By air or sea: how to get over there

If you're planning to travel to France this summer, book soon - space is likely to be tight.

Travel companies say because of September 11 we are now choosing holiday destinations closer to home - such as France - that feel safer.

However, the good news is that this summer the low-cost airlines are making it cheaper and easier to fly to all corners of France.

They will be offering flights to more French destinations - 23 at the last count - than ever before.

So has the time come to fly there instead of driving?

Flying, of course, saves time - at least two days if travelling to southern France - but does limit your luggage. To compare costs, consider a two-week holiday in the Dordogne for a family of four from August 1-15.

To drive, say from London: Eurotunnel tickets (for daytime crossings) £237; tolls £40 and petrol £120 (based on a 1,200-mile round trip); dinner, B&B in a modest hotel for two nights en route, say £200. Total: £597.

To fly: return flights to Bergerac with Buzz £110 (x4); rental of a small car for a fortnight £222. Total: £662.

In this example there's not much in it but, if just two, instead of four, people were travelling, the flying option would be much the cheaper.

Of course, flight/ferry/car hire costs - and there are others, such as wear and tear to the car if driving, or parking at the airport if flying - vary enormously, so you need to do your own calculations. The details below should help.

Cheap flights

Of the low-cost airlines, Buzz (0870 240 7070, www.buzzaway.com) has the most routes this summer. It already flies from its Stansted base to Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Poitiers, La Rochelle and Toulouse. From March 31, it is adding Caen and Rouen (from £19), Brest, Dijon, Limoges and Tours (from £35) and Bergerac, Grenoble and Toulon (from £40). These are the cheapest single fares booked via the Internet.

Ryanair ( 08701 569 569 , www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Biarritz, Carcassonne, Dinard, Nimes, Perpignan, St Etienne and, from April 4, Montpellier.

The other low-cost airlines will fly just to Nice this summer: EasyJet (0870 600 0000, www.easyjet.com) from Gatwick, Luton and Liverpool; Go (0870 607 6543, www.go-fly.com) from Bristol and Stansted; and, from March 23, Bmibaby (0870 264 2229, www.bmibaby.com) from East Midlands.

However, don't presume these fares are the lowest. Also check with Air France (0845 084 5111), British Airways (0845 7733377) and BMI British Midland (0870 6070 555).

Channel crossings

Here are the operators' best fares for standard returns (all offer cheaper short-break deals) travelling in July or August, including any early booking deals if available. Unless otherwise stated, they are for a car and anything from five to all passengers. The first price is the lowest possible (usually travelling at an anti-social hour, midweek), the second the highest (for popular weekend crossings).

You could instead contact an agent specialising in ferry bookings. The leading one, Ferry Savers (0870 442 4223, www.ferrysavers.com), is a onestop shop for all the cross-Channel operators except P&O Stena Line and promises to match or beat the operators' own rates.

Eurotunnel ( 08705 353535, www.eurotunnel.com). Saver fares for bookings at least 14 days in advance: £199 (available on some crossings for bookings before March 14) to £365. Internet discount: £2.

Hoverspeed (08705 240241, www.hoverspeed.com). Keenly priced APEX fares for bookings by March 31: Dover-Calais £169-£229, Newhaven-Dieppe £199-£259. Internet discount: two per cent.

P&O Stena Line (0870 600 0600, www.posl.com). For bookings before April 8, Dover-Calais £179-£294. Internet discount: £5.

SeaFrance (08705 711 711, www.seafrance.com). For bookings by April 10, Dover-Calais from £165-£285.

Norfolkline (0870 870 1020, www.norfolkline.com). Dover-Dunkirk: mid-July to early September £210-£230, earlier or later £165-£185. For peaktime crossings these fares are hard to beat and vary little according to time and day of crossing. But the crossing takes two hours and Dunkirk is in the wrong direction for most holidays.

WesternChannel

With peak fares now so expensive, depending on your UK starting point, you may think it preferable to take a short crossing and put up with a few hours' extra driving. The following prices do not include cabin accommodation.

Brittany Ferries (08705 360360, www.brittanyferries.com). Portsmouth-Caen £262-£432; Poole-Cherbourg £262-£422 ferries, £362-£520 fast craft; Portsmouth-St Malo £341-532; Plymouth-Roscoff £298-£456. Fares cover car, two adults and any number of children.

P&O Portsmouth (0870 242 4999, www.poportsmouth.com). Portsmouth-Cherbourg (ferries or fast craft) and Portsmouth-Le Havre £248-627.

Condor Ferries (0845 345 2000, www.condorferries.co.uk). Fast craft Poole-St Malo via the Channel Islands: car, two adults £207-£381, additional passengers extra. New ferry service Portsmouth-Cherbourg on Sundays from July 14 to September 8: £359 for car or motorhome and up to four passengers; there's no extra charge for caravans or trailers.

Useful websites for France include www.viamichelin.co.uk, the best of the route-planning websites, which gives the duration, mileage and cost of autoroute tolls between any two points,www.franceguide.com, one of the better tourist board websites, with lots of practical information, a calendar of events and links to regional tourist boards' sites, and www.holidayfrance.org.uk, the website for the Association of British Tour Operators to France, which has lists, and descriptions, of companies offering self-catering, camping, hotel-based and activity holidays.