Page 556 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Long-Distance Bus Travel commuter trains and city buses, including the
RATP in Paris, Lyon’s TCL-SYTRAL, Tisséo in
Deregulation in 2015 invigorated the previously Toulouse, Marseille’s RTM/Le Pilote, Lille’s
almost non-existent long-haul coach business in Ilévia and Rennes’s Star.
France. SNCF now operates Ouibus, a low-cost Buses are more affordable in France than in
bus network which travels as far as Amsterdam most of Europe, although not air-conditioned
and London and includes several major French and often overcrowded. Costs can be reduced
cities. Local bus companies in each region of by buying tickets online rather than from the
France run frequent services between nearby
driver on board the bus. Get on the bus in the
NEED TO KNOW Getting Around Flixbus of cities with underground metros. French
cities. Flixbus has an extensive network across
front and exit at the back or middle.
Europe and all over France.
France is second only to Italy in the number
∑ flixbus.fr
metros are renowned for being efficient and
Ouibus
affordable, although note that not all metro
stations will have step-free access. Tickets for
∑ ouibus.com
both buses and metro trains must always be
Boats and Ferries
stamped in the validating machine.
Ilévia
For generations companies such as P&O Ferries,
DFDS Seaways, Condor Ferries and Brittany
RATP
∑ ratp.fr
Ferries have plied between Britain and French
RTM/Le Pilote
ports such as Calais, St-Malo, Le Havre, Dieppe ∑ ilevia.fr
and Cherbourg. Aferry has regular crossings to ∑ rtm.fr
Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco while Manche-Îles Star
Express connects to the Channel Islands and ∑ star.fr
Corsica Ferries to Corsica. Inland, barges and TCL-SYTRAL
narrow boats trace leisurely paths down France’s ∑ tcl.fr
waterways at walking pace. En-Peniche rent out Tisséo
a range of barges for use on the canals. It is not ∑ tisseo.fr
even necessary to leave Paris to take to the
water – the city’s Batobus riverboat shuttle runs Taxis
every 20–45 minutes (more frequently in the
spring and summer), while Bateaux-Mouches Official taxis are clearly identified. They can be
offer sight seeing cruises down the Seine. hailed in passing, but not within sight of an
Aferry official taxi stand. A number of apps have
∑ aferry.fr sprung up for summoning taxis, which can also
Batobus be ordered by phones at taxi ranks. Billing
∑ batobus.com begins from the moment of booking. Uber is
Bateaux-Mouches popular throughout France, but beware of rogue
∑ bateaux-mouches.fr drivers in private vehicles. Heetch is a late-night
Brittany Ferries app-based service running in nine cities.
∑ brittany-ferries.co.uk Heetch
Condor Ferries ∑ heetch.com
∑ condorferries.co.uk Uber
Corsica Ferries ∑ uber.com
∑ corsica-ferries.fr
DFDS Seaways Driving
∑ dfdsseaways.co.uk
En-Peniche The French love driving, and fast and spacious
∑ en-peniche.com autoroutes (motorways) fan out to every region.
Manche-Îles Express Driving in cities is not recommended – traffic is
∑ manche-iles.com heavy, there are many one-way streets and
P&O Ferries parking is notoriously difficult and expen sive.
∑ poferries.com
Driving to France
Public Transport For those driving from Britain to France, the
simplest way is to use the Eurotunnel shuttles
While the most rewarding way to take in any between Folkestone and Calais, both of which
French city is on foot, public transport is highly have direct motorway access. It is possible to
developed, integrated and affordable. Each drive from London to Paris in eight hours and to
major city has a system of underground trains, forge deep into the French Alps in one day. Paris
556

552-559_EW_France.indd 556 30/01/2019 14:48

EW Need to Know template v1.2 – 13th August 2018
Fonts: Aptifer Sans LT Pro, Posterama Text, Soho
Gothic Pro, Soho Pro