Modern day Routier is a beautiful and peaceful wine village. It remains surrounded by vineyards and many of its 240 inhabitants are involved in the production of the local Cru Malepere wine, but despite its rural surroundings Routier is easily accessible.

By road:
Take exit 23 on the A61 signposted for Carcassonne Ouest Salvaza & Limoux.
Follow the signs to Salvaza Airport.
*Join the D119 and pass by the airport on your right hand side continue to the small town of Montréal. After leaving Montreal, continue down hill past the small supermarket and petrol station on the left. Keep going down hill and you will see a right turn ahead and opposite the turning there is a small cottage to the left of the main road. Just beyond the cottage is a left turn. You will see the left filter lane marked on the road just after the bridge.

Turn left onto D21, signposted to Limoux and continue on this road for approx 2km. The road passes by the village of Villeneuve les Monreal and then winds up hill through woodland. At the top of the hill there is a T junction.
Turn left down hill onto the D623 - after approx 3km there is a roundabout. Take the second exit which is sign posted to Limoux.

You will pass a few houses and a small garage on the right hand side of the road. After a sweeping left hand bend, there is open land on each side of the road. You will see a large sign on the right hand side of the road advertising the Cave du Razès 2km. The turn to Routier is just before the Cave. Look out for a sign post on the right hand side of the road pointing to Routier on D309, take this turning.

You will pass through the tiny hamlet of Mondesir. Look through the trees on the right of the road and you will be able to see the village of Routier with its distinctive rectangular bell tower wall and a round water tower.

The road continues to climb, as you enter Routier. Pass the Post Office on the left, continue up hill, and very soon you will come to an unmarked junction with the water tower on your left. The road bends sharply around to the right in front of the water tower. Follow the road sharp right and Domaine des Etoiles is immediately on your right, behind a set of large green gates with sandy/pink coloured supporting walls. Pull up in front of the gates and ring entry phone which is on a small wall mounted panel on the left of the gate.

There is ample off road parking.

Mappy.co.uk is a good website for directions.
The address of Domaine des Etoiles is 2, chemin des Moulins 11240 Routier.
If lost, call Steve on 04 68 69 18 46 or 06 89 29 74 24.

By Air flying to:
Carcassonne, 30 km and 30 minutes is the nearest airport to Domaine des Etoiles. Car hire is available, or an airport pick up can be arranged.
Ryanair - flights from Stanstead, Dublin, Liverpool, and Nottingham-East Midlands & Brussels Charleroi. If you are picking up a hire car at the airport, exit from the airport parking and turn right onto D119 and follow the directions above.*

Toulouse, 103km and 60 to 90 minutes (depending on time of day) with many flight links from the UK including London & Manchester. From the airport follow the D902 in the direction of Bordeaux/Montpellier on to the A624/A61. Take exit 23 and follow the instructions above.

Perpignan, 130km and 90 minutes, flights from Manchester Southampton, Birmingham & Stansted. From the airport follow signs for the A9 Narbonne, then take the A61 to Toulouse/Carcassonne and follow the instructions above.

By train to:
Carcassonne Station, 32 kms and 35 minutes away. The SNCF website is very helpful for travel advice and a timetable and is available in an English version, just select the language you require on the home page.

For more information visit www.voyages-sncf.com

French Motorail
During the long summer months (May to September) Rail Europe operates a unique service to South of France. So if you want to take your car or motorbike to France, but don't fancy spending hours on the road at the start of your holiday, you can!

The route to choose is Calais to Narbonne via Brive and Toulouse

Motorail takes most types of vehicles including:

* cars
* motorbikes
* 4x4s
* people carriers

The French Motorail service will run from Calais to the South of France on Fridays between 16th May and 12th September 2008. An additional service will run on Sundays between 20th July and 24th August 2008.

The service from the South of France to Calais will run on Saturdays between 17th May and 13th September 2008. An additional service runs on Mondays between 21st July and 25th August 2008.

For more information follow the Rail Europe link

The no car option:
If you want to holiday without a car, transfers can be arranged from Carcassonne Airport (30 km away) and Carcassonne Railway Station (32 km away). It is possible to bring bicycles on the train and on some Ryanair flights at additional cost.

Ryanair advises that bicycles may be carried in the hold of the aircraft in addition to your personal checked baggage allowance upon payment of an additional fee per item, per one way flight, if booked at the time of reservation.
They stipulate that the pedals must be removed (or fixed inwards) and the handlebars must be fixed sideways. The bike should be contained in a protective box or bag. It is not necessary (from a safety perspective) to deflate typical tires found on bikes for carriage in the hold. However, to eliminate the small risk of them being damaged by bursting, you may wish to deflate the tires. Understandably this decision may be influenced by how easily the tires could be inflated upon arrival. Please see www.ryanair.com for full details.

A lift to the supermarket can be arranged with Steve or, if you prefer, pre ordered groceries can be organized for your arrival. Breakfast and evening meals can be provided if booked in advance.

Horse riding can be arranged at the village stables and the area around Routier is great for bird watching, walking, fishing and cycling (it is possible to walk or go by bicycle to the local wine cooperative to taste and buy the local wines) and for the less energetic Domaine des Etoiles is a great place to do nothing except relax and unwind in the sunshine.