How to get to Saint Nazaire

How to get to Saint Nazaire

During my whole time in Saint Nazaire, I hardly spent any time with other Spanish people. The only Spanish people I spoke to, apart from my friends that came to visit me from home, were a couple from Tarragona who were living and working in a remote village there. And the small conversation we had on the bus, they told me things I already knew; 'Saint Nazaire doesn't have much of an atmosphere', 'It is a very quiet city', 'People come to work then they leave'... and lots of other topics that I was already aware of. Because there doesn't seem to be many other students in Saint Nazaire, I decided to write this article about the different options you have to get here from Spain.

• Car: This is how I got to Saint Nazaire at the start of September 2013 when I was first starting university. It is also how I got back to Valladolid in June 2014 when I returned home for good. It is a little tiring so it is best to do it in two days, but if you want you can do it in one. From Valladolid to Saint Nazaire, it takes between 9 and 9. 5 hours. But what I did was stay in a hostel in one night close to Bordeaux simply because the next day I had to meet outside one of the buildings at the University of Nantes before 3 in the afternoon. This option is best for anyone who lives in the North of Spain, especially if you are in the Basque country because it is a lovely route if you're heading to the north east of France. As for the price, it is cheaper if you fill your car up in France because the gas is cheaper there than in Spain (at least it was when I went). As for the roads, they are in really good condition, the ones in the Basque country and the ones in France. Another thing, don't speed unless you want to pay a lot of money because the roads in France are full of speed cameras.
• Fly: Depending on where you live, there are flights to Nantes which is another option for getting to Saint Nazaire. When I went home for Christmas and when I just wanted to go home for a few days, I flew from Nantes to Madrid. But there aren't any cheap, direct flights to Nantes from Madrid airport so I had to change in Barcelona and wait for a few hours in the airport. The whole journey was with Vueling and I just had to change planes once I was in Barcelona. The trip cost me around 100 euros for my journey there and my journey back so I can't say that it was the cheapest option. Iberia offers a route between Madrid and Nantes with some of the flights stopping in Paris. However this option is a lot more expensive than the route with Vueling. Nantes airport is small, nothing like the one in Madrid, and it is located outside of the city centre. For those that are interested, there is a bus between the airport to the train station which only costs 3 euros. And from the train station you can also get to Saint Nazaire, or you can also use Blablacar which is a lot cheaper. The train costs between 13 and 18 euros although some times are cheaper if you are a teenager of if you are student. The price of Blablacar depends but it can be anywhere between 3 and 5 euros and there are always journeys between these two cities (Nantes and Saint Nazaire).
• Blablacar: I know this option from first hand experience, since it was what me and my friend Alejandro did when we went back to Valladolid from Saint Nazaire after he came to visit me. It is an option to travel by car even if you don't have one. To be able to do this route via Blablacar, the truth is that you have to be really lucky to find the right times that link with one city to the next, and ones at the right time so you have enough/not too much time between journeys. When I did it, I first went from Saint Nazaire to Nantes for 3 euros, then on the same day from Nantes to Bordeaux for 20 euros, and then I spent a few days in Bordeaux. We were then really lucky because there was a driver going from Paris to Lisbon who was passing through Bordeaux and Valladolid! And this last leg of the journey only cost us 20 euros each, everyone ended up winning. But if you do travel this way, you have to remember one thing that is a problem with cars, space for luggage. If you're just taking a backpack, no problem, but if you're thinking of moving home using Blablacar, it's very difficult. There are lots of shipping companies that come to pick your luggage up and deliver them to your door, such as Paclink. So Blablacar is definitely the cheapest option but not the most comfortable and not everyone likes car sharing, not forgetting the large amount of time this option takes.
• Bus: This is one of the options that me and Alejandro took to get from Saint Nazaire to Valladolid. Different bus companies such as Alsa, offer long routes across Europe, including journeys between Madrid and Nantes which can cost below 90 euros. The best advantage is that it is cheaper than flying and you get the same amount of luggage allowance (a suitcase). But the worst thing about it is definitely the fact you have to spend 14/15 hours on a bus with stops every now and again. If you're thinking of getting a night bus so you can just sleep the whole journey, well think again because it is still loud and you won't even be able to sleep two hours the whole journey.

Other ways to get to Saint Nazaire include taking the ferry from Gijón which goes directly to Sainte Nazaire, on a route that is called the 'Motorway of the sea'. From Gijón, there are numerous ferries that link Spain with France, Ireland and England, but from what I have seen, the company doesn't seem to operate the route to France any more. They are in the process of negotiating the route with another company to see if they can restablish it since it is great for those who want to visit the North of France with their cars (you are able to take your car/van on the ferry). If I find a solution or if I hear of a company that has started to operate this route, I will let you know.

Look at the options that suit you best depending on the time, money, space, comfort... But you can see that there are lots of options to travel between Saint Nazaire and Spain, no matter how small your home town, it is very well connected.