While many enjoy taking their time driving the length of France, others prefer to take advantage of the increasing number of budget flights to French and Spanish airports. In France, Perpignan is about 40 minutes away, Carcassonne and Montpellier about an hour and a half away and Toulouse is about a two hour drive.  In Spain, Girona is about an hour away and the drive to Barcelona takes about two and a half hours.  Car hire is available at all airports.

Low-cost airlines which fly from the UK to airports in the area include:
Ryanair - Stansted to Perpignan, Stansted to Carcassonne, Stansted to Girona, Stansted to Montpellier, Bournemouth to Girona and Glasgow Prestwick to Girona.
easyJet - Gatwick to Toulouse, Gatwick to Barcelona, Newcastle to Barcelona, Stansted to Barcelona, Bristol to Barcelona and Liverpool to Barcelona.
Flybe - Southampton to Perpignan, Southampton to Toulouse, Birmingham to Perpignan, Birmingham to Toulouse.
 

For the final part of the journey take Exit 42 off the A9 and go to Thuir and then Fourques where one road leads to Llauro and another to Les Hostalets
which is between Montauriol and Caixas.

Take a look at a map of the area which shows both villages
Perpignan's tourist office
What's the weather like?

SHOPPING AND EATING

Llauro has a village store and the nearest shops to Les Hostalets are at Fourques, a ten minute drive away.  For guests at both houses, Ceret is well worth a visit.  It's fifteen minutes from Llauro and thirty minutes from Les Hostalets. The town has a good range of shops and restaurants.  Les Feuillants has a moderate and an expensive menu while the restaurants around La Place des neufs jets are generally reasonable value.  Thuir, about fifteen minutes from Les Hostalets, has, like Ceret, a bustling Saturday morning market and three or four good restaurants including Hotel Cortie.  Other possible eating places include Mas des Olivettes, between Fourques and Montauriol, La Costelle at Torderes and the Casa Sansa on Rue Fabriques Nadal, off La Place des Loges in Perpignan.

There are plenty of good fish restaurants along the coast including Port Vendres which has a fish market.

Auchan supermarket off the N9 on the South side of Perpignan sells just about everything and the duty free shops at Le Perthus on the Spanish border are awash with cheap booze.

SWIMMING, SKIING AND OTHER SPORTS

You can enjoy the outdoor life all year round.  The nearest beaches are about 40 minutes away. St Cyprien Sud is a good family beach and Collioure the most attractive coastal town, although perhaps better for a stroll and a meal than a swim.  There is a pleasant lake at St Jean Pla des Corts, fifteen minutes from Llauro, which is fun for swimming and picnics.

The Costa Brava coast line, about two hours away, isn't all massive resorts.  The coves around Palafrugell (Calella, Tamariu, Llafranc) are wonderful.  Both Thuir and Ceret have swimming pools.

There are about a dozen ski resorts within easy reach.  Font Romeu and Formigueres, about an hour and a half away, are among the best.

Golfers should enjoy the 18 hole course at St Cyprien.  Horse riding is also available in the resort.

There's plenty of scope for walking with Mt Canigou the biggest local challenge.  Les Hostalets is also a great place for bird watching. 

CULTURE

The area is rich in Romanesque architecture.  The abbeys at Serrabone and St Martin du Canigou are two fantastic examples. 

The castles at Queribus and, particularly, Peyrepertuse are spectacular.

The museum of modern art at Ceret has some work by one-time resident Picasso and Dali's museum and house are just across the Spanish border at Figueres. Maillol's house at Banyuls sur Mer is also worth a visit.

There are always concerts, films and exhibitions in Perpignan which are listed in the local paper, L'independant, and the weekly cultural paper La Semaine. 

It's also fun watching the Sardane, a dance which locals perform on Sunday mornings in many cities, towns and villages including Collioure and Barcelona.

The information on this page is offered in good faith and believed to be correct at the time of writing, but no liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions.