parking pay point.) There is a shuttle bus (”Navette”) to Perpignan Bus Station and Train Station. Tickets are E4.50 one way from the driver. (Connections to Estagel are possible from the bus station.)
Carcassonne airport (CCF) is also convenient, only 100 km away. (Approx 60 miles.) The beautiful walled city is worth a visit itself if your flight allows. It’s faster to travel on the autoroutes (Leave at Perpignan Nord) but if you have time to meander via Quillan it’s the most stunning drive to kick start your holiday.
Montpellier airport (MPL) is 170km away. (105 miles.)
Toulouse airport (TLS) is a “proper” international airport, 225 km away. (140 miles.)
Gerona airport (GRO) is 119km away in Spain (74 miles.) It has loads of convenient flights but the border crossing can have queues in excess of two hours if the Spanish are trying to catch illegal workers in the summer. Please also note that most car hire firms will charge an extra seven Euros per day to drive a Spanish car in France.
Barcelona airport (BCN) is good for intercontinental flights and is 217km away. (135 miles.) As with Gerona, allow plenty of time for the border crossing in the summer and check the car hire deals carefully.
Ferries
www.speedferries.com is very cheap if you book well ahead. (They sail from Dover to Boulogne)
www.norfolkline-ferries.co.uk are also cheap but slower. (Dover to Dunkirk.) They were very helpful when our trailer collapsed under the weight of wine at the dock in 2005.
www.eurodrive.co.uk will search all routes from the UK and Ireland to France and Spain. (Please note that we have not used this site as yet.)
Road
Work out your route on a planner such as www.multimap.com or www.theaa.com
Rail
Sadly trains no longer stop at Estagel Station. You have to hop off at Perpignan, which has high speed connections to Paris, Marseilles, Barcelona and other major cities. We know of a lady who regularly travels to the area from Yorkshire by train. Apparently, the trick is to book tickets on-line sixty days in advance at www.raileurope.co.uk for the best possible fare. www.seat61.com has advice and links on this topic.