24 Hours of Le Mans Travel Guide

Travel to Le Mans by Train

The most comfortable way to get to the 24 Hours of Le Mans is by train. You can arrive in Le Mans by high speed train from Paris, Rennes, Nantes, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva and many other major european cities. The french high speed train - the TGV - is the fastest in the world. It holds the world record for speed on rails with 514 kilometers per hour. Of course, the regular cruising speed is of "only" 320 kilometers per hour. To make reservations, you can either contact your local travel agent or use one of the following web sites:

SNCF, if you arrive from France
Eurostar, if you arrive from the UK or Belgium
Thalys, if you arrive from Belgium, Holland or Germany

Depending on where you come from, you might not get a direct train to Le Mans. In this case you might have to change trains either in Paris or in Lille. If you change in Paris, you must get to the Montparnasse station for the final part of your journey.

If you come from London, Brussels or Amsterdam you'll arrive in Paris at Gare du Nord. There you'll have to take the subway line numeber four to get to Montparnasse and catch your train to Le Mans. You'll have to follow the same instructions if you come from Germany and arrive to Gare de l'Est, another major train station of Paris.

If you come from Geneva, from Italy or from southern France you'll arrive in Gare de Lyon. From there, subway line six will take you to Montparnasse.

Getting to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Track

Le Mans has a very good public transport network. During the 24 Hours of Le Mans the the city establishes special buss lines that pick up passengers from various points in the the city centre, from the train station and bring them to the quot;Circuit des 24 Heures".

To get to the "Circuit des 24 Heures" it's best to drive to the city centre, leave your car at one of the many parking facilities and take the buss. Busses go every 15 minutes or so and are very efficient. You can also try to drive to the track, but there are very little chances to find a parking place and traffic around the track is very difficult.

Busses drop you at the main entrance. Once there you can also choose to take one of the free shuttles that take passengers to observation points in Arnage and Mulsanne's Corner.

If you can read french you can find more information about the city's public transit infrastructure at the SETRAM web site. Details about dedicated buss lines should be published as the event approaches.

Here is a list of important locations in Le Mans. Use the maps to get directions from there to anywhere in the city:

Train Station	Track Entrance
Place de la Republique	Place des Jacobins

Driving to Le Mans

Of course, the train is not the only solution. You can also drive to Le Mans. The city is well connected to the many important highways and a fairly recent map should suffice to find your way. If this is your first road trip to France, be aware that the speed limit on the highway is 130 Km/h (110 Km/h when it rains) and that french police is now enforcing a quite strict speed limit control policy. France has recently signed speed ticket exchange treaties with many of its neighbors so be aware, even if you're not a french resident, you might receive that ticket any ways.

If you're wondering how to get to Le Mans from various places in Europe, here are a few hints:

Paris	London	Brussels
Amsterdam	Berlin	Cologne
Frankfurt	Vienna	Zurich
Geneva	Milano	Madrid