The best journeys begin the moment the logistics stop being a worry. There is a particular kind of ease that settles once the flights are booked and the last mile is understood — when you know, precisely, how you will get from a departure gate to a door by the sea. This guide exists to give you that ease for three very different coasts: the warm south of Sardinia, the Atlantic edge of Brittany, and, on the horizon, the red city of Marrakech.
It is a practical piece, and deliberately so. But it is also good news, because 2026 is an unusually generous year for reaching these places. Sardinia’s southern gateway has just had its biggest summer of connections yet; the Breton coast remains one of the most civilised train journeys in France; and Marrakech has quietly become better-connected to Europe than at almost any point in its history. Here is how to reach each — and, once you land, how the final stretch to the house actually works.
Southern Sardinia: reaching Cagliari and the Pula coast
The airport, and why 2026 matters
Southern Sardinia has one gateway, and it is a good one: Cagliari-Elmas Airport (code CAG), set on the lagoon just outside the island’s handsome capital. For the coast below the city — Pula, Perd’e Sali, Chia — it is not merely the best option; it is the obvious one, close and uncomplicated.
The reason to single out 2026 is that Cagliari has expanded its network considerably. For the summer season the airport is running in the region of 109 routes to 26 countries with more than thirty airlines — its widest map yet, with a double-digit rise in seat capacity over the previous year. Among roughly a dozen genuinely new services, two matter especially for European travellers: easyJet’s new direct routes from Nice and from Bordeaux, which open up the French Riviera and the south-west of France as one-hop origins for the first time, and which sit alongside a broad, verified increase in France–Sardinia capacity for the year.
Where you can fly from
The everyday backbone is Italian and reliably year-round: frequent flights from Rome Fiumicino and Milan (Linate and Malpensa) put Cagliari within about an hour to ninety minutes of the mainland’s main hubs, which is the connection to lean on outside high summer, when many leisure routes thin out. On these, carriers including ITA Airways, Aeroitalia, easyJet and Ryanair compete hard.
Direct international links are richest from late spring through the warm months — conveniently, the exact window in which you would want to be on this coast. From France, easyJet flies from Paris Orly, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux (the latter two new for 2026), Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Volotea from Marseille. From the UK, British Airways connects London Gatwick, with a typical flight time of under three hours. From elsewhere in Europe there are direct summer services with the likes of KLM (Amsterdam), Lufthansa (Frankfurt and Munich), Iberia and Vueling (Madrid and Barcelona), and Ryanair’s wide leisure web (Brussels Charleroi, Kraków, Budapest and more). One honest note, since it is sometimes assumed otherwise: the current Cagliari summer map does not include a direct Istanbul service, so travellers coming via Turkey should plan on a one-stop connection through that hub rather than a nonstop.
A rule of thumb, then: if you are travelling in the season, look first for a direct flight; if you are travelling in the shoulder or winter months, route through Rome or Milan, which run all year.
The last mile: airport to Il Polpo Nero
This is the part that makes southern Sardinia feel effortless. From Cagliari-Elmas, the drive south to the Pula coast is only around thirty-five minutes — you are among the vineyards and macchia, then the sea, before the flight has properly left your legs. A hire car is the sensible choice here, because the pleasures of this coast — Nora, the Chia beaches, the hill villages, the restaurants scattered between Pula and the capital — are spread out and a car turns them into a series of easy half-days; book it in advance for summer, when the island’s fleets run tight. For those who would rather not drive, a private transfer to the door can be arranged, and it is the civilised way to arrive with children and luggage after an early flight.
The house at the end of that half-hour is Il Polpo Nero, the sea-view villa at Perd’e Sali — close enough to the airport that you can land in the morning and be in the sea by lunch, which is precisely the point of choosing the south.
The Atlantic coast: reaching Le Pouliguen and the Côte d’Amour
Brittany’s Côte d’Amour is the opposite kind of journey — not a quick hop to a hot island but one of the great overland runs in France, and all the better for it. There are two clean ways to do it: the plane to Nantes, or the train from Paris.
By air: Nantes Atlantique
The nearest airport to Le Pouliguen and La Baule is Nantes Atlantique (code NTE), the largest in western France, well connected to Paris and to a spread of European cities, with the usual mix of Air France, easyJet, Volotea and others. From Nantes, the coast is roughly an hour’s drive west — down toward the Guérande peninsula and the Bay of La Baule — so a hire car or a pre-booked transfer completes the journey simply. For travellers coming from beyond France, connecting through Paris to Nantes and driving the last hour is often the least fussy option.
By rail: the civilised way in
But the more elegant approach — and, from Paris, frequently the faster and more pleasant one — is the train, because this stretch of coast has its own railway line and you can arrive almost at the beach. The TGV Atlantique runs from Paris Montparnasse out to the Le Croisic branch, which serves La Baule-Escoublac, Le Pouliguen and Le Croisic directly. In the high season and at weekends there are through TGV services that make the run in around three hours without a change; at other times you travel via Nantes and step across to a regional train for the final, lovely stretch along the coast. Either way the SNCF timetable is the thing to check, and booking ahead rewards you with far better fares.
What makes this worth choosing over the car is the ending. Le Pouliguen has its own station in the heart of the village, and once you are there the whole point of the place is that you do not need a car at all — everything is walkable or reachable by bicycle, the market, the harbour, the beach. Ker Gonan, the Maison Estran house on the Côte d’Amour, stands directly on the sand at Le Nau; to arrive by train and be at a beachfront door without ever touching a motorway is, quietly, one of the most agreeable ways to begin a holiday in France. A week on the Guérande peninsula rewards that kind of arrival.
From the UK and further afield
There is a genuinely romantic routing for British travellers: Eurostar to Paris, a walk or a short hop across to Montparnasse, and the TGV west to the coast — city to sea in an afternoon, without a boarding pass in sight. It asks a little more time than flying but repays it in ease and in the pleasure of the journey itself. Otherwise, fly to Nantes (directly where routes allow, or via Paris) and drive the final hour.
Marrakech: reaching Dar Estran, on the horizon
Maison Estran’s third coast is not a coast at all but a city — Marrakech, where the forthcoming Dar Estran will bring the hosted-stay philosophy to the Moroccan riad. The houses are still being readied rather than open, so treat what follows as groundwork for a journey to come; but the connectivity is worth knowing, because it has never been better.
The best-connected it has ever been
Marrakech Menara Airport (code RAK) sits barely fifteen minutes from the medina, and it has become one of North Africa’s most accessible hubs from Europe. The national carrier Royal Air Maroc anchors a wide network, and the low-cost airlines have moved in decisively: among the notable 2026 developments, easyJet has established a base at Marrakech Menara, with connections including Paris, London and Milan — a meaningful signal of how firmly the city now sits on the European map. Alongside it, Ryanair, Transavia and others fly from a long list of European cities, and direct services from Paris and London typically take around three to three and a half hours — closer, in flying time, than many Mediterranean beach destinations.
On arrival
Because Menara is so close to the centre, the transfer from plane to riad is mercifully short — a matter of minutes into the old city, though the medina’s car-free lanes mean the very last stretch to a riad door is often on foot, luggage carried the final way, which is part of the arrival’s particular romance rather than a hardship. When Dar Estran opens, that last walk — from the plane, through the red walls, to a cool courtyard and a fountain — will be the whole journey in miniature: the noise of the world left at the door.
A note on when to come — and why the journey shapes the stay
One practical thread ties all three destinations together: the calendar. Southern Sardinia’s direct international flights bloom in summer and taper in winter, so the season shapes your options; the Breton coast is reachable year-round by rail but loveliest, and best served, from late spring onward; and Marrakech, blessedly, is a year-round city, at its most comfortable in spring and autumn. If your dates are flexible, the golden shoulder weeks of September and early October are the sweet spot for the two European coasts — warm sea, thinner crowds, and flights that are still running but no longer at peak-season prices.
However you come, the aim is the same: to make the getting-there small, so the being-there can be large. Book the flights early, check the live schedules before you commit, sort the last mile in advance, and let someone who knows the ground handle the details at the other end. Do that, and the journey becomes what it should be — the quiet overture to the week, not the obstacle before it.
The practical summary
For southern Sardinia and Il Polpo Nero: fly to Cagliari-Elmas (CAG) — direct from many European cities in summer (including new-for-2026 Nice and Bordeaux), or via Rome or Milan year-round — then drive or transfer about 35 minutes to the Pula coast.
For the Côte d’Amour and Ker Gonan: take the TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Le Pouliguen or La Baule (around three hours, direct in season and at weekends, otherwise via Nantes), or fly to Nantes Atlantique (NTE) and drive roughly an hour. In the village, you won’t need a car.
For Marrakech and the forthcoming Dar Estran: fly to Marrakech Menara (RAK) — well connected from Paris, London, Milan and beyond, around three to three and a half hours from north-west Europe — then a short transfer, and a final walk, into the medina.
And in every case: verify the live timetable before booking, because the one certainty in air travel is that the schedule will have moved since this was written.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get to southern Sardinia?
Fly to Cagliari-Elmas Airport (CAG), the gateway for the south. In summer there are direct flights from many European cities — including new-for-2026 easyJet routes from Nice and Bordeaux — while Rome and Milan connect year-round if you need a hub. From the airport, the Pula coast (Pula, Perd’e Sali, Chia) is about a 35-minute drive.
What are the new flights to Cagliari in 2026?
For summer 2026 Cagliari expanded to around 109 routes with over 30 airlines. New services include easyJet from Nice and Bordeaux, Eurowings from Salzburg, El Al from Tel Aviv, and additional Italian domestic links. Note the current map does not include a direct Istanbul flight, so route via a hub if coming from Turkey. Always check live schedules, as routes change seasonally.
How far is Cagliari airport from Pula?
About 35 minutes by car. A hire car is ideal for exploring the south’s spread-out beaches and villages, or a private transfer can be arranged to the door.
How do I get to Le Pouliguen and La Baule?
Two good ways: take the TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Le Pouliguen or La Baule-Escoublac (around three hours, direct in high season and at weekends, otherwise via Nantes), or fly to Nantes Atlantique (NTE) and drive about an hour. Le Pouliguen has its own village station, and once there you can get around on foot or by bicycle.
Is there a direct train from Paris to La Baule?
Yes — direct TGV Atlantique services run from Paris Montparnasse to the Le Croisic line, calling at La Baule-Escoublac and Le Pouliguen, primarily in the high season and at weekends; at other times you change at Nantes. Check the SNCF timetable and book ahead for the best fares.
How do I get to Marrakech from Europe?
Fly to Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK), about 15 minutes from the medina. It is well connected across Europe — easyJet established a Marrakech base for 2026 with routes including Paris, London and Milan, alongside Royal Air Maroc, Ryanair, Transavia and others. Direct flights from Paris and London take roughly three to three and a half hours.
When is the best time to travel to these coasts?
Southern Sardinia and Brittany are at their best from late spring through October, with September and early October offering warm seas, thinner crowds and flights still running below peak prices. Marrakech is a year-round destination, most comfortable in spring and autumn.
Do I need a car at each destination?
In southern Sardinia, yes — a car makes the spread-out coast easy. On the Côte d’Amour, no — Le Pouliguen is walkable and cyclable, so the train is ideal. In Marrakech, the medina is car-free, so you arrive by transfer and walk the final stretch.
