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I found a new way to get to Oradour sur Glane:)

For all who replied to my previous post about how to see Oradour sur Glane - here's a new idea!

I was going to go Amboise>Limoges>Bordeaux. I was only going to Limoges to see Oradour sur Glane.

It was going to be two trains to Limoges, two nights in a hotel in Limoges and then either try to make the bus work our or pay for a cab to take us and wait for us. When I priced the cab, it was at least $100, plus the hotel, plus the train...not to mention all the time and effort involved in the transfer.

And so I gave up.

I took those nights and I gave them to Bordeaux, thinking I'd do a day trip during my 6 nights in Bordeaux. I stumbled upon a trip to Angouleme, which looked interesting for its comic book museum, its paper museum and for the buildings freely emblazoned with comic book art.

When I looked at the train connections, I noticed it's only a 30 minute ride from Bordeaux - because it's on the fast line from Paris. And then, I noticed there are lots of tour operators in the area - which I could not find for Limoges. The tour operators seem to do cognac tours and wine tours.

I reached out to one and they will take us from Angouleme to Oradour sur Glane (only 50 miles!!), wait for us, and then take us back to the train station. Price? 200 Euros. Pricey, but there's two of us so we can split the cost. And it's way cheaper and simpler than the other plan.

I've searched a ton online for easy ways to get to Oradour sur Glane when you don't drive in Europe and there's very little so I thought I'd share this plan. It's a site that we really want to visit and this new plan makes the effort level more reasonable.

Hope this helps someone else:)

Posted by
28082 posts

It was clever of you to uncover that, and you get to see Angouleme, too. It's a great idea to check the offerings of tour operators in the nearest large city. I'm pleasantly surprised that folks based in Bordeaux are willing to go that far and at such a reasonable price.

For those with more time, I will repeat my recommendation for Limoges as a worthwhile destination on its own.

Posted by
2681 posts

@acraven - They are based near Cognac. That’s why the price is reasonable and that’s why we’re starting from Angouleme. To start in Bordeaux would be pricey.

And I second your thought on Limoges but I’m happy we pared down a city. We’re already doing Paris-Amboise-Bordeaux-Sarlat-Toulouse-Antibes in four weeks and so I feel like we’re pretty maxed out on pacing (and Bordeaux-Sarlat-Toulouse is on a tour or I would have pared back even more).

Posted by
10603 posts

Thanks for posting this solution. I’m sure it will come in handy for others. We plan to go there next October (2022) but will have a car. I understand not wanting to drive, but for us it seems to be the easiest way to explore western France. In the spring we will explore eastern France using public transportation. That area seems to be easier by train and bus.

Posted by
824 posts

Well done for your perseverence. 200€ sounds cheap for whata you're getting. I assume its not a full day at that rate?

Posted by
2681 posts

@Simon: drive to site, two hours waiting time, drive back. It’s not perfect but it’s the best we’re going to get. It should fit well with Angouleme because the paper museum doesn’t open until 2pm and so we should arrive back in town just in time to walk in.

This is the company: https://www.monsieur-paul.fr/en-gb.

I could only find a few reviews but I think I’m going to risk it. He will let us pay by credit card when we meet him or his employee. If he stands us up, well we see more of Angouleme.

Posted by
10203 posts

Way to go, Valerie! Your persistence has paid off.

Posted by
6974 posts

That sounds like a good plan, happy to hear that you managed to solve the problem!