Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Substitution for Toulouse that is accessible by plane from Porto?

Substitution for Toulouse that is accessible by plane from Porto?

Old Aug 7th, 2022, 07:40 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Substitution for Toulouse that is accessible by plane from Porto?

I am planning to fly from Porto to Toulouse however I have noticed that there are very few and far between direct flights between the two. I saw that a few airlines offer Porto - Toulouse via Madrid however it would mean either a very short layover that I am not willing to chance (a 45 minute self-managed layover) or a tiringly long layover.

With that in mind, before I look into tipping my itinerary on its head and zig zagging (i.e. going between Spain and Portugal and back to Spain in order to reach France) I wanted to see if anyone knew some destinations in France that are accessible by a direct flight from Porto which I could substitute for Toulouse? We will be visiting Avignon after Toulouse so it would need to be within reasonable proximity to Avignon.

Thanks in advance
victoriainwanderland is offline  
Old Aug 7th, 2022, 10:06 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
How about trying Marseille, one of the most interesting cities in France?
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 7th, 2022, 11:14 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,947
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You are likely to get few and far between cirect flights for any French city with the possible exception of Paris which should have more frequent flights. It looks like only Ryanair has a once a week direct flight to Marseille.

Michael is offline  
Old Aug 7th, 2022, 11:31 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I see Ryanair sometimes has more flights between Porto and Marseille depending on when you are traveling. Another option would be Porto to Lyon.
KTtravel is online now  
Old Aug 7th, 2022, 11:34 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 25,493
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Worth checking rome2rio to see if a train works better
bilboburgler is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 04:49 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,815
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I did a quick Google search, “Porto to France” and got this as a start:



You can then enter each city into Google Flights and select your filters.

Flights to Bordeaux, for instance, seems to fly regularly. Of course, I’m only looking at the calendar and they show frequently. There are other cities, like Marseille, that are worth checking out.

Last edited by progol; Aug 8th, 2022 at 04:56 AM.
progol is online now  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 04:52 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
According to seat61 it would take two days by train... https://www.seat61.com/international...Porto_to_Paris

Skyscanner is showing direct flights to Nice on Easyjet, Bordeaux on Easyjet and Ryanair, and Avignon on Ryanair although not every day of the week (I checked September). Probably as sparse as the direct flights they both have to Toulouse.

Those prices from Google are MUCH higher than the ones I'm seeing on Skyscanner.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 05:38 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
17% of the population of Luxembourg is from Portugal, so there are flights to Luxembourg from Porto. Since all public transportation in Luxembourg is now free, it would be easy to get to the French border.
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 06:12 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
@kerouac - that's not much help for someone headed to the south of France.

Someone wanting to visit Portugal, Spain and France would be better off doing it in that order, or vice versa. Even then, transport links between Portugal and Spain aren't very good, even though they are now supposedly friends.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 07:48 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Posts: 323
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
International train travel in Europe is not so easy. Tickets, timetables and technical issues explained.

VANAARLE is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 09:31 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
[QUOTE=thursdaysd;17389050] @kerouac - that's not much help for someone headed to the south of France.
/[QUOTE]

I suppose I should be thankful, but I have never understood why people have been brainwashed into thinking that the south of France is better than the north.
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 09:34 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,840
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Fly to Bordeaux. Easyjet has nonstop flights from Porto to Toulouse, Nice and Bordeaux, that's it. I presume you were going to fly them already.

It is not realistic to expect there to be many daily flights from Porto to any French city, that's just not realistic. Or any other city except maybe in Spain. I don't know what you are expecting, Easyjet has two flights to TLS on some days, you aren't going to do better and I am not sure why you want more. Easyjet will also only have two a day to BOD, if usual for them, it's only certain days of the week. They do have two a day to CDG on certain days, also.

Easyjet does fly to NICE from Porto nonstop, also, if you want to be in Provence, that would be it. But that's only one flight a day that I see. I don't know when you are going though.
Christina is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 09:45 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
The best place to go for info on train travel in Europe is here: https://www.seat61.com/european-train-travel.htm

That site is also good for the rest of the world.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 10:33 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It looks like Ryanair has daily flights from Porto to Marseille, a few days a week from Porto to Toulouse, and a few days a week from Porto to Carcassonne.
KTtravel is online now  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 11:17 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 23,773
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 1 Post
Can't you easily get to Lisbon to find a flight?
kerouac is online now  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 11:30 AM
  #16  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by kerouac
Can't you easily get to Lisbon to find a flight?
I can but I’d prefer to avoid going back and forth if it’s avoidable. I may have to look into changing the order of when we visit certain places in order to have more options up our sleeves.
victoriainwanderland is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 12:12 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,993
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Do you already have flights and hotels booked? I don’t remember your exact dates or itinerary.
Realize this may be of no value and know you do not wish to rearrange things, but would it not be much easier logistically to visit Portugal, then Seville/Granada area, then Madrid, San Sebastián area, and end Spain in Barcelona? To me, anyway, it makes sense rather than flying around, security at airports, getting to/from airports, etc. if you don’t absolutely have to.
The beginning of your trip to Portugal might not be direct (I don’t know), but the rest would be much more straightforward.

It is an easy, short, cheap train trip from Barcelona to Southern France.

I don’t know the train route exactly, but you might even be able to see Carcassonne on the way to Toulouse, if there is a place for storing luggage nearby or if you wanted a one-night stay there. It is such a short trip, and based on your ability to travel fast and light, that might actually work for you, almost like a day trip between Barcelona and Toulouse, or stay over if you can find a convenient hotel.
A short train trip from Barcelona, drop luggage, have day and evening to explore Carcassonne. Next morning, very short train trip into Toulouse.

A second option would be still to put Portugal first, Seville area, and then from Madrid, catch the fast train to Barcelona, and end Spain in San Sebastián or Bilbao (area). However, I know Barcelona would work, I don’t know about flight or train options from SS or Bilbao to France. There should certainly be short flights or trains from there to Southern France. You could look into it and decide it that is a better option.
Sassafrass is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 12:25 PM
  #18  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Sassafrass
Do you already have flights and hotels booked? I don’t remember your exact dates or itinerary.
Realize this may be of no value and know you do not wish to rearrange things, but would it not be much easier logistically to visit Portugal, then Seville/Granada area, then Madrid, San Sebastián area, and end Spain in Barcelona? To me, anyway, it makes sense rather than flying around, security at airports, getting to/from airports, etc. if you don’t absolutely have to.
The beginning of your trip to Portugal might not be direct (I don’t know), but the rest would be much more straightforward.

It is an easy, short, cheap train trip from Barcelona to Southern France.

I don’t know the train route exactly, but you might even be able to see Carcassonne on the way to Toulouse, if there is a place for storing luggage nearby or if you wanted a one-night stay there. It is such a short trip, and based on your ability to travel fast and light, that might actually work for you, almost like a day trip between Barcelona and Toulouse, or stay over if you can find a convenient hotel.
A short train trip from Barcelona, drop luggage, have day and evening to explore Carcassonne. Next morning, very short train trip into Toulouse.

A second option would be still to put Portugal first, Seville area, and then from Madrid, catch the fast train to Barcelona, and end Spain in San Sebastián or Bilbao (area). However, I know Barcelona would work, I don’t know about flight or train options from SS or Bilbao to France. There should certainly be short flights or trains from there to Southern France. You could look into it and decide it that is a better option.
I will definitely look into how feasible it is in the reverse order. We are about as far from Lisbon as it gets so going there first would involve 29 hours of flying and 2 stop overs (and is more expensive). I’m thinking maybe to start in Madrid, fly to Porto and then train to Lisbon and from there return to Spain so as to depart from Barcelona. Might have to play around with a few options.
victoriainwanderland is offline  
Old Aug 8th, 2022, 01:03 PM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,993
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by victoriainwanderland
I will definitely look into how feasible it is in the reverse order. We are about as far from Lisbon as it gets so going there first would involve 29 hours of flying and 2 stop overs (and is more expensive). I’m thinking maybe to start in Madrid, fly to Porto and then train to Lisbon and from there return to Spain so as to depart from Barcelona. Might have to play around with a few options.
OMG, getting to Portugal sounds tortuous! Where are you coming from? The transportation part of things is a really serious consideration for you. Perhaps Madrid, Seville, Portugal, then SS or Barcelona.
I do not usually like circular or round trips, because they involve a long trip at the beginning or double hotel stays in the same city, beginning and end of trip. but I do it if necessary to break up a trip with a rest night and it might work better in your case. Consider arriving in Paris, tour, fly to Portugal, fly or train to Seville (area). Continue on to rest of Spain, then Southern France. Fast train back to Paris for trip home, or if you can make it work, flights out of Marseilles.
Good luck.
Sassafrass is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Donna
Cruises
14
Mar 27th, 2007 10:44 AM
Tony
Europe
9
Nov 27th, 2002 09:28 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -