There are a lot of airlines flying the Australia-Europe route so the options in terms of stop overs and final European destination are varied. You dont have to fly directly into France and in fact it is often cheaper and easier to go via London, Frankfurt or even Rome then fly with one of dozens of low cost European airlines. See map below for French cities and their European air connections. These days you can book and pay directly via airlines websites for international flights. Just ensure you have your credit card and passport details handy. Having said that there is nothing wrong with using a travel agent to book your flights. An agency who specialises in France is usually an advantage.Visitfrance.com.au are experts and can look after most of your arrangements if you aren't that confident in putting it all together yourself.

For those wanting to DIY here are some of the options: Qantas Sydney to Paris via Singapore is probably the most obvious, but certainly not the cheapest option. Note that Qantas code shares with British Airways and Air France. New kids on the block, Emirates are making big inroads to Europe with flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Paris via Dubai. For those living in Perth and Darwin, Tiger Airways offer cheap flights to Singapore where the airfare deals to Europe are very competitive. Airport taxes out of Australia are a killer. Tiger to Singapore from Darwin or Perth is usually around 300AUD return with most of it being taxes. Once in Singapore the taxes are significantly less. You can take Qantas or British Airways or other normally expensive flag carriers out of Singapore's Changi Airport for a lot less than out of Australia. Example - Perth London with Emirates out 15-09-07 back 22-10-07 $2042AUD Singapore London rtn with Emirates same dates is equivalent of $1500AUD Tiger fare is typically under $300AUD (70% of which is tax). Minimum saving of $200AUD if you feel like a stop over in Singapore. Tiger starts flying domestically in December so watch this space.

Roll your mouse over each city for flight connections to the UK and Ireland. Click on the city for more detailed flight and airline information.

The main Australia-Europe flight options are as follows:

Cathay Pacific flies from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Hong Kong then direct flights to Paris, London, Rome, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Thai Airlines fly from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Bangkok where there are regular direct flights to Paris, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Zurich, Athens, Rome, Milan and Madrid

Malaysian Airlines fly from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth to Kuala Lumpur then onto Paris, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Zurich and Rome

Singapore Airlines fly from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth to Singapore then onto Paris, London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Zurich, Barcelona, Milan, Rome and Athens

Virgin Atlantic flies Sydney to London via Hong Kong

Austrian Airlines fly from Sydney and Melbourne to Vienna several times a week.

Royal Brunei flies from Brisbane and Darwin to Bandar Seri Begawan then onto Frankfurt and London.

KLM flies Sydney to Amsterdam then connecting to a host of European gateways from there.

Please familiarise yourself with the new aviation security measures relating to carry on baggage Note that it although Sydney Paris via the US is not substantially further in kilometres, the cost is far greater due to a lack of competition on the trans-Pacific route. Unless you particularly wish to go via the US or Canada the best deals are always through Asia and the Middle East. List of European airlines Sites that do the legwork for you BudgetLongHaul.com Flylowcostairlines.org BravoFly.com SkyScanner.net

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From the UK and Ireland:
Ryan Air is the world’s most successful low cost airline operating 360 routes in 22 countries. It offers consistently low fares and flies into mainly smaller centres hubbing out of London Stansted and Dublin. There are daily Ryan Air flights out of London Stansted to the following French cities: Bergerac, Biarritz, Brest, Carcassonne, Deauville, Dinard, Grenoble, La Rochelle, Limoges, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nimes, Paris (Beauvais), Pau, Perpignan, Poitiers, Rodez, Toulon and Tours.

Easyjet is an established and successful British low cost carrier serving 68 European destinations (mainly the larger centres and key resort areas) out of London Gatwick, Luton and Stansted Airports. In France they fly to Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris and Toulouse.

British European operate mainly out of Birmingham and Southampton and fly to French cities of: Bergerac, Brest, Chambery, Limoges, Nice, Rennes Toulouse,

BMI Baby is a subsidiary of British Midland and flies out of 17 UK airports to a wide range of destinations in Europe including Bordeaux, Perpignan, Lyon, Nice, Paris and Toulouse in France.