TRAVEL INFORMATION
We collect our students in our minibus from: St MALO Ferry Terminal and either DOL-DE-BRETAGNE or DINAN railway stations. We also return them to these departure points at the end of their stay. If there are multiple arrival / departure places and times, we might have to ask students to wait for a short while.
Students are normally expected to arrive at Le Grand Osier on the Sunday at the beginning of their course. On one-week courses, departure is on the following Saturday; on ten-day Summer courses, departure is on the Wednesday of the second week.
FERRY
This is our preferred route when it is available.
Brittany Ferries (Tel: 08705 360360 and www.brittany-ferries.co.uk) do not allow unaccompanied people under the age of 16 to travel on their ferries. This should not affect any of our students, most of whom take the overnight Saturday crossing from PORTSMOUTH to St MALO and return to England on the following Saturday’s day crossing (or the Wednesday of the following week for summer courses). Details of these crossings are as follows:
TO FRANCE: Depart from PORTSMOUTH on Saturday evenings 2030; Arrive at St MALO on Sunday mornings at 0800.
FROM FRANCE: Depart from St MALO on Saturday mornings at 1030*; Arrive at PORTSMOUTH on the same evening at about 1830.
* The crossing from St. Malo to Portsmouth may be a night crossing during certain months.
(These times may vary slightly when there is a very low tide at St Malo)
TRAIN
The Eurostar goes from LONDON to PARIS. There are high-speed trains from PARIS to RENNES whence there are connecting trains to DOL-DE- BRETAGNE (direct trains from Paris to Dol-de-Bretagne run a few times a day). Also, each year some of our students come to us either before or after holidays elsewhere in France. You will find full details of trains on the Trainline ( https://www.thetrainline.com/ ) or on the SNCF website ( www.sncf.com/en/booking-itinerary/book-tickets ).
CAR
Every year, some parents combine delivering their sons and daughters to us with their own holidays in France. Please contact us for directions to Le Grand Osier.
AIR
At the time of writing (early September 2022) there are only a few direct flights a week from the UK to Rennes, from London Gatwick. At the moment, the flight schedule means that students cannot take this route to come to us. The only option for travel by air is to fly to Paris, and then either get a train from Paris to Dol-de-Bretagne, or catch a second flight from Paris to Rennes. This might be the preferred route for students travelling from Scotland, in which case we shall, of course, pick them up at the airport in Rennes.
Dinard airport is no longer functional and now only operates as an aerodrome for private aeroplanes, and as a technical platform. So far, only one of our students has been delivered by private aeroplane!
TRAVEL FORMS
When you book, we will email you a travel form for you to complete and return to us as soon as possible. We apologise for sending you yet another form, but on three separate occasions in the past, a student has arrived a day late without warning us! Admittedly, one was travelling from the United States and another from Costa Rica – but if this form helps to clarify travel arrangements and avoids us having to make frantic international telephone calls trying to locate missing students, it will have served its purpose!
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We collect our students in our minibus from: St MALO Ferry Terminal and either DOL-DE-BRETAGNE or DINAN railway stations. We also return them to these departure points at the end of their stay. If there are multiple arrival / departure places and times, we might have to ask students to wait for a short while.
Students are normally expected to arrive at Le Grand Osier on the Sunday at the beginning of their course. On one-week courses, departure is on the following Saturday; on ten-day Summer courses, departure is on the Wednesday of the second week.
FERRY
This is our preferred route when it is available.
Brittany Ferries (Tel: 08705 360360 and www.brittany-ferries.co.uk) do not allow unaccompanied people under the age of 16 to travel on their ferries. This should not affect any of our students, most of whom take the overnight Saturday crossing from PORTSMOUTH to St MALO and return to England on the following Saturday’s day crossing (or the Wednesday of the following week for summer courses). Details of these crossings are as follows:
TO FRANCE: Depart from PORTSMOUTH on Saturday evenings 2030; Arrive at St MALO on Sunday mornings at 0800.
FROM FRANCE: Depart from St MALO on Saturday mornings at 1030*; Arrive at PORTSMOUTH on the same evening at about 1830.
* The crossing from St. Malo to Portsmouth may be a night crossing during certain months.
(These times may vary slightly when there is a very low tide at St Malo)
TRAIN
The Eurostar goes from LONDON to PARIS. There are high-speed trains from PARIS to RENNES whence there are connecting trains to DOL-DE- BRETAGNE (direct trains from Paris to Dol-de-Bretagne run a few times a day). Also, each year some of our students come to us either before or after holidays elsewhere in France. You will find full details of trains on the Trainline ( https://www.thetrainline.com/ ) or on the SNCF website ( www.sncf.com/en/booking-itinerary/book-tickets ).
CAR
Every year, some parents combine delivering their sons and daughters to us with their own holidays in France. Please contact us for directions to Le Grand Osier.
AIR
At the time of writing (early September 2022) there are only a few direct flights a week from the UK to Rennes, from London Gatwick. At the moment, the flight schedule means that students cannot take this route to come to us. The only option for travel by air is to fly to Paris, and then either get a train from Paris to Dol-de-Bretagne, or catch a second flight from Paris to Rennes. This might be the preferred route for students travelling from Scotland, in which case we shall, of course, pick them up at the airport in Rennes.
Dinard airport is no longer functional and now only operates as an aerodrome for private aeroplanes, and as a technical platform. So far, only one of our students has been delivered by private aeroplane!
TRAVEL FORMS
When you book, we will email you a travel form for you to complete and return to us as soon as possible. We apologise for sending you yet another form, but on three separate occasions in the past, a student has arrived a day late without warning us! Admittedly, one was travelling from the United States and another from Costa Rica – but if this form helps to clarify travel arrangements and avoids us having to make frantic international telephone calls trying to locate missing students, it will have served its purpose!
Back to Easter
Back to Summer
Back to Home Page
