First of all, I'd recommend you consult http://www.deutschebahn.de for train information. It can be made to give answers in English but the German prompts are not too hard to follow. Why German railways? They seem to cover all Europe whilst my experience of SNCF - French railways - is that they don't always show all trains, only those which they'd prefer to fill.

Both Bordeaux and La Rochelle train stations serve Royan, but you will need to change trains once or twice depending on the time of day. Journey times vary between 2 and 3 hours, but don't forget you're on holiday and that's part of the fun.

In both cases you'll need to get to the train station from the airport, as both airports are out of town.

http://www.bordeaux.aeroport.fr/en/info/jetbus-bordeaux-airport-shuttle-service has information on how to get to the station from the airport.

http://www.larochelle.aeroport.fr/en/access-and-car-park/bus/ for info between La Rochelle airport and the town centre.

As to which route you should take, you might like to take into consideration the following factors ...

Frequency of flights - if you miss one, are you stranded or can you get home using another route/airline
Timing of flights - if a cheap flight gets you to France too late to make your train connection, is it worth it?
Ex-UK flights - how easy is it to get from your home to the airport .. and the cost of parking whilst you're away?
Baggage rules (!!!)

I have had a look at both airports. Both are small but La Rochelle really only serves holiday and loco flights, whereas Bordeaux has legacy carriers such as British Airways and Air France as well as holiday flights and locos. Personally speaking, if there is any risk to the smooth running of your flights as well as onward transportation I suspect I'd favour Bordeaux over La Rochelle. Both probably use local subcontracting companies as ground handling agents, but if you were to have a problem with connections or cancellations, I'd think you'd get better service at Bordeaux, and if things REALLY go pearshaped, you can get a TGV to Paris and a Eurostar back to the UK probably quicker than heading home from La Rochelle. Just my tuppence-worth.

Rachm wrote:

Hi, we are holidaying in France in August heading to Royan/ Port Medoc. Flight wise which is closer Bordeaux or La Rochelle airport? And easiest to get trains and other transport to Royan area? And how much are trains?

I've tried looking up the trains site but finding it very confusing. And my step dad keeps changing his mind about which airport is best to go to. We will either be travelling with Ryanair or Aer Lingus each heading to different airports.

Any help or advice much needed! Thanks in advance!

Ryanair into La Rochelle is nearer/ easier
there is car hire at the airport when we last did this it required a CREDIT card not a Debit one but it may have changed so be careful

BUT
Bordeaux is better as La Rochelle only caters for Ryanair and is miles away from the train station

whereas Bordeaux has loads of transport links including a very good tram system
I would try http://www.raileurope.com/index.html rather than SNCF website to find your trains

Thanks for the follow up Lensman, however did you notice that this was posted last June and they will have already completed that trip, in fact the OP hasn't even been back on HT since posting

Another 'Newbie' that gets a detailed response from one or more of our regular and helpful posters just to what I can only presume be suddenly abducted by aliens as they never come back on or have the courtesy to acknowledge and thank those that give advice.

VERY frustrating for our members who spend a lot of time trying to help others

Saw that Kiltman

BUT

If someone trawls through and finds it then I hope it will be useful