Travel INFORMATION
The Château is located in the French countryside town of La Roche-Chalais, about one hour outside of the city of Bordeaux. On this page, we’ve provided some information on how to get to the Château and other travel related tips!
When you do settle on travel arrangements, please let us know. This will help us coordinate shuttles from Bordeaux to the venue and get a sense of when all our guests will be checking in!
Passport
First things first—make sure you have a valid passport for traveling abroad.
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If you already have a passport, double check your expiration date. To be safe, your passport should be valid until at least December 2024, as some countries require your expiration date to be at least 6 months out from the date(s) when you’re traveling.
If you need to renew your passport, we recommend starting process as soon as possible, as processing times are running longer than usual post-pandemic. Learn more here.
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If you don’t have a passport, it’s time to apply for one! We recommend starting the application process as soon as possible, as processing times are running longer than usual post-pandemic. Learn more here.
planes, trains, & automobiles
Next up—getting yourself to the city of Bordeaux! When it comes to flights, you have two main options: flying into Paris (and then traveling by train or car to Bordeaux), or flying directly into Bordeaux.
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Most major North American airports will have several options to fly into Paris. For those leaving from Boston, there are nonstop flights offered on Delta, Air France, and JetBlue. There are also more cost effective one-stop options on PLAY, Icelandair, Aer Lingus, TAP Air, and others. Once in Paris, there are regular trains connecting Paris and Bordeaux. There are also several quick flights every day from Paris to Bordeaux.
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There are not currently any nonstop flights from North America to Bordeaux. However, there are many one-stop options from major North American airports into Bordeaux that connect through cities like Dublin, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam and Madrid. Many of these airlines offer longer layovers, should you want to spend a day in a different European city on your way over! If you plan to travel before the wedding, it should be relatively easy to find flights within Europe from your location to the Bordeaux airport.
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If you are planning on coming to Bordeaux from Paris, we recommend the train! We tested this route out last spring and it was a very easy, enjoyable experience; the train was comfortable and the route was scenic. There are 20+ trains running daily between Paris and Bordeaux, with travel time ranging between 2 and 4 hours depending on the number of stops. Whether you are flying right in for the wedding, or spending time in Paris before/after, the train is an easy, comfortable way to get down to Bordeaux. The main station in Paris with trains heading to Bordeaux is called “Paris Montparnasse Hall 1 - 2,” and there are trains and shuttles from all major Paris airports to this station. You can explore possible itineraries on their website. You won’t be able to see trains for our specific dates until we’re closer to the wedding, but you can get a sense of options in the meantime!
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One option, should you be interested, is to rent a car and drive to the venue from Paris or Bordeaux.
While we can’t speak to what the drive from Paris would be like, we can confirm that the drive from Bordeaux to the venue is very easy for tourists—mostly highways and main roads that are clearly marked, and not a stressful drive compared to other European countries (like Italy, for example). One important note: if you plan to rent a car and need an automatic transmission vehicle, book it early—most vehicles in Europe are manual, and therefore automatics can be in high demand from American tourists!
getting to the venue
You’re in Bordeaux. What next? Getting to the Château, of course! In the coming months, we’ll be organizing a shuttle to transport guests from Bordeaux to the venue sometime on Thursday. But we need your help to plan. If you’re interested in taking the shuttle, please keep us in the loop as you book your travel and let us know what time you’ll be getting into Bordeaux. Once we have a consensus of when most folks are arriving, we will solidify the shuttle schedule from there!
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We will be arranging a few shuttles to transport guests from Bordeaux’s airport and/or train station to the venue on Thursday, and back again on Sunday.
You can find shuttle assignment info here!
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If you are in Bordeaux but aren't able to catch the shuttle to the Château based on when it’s scheduled, there are four local trains a day between Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station and Saint-Aigulin La Roche-Chalais (which isjust a 6 minute drive from the Château).
If you plan on arriving this way, let us know, and someone should be able to pick you up! Otherwise, we can help arrange a taxi to be waiting.
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If you go the route a renting a car, the Château has plenty of parking space.
Key locations
Some key places to keep in mind as you plan your travel.
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Located at 95700 Roissy-en-France, France, Charles de Gaulle is the main Paris airport for most transatlantic and many inter-European flights.
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Located at 94390 Orly, France, Orly is the secondary Paris airport, which is mostly for inter-European flights. Keep this in mind if you’re planning any travel before/after the wedding within Europe!
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Located at 33700 Mérignac, France, BOD is the main airport serving the city of Bordeaux. Intra-European flights are typically inexpensive coming in/out of Bordeaux; meaning that if you’re planning travel within Europe before or after the wedding, you might be able to find flights from your location directly to Bordeaux for a low price.
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The Paris Montparnasse Hall 1 - 2 train station is located at 17 Bd de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris, France. This is the main train station in Paris with service to Bordeaux!
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The Bordeaux-Saint-Jean train station is located at Rue Charles Domercq, 33800 Bordeaux, France. This is the main train station in Bordeaux to travel in/out of.
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The Saint-Aigulin La Roche Chalais train station is located at 17360 Saint-Aigulin, France. This is the closest train station to the venue. As mentioned in the previous section (“Getting to the Venue”), you can take a train from downtown Bordeaux to Saint-Aigulin (which is 6 minutes from the Château) if you are unable to catch our wedding shuttle.
general tips
Here are some other things you’ll want to think about as you begin planning!
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Google Flights is your best friend! You can easily filter by airport, dates, number of stops, airline and more to find your ideal flights. Once you’ve decided, just head to that airlines website to book!
Try and book a round trip itinerary if you can. Oftentimes, a one-way transatlantic ticket will be similar in cost to a round trip ticket. The airlines want seats filled on both legs, so they price one-way tickets at a premium. This isn’t always the case, but if you notice that a one-way ticket seems abnormally expensive, this could be why! One workaround is booking a “multi-city” itinerary through the same airline.
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Once you’re in Europe, this site is an awesome way to explore all sorts of different train and bus itineraries throughout the continent! Europe’s public transportation systems are much more comprehensive and efficient than in the States, so it’s an incredible way to travel (often quite cheaply)!
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Electrical outlets in France are different than North America! You can buy a simple adapter for just $12 on Amazon. If you plan to travel outside of the wedding, make sure you have the correct adaptor(s) for each country to you plan to visit!
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Most major cell phone providers offer temporary international travel plans. We recommend you inquire with your provider if you plan on using cellular data.
Wifi at the Château is very limited and will not be available to everyone, so if you want to be able to text/call/use data throughout the weekend, make sure to get an international plan.
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Before you leave, make sure that you let your bank and/or credit card companies that you’ll be traveling abroad and when it will be. This will ensure they don’t flag any transactions made while you’re traveling as fraud! (Tip: These days, many credit card companies have a place on their online portal where you can enter travel plans so you don’t have to place a phone call.)
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Want to have some euros on hand while you’re traveling? If you want, you can go to your bank before leaving to exchange dollars for euros—or, you can wait until you arrive in Europe and use an ATM at the airport or train station. Remember to let your bank know ahead of time that you’ll be traveling!
The big thing: avoid currency exchange stores. They charge an astronomical exchange rate!
Travel plans
Traveling is one of our absolute favorite things to do, and we hope that some of our guests may use this occasion as an opportunity to travel while you’re in Europe! There are endless possibilities, and the good news is that Bordeaux is very well connected to the rest of the continent by plane, train, bus, or car.
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Flying to Bordeaux from the United States can be difficult and expensive (getting to Paris is much easier).
If you decide to travel before the wedding, one of the benefits is that it is much easier (and usually quite inexpensive!) to fly into the Bordeaux airport from within Europe. If you’d like to avoid the journey by train or car from Paris to Bordeaux, we’d recommend planning your trip before the wedding!
On the flip side, if you choose to travel after the wedding, you’ll find that Bordeaux is very well connected to the rest of Europe by air and rail. Consider ending your trip in a major city so that you’ll have more options to fly back to the States after!
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By the time the wedding rolls around, we’ll have shuttles arranged to bring guests from the Château back to Bordeaux. From there, you can take the train back to Paris, where there should be plenty of options for flights home.
We’re here to help!
We know this is a lot of information, particularly if you are new to international travel. If you have any questions or are feeling overwhelmed, never fear. JD fancies himself an amateur travel agent and loves figuring out how to build the perfect itinerary.
We are more than happy to answer any questions you have, help you figure out the best way to get to the Château, or even talk through your plans for other trips around the wedding weekend! Just send us an email, and we’ll help however we can.