Heathrow to Rennes

The only Rennes I know is ... well... not in the UK.

How about a clue for us idiots?

Sorry - that's Rennes, in the Brittany area of France.

The only British airline to fly to Rennes is the regional carrier Flybe (www.flybe.com). They fly from Southampton, Exeter and Birmingham, so you would have to get there from Heathrow. The problem is that their outbound flights are mid-morning.

Is there any reason why you are landing at Heathrow if you want to go to Rennes? If you are coming from the U.S.A., or anywhere further afield, it would be better to go via Paris.

If, however, you are actually going to be in central London, there are frequent direct trains from Waterloo to Southampton Airport.

Or, since you're already standing at Heathrow, you could just walk over to the Air France counter and buy a ticket to Rennes. The whole project would take something less than four hours.

There is no need to take the Heathrow Connect to Paddington and the Tube from there to King's Cross/St Pancras. Simply take the Tube directly from Heathrow to King's Cross/St Pancras. It's a one-hour ride.

If you don't need to get to Rennes on the same day that you arrive at Heathrow, you could see a bit of London and spend the night. Take an early morning train to Southampton in time to catch the Flybe flight to Rennes. Booked well in advance at www.megatrain.com, you can get a fare of 1.00 GBP for London Waterloo to Southampton Central. Again if you book well in advance, the fares on Flybe are very reasonable.

If you're flying into CDG, I wouldn't bother with the bothersome link or even switching to the metro at the mess at Paris Nord.

The easy thing to do is stay on the RER until Denfert/Rochereau, then switch to Metro 4 (Dir: Clignancourt) and ride for only a couple of stops.

Thanks all, for suggestions. The only reason I'm hassling with flying in to Heathrow, not CDG, when my final destination if Rennes - is that a frequent flier, nonstop, is now only available to London. But all in all, I'll have to weigh the overall cost, time and hassle.

Mitch