Cycling in the Pyrenees with Allant Holidays: for cyclists who want great accommodation, coaching and facilities: how to get here

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How to get here: Galan, Hautes-Pyrenees, France

Our house is easy to find, situated in the typically-French village of Galan, 11km north of Lannemezan. We are within easy access of Toulouse, Pau, Biarritz, Carcassonne and Tarbes airports, while the French rail network links to Lannemezan and the TGV comes into Tarbes (30 minutes drive), Lourdes or Toulouse. Ferries arrive from the UK into Santander and Bilbao in nearby northern Spain. The Pyreneen autoroute is ten minutes away, making driving or coming via coach from the UK, or anywhere in mainland Europe, an option as well and bike buses drop cyclists at nearby Lourdes. Once you are here, either hire a car, take advantage of our transfer services or walk and cycle everywhere!

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Airports close to us in the Pyrenees

Pau-Pyrenees Airport - is exactly 1 hour's drive from the house. Ryanair provides direct flights from Stanstead & Bristol. (Connections can be made to Stansted with Ryanair from (Glasgow) Prestwick, Blackpool, Newquay, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Kerry and Shannon).

Toulouse Blagnac Airport - the airport is around 1-hour-15-minutes' drive from the house. British Airways from Heathrow, Easyjet from Gatwick & Bristol, BMI Baby from Manchester, Jet2.com from Leeds Bradford (May-September), Edinburgh (May-September) & Belfast (May-October), Aer Lingus from Dublin (May-October) all provide direct flights. There are also numerous airlines providing indirect flights from the UK & Ireland's other airports: try KLM, Air France or Lufthansa.

Tarbes-Lourdes Airport - this airport is around 40-minutes drive from the house. It primarily serves charter airlines, of which many fly from the UK (Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Gatwick, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Prestwick, Stansted, Teeside) but also now has direct flights from Stansted with Ryanair (starting in December 2009) and two daily flights from Paris with Air France.

Biarritz - this airport is just under two hours drive away and is well served with direct flights from Easyjet (Bristol & London Gatwick), Ryanair (Stansted, Birmingham & Dublin) and Air France.

Carcassonne - this airport is just over two hours drive away but has the advantage of direct flights coming in with Ryanair from many UK airports (Nottingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Bournemouth & Stansted) plus Shannon, Cork and Dublin from Ireland.

We can provide return transfers to/from all of these airports - see our prices page for details.

Coming by Train

The TGV links directly into Tarbes station (only a 30 minute drive away) or Lourdes (just under an hour away) and takes approximately eight hours from Paris. A quicker link also serves Toulouse (around six hours from Paris), with local trains from Toulouse to Lannemezan (15 minute's drive from us) taking a further 1hr15mins. You can take the Eurostar from London Waterloo and then move onto the TGV in Paris. If you are already in France, the local station of Lannemezan is served from many big cities using SNCF.

France by Ferry

If you want to bring your own car over to the Pyrenees but without driving the entire distance yourself, you could opt for one of the nearby ferry links into northern Spain. Brittany Ferries sails between Plymouth and Santander while P&O Ferries has a route between Portsmouth and Bilbao. It is worth noting that whale and dolphins are regularly seen on these ferry routes in the Bay of Biscay. The drive up from Spain to Galan takes around 4 hours.

Driving trough France

If you enjoy driving, then the route through France to the Pyrenees is a lovely experience. Including reasonable stops, the journey from Calais takes around 12 hours - possible in a day or part of the holiday if you stop over night. Ferries and the Eurotunnel make travel to the north of France easy and we can then supply a recommended road route using a mixture of toll roads, motorway and main roads. If you prefer having someone else to do the driving, then various coach companies operate through the UK and France, and if you have bikes to bring with you there are bike buses specifically tailored for this. These buses pick up cyclists (and their families/non-cycling companions) at various points throughout the UK and drops them off with their bikes (pre built - no need for bike boxes) at nearby Lourdes, so it is only a short cycle (or collection by us) to reach the house.

Our transfer service back to the house in Galan

We can drive you to and from any of the airports, local train stations or coach drop-off points. We have two large vehicles with bike racks and a trailer to accommodate most parties plus their luggage and sporting equipment. We also offer transfers to any excursions you may choose. The rate charged (see Prices for details) covers our fuel and toll expenses and means you can enjoy getting around the countryside with all your equipment without having to drive on the wrong (!) side of the road or use expensive taxis.

Hiring a car

If you are flying to France, it is easy to hire a car to collect at the airport. It is advisable to book in advance to avoid disappointment or a hold up on arrival. Cars can also be hired locally if you just fancy having a car for a few days, perhaps for a trip into Spain or to the coast.

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