GETTING THERE

Train
One of the easiest ways to travel to Niolon from just about anywhere is by train. From London, zip across to either Paris or Lille on the Eurostar, then take a train to Marseille (total journey time: six hours). From there you can take either a taxi or another train to the tiny Niolon train stop, a beautiful ride along the coast (in either case, this takes around half an hour from Marseille). You might in any case like to rent a car for your stay, available from Marseille train terminal. Visit www.eurostar.co.uk and www.voyages-sncf.com for tickets.

Plane
There are some incredibly cheap low-cost flights to Marseille from a whole range of destinations. Check out British Airways,  Air France and  EasyJet. The very cheapest flights are probably with Ryanair which has several European routes to and from Marseille. You can get discounts on car rental at Marseille-Provence airport (Marignane) with Hertz.

Car
If you like the idea of seeing something of France on your way down, you can also drive, of course. From London, it can be done in one fairly long day if you take the motorways. However it's lovely to take your time on the smaller roads, stopping to eat regional specialities on the way and spending the night somewhere around the centre of France. On www.autoroutes.fr and www.mappy.com you will find all you need for driving - maps, printable directions, weather and estimations on travel time, petrol cost and motorway toll fares.