Recommendations for south of France
Discussion
Hi all,
hoping for a little advice on the South of France.
We regularly go to Albi and Carcassonne but have had a lay off for a few years. Now the baby is 3 its time to go back but we want to try somewhere new. Ideally we want to get close to the beach/sea but not in the big towns/cities.
Can anyone recommend a family friendly village to look out for or even one of the Eurocamp style places? We tend to hire a house but with the baby we had a fantastic time at one of the camps last year.
On our trips we like to explore, the Carcassonne region has some brilliant places, such as the Cathar castles etc. We also drive, as we love the drive down and then exploring. On the way back we'll probably go up to Switzerland and back to Stelvio pass. The sort of place I fancy will be close to beaches, if a village (not a camp) a nice friendly place with good bars, possibly a fishing area but one that welcomes English visitors with limited language skills (we always at least try).
Oh and on top of it all for me, some good roads poss some recommendations of mountain passes!
Cheers
hoping for a little advice on the South of France.
We regularly go to Albi and Carcassonne but have had a lay off for a few years. Now the baby is 3 its time to go back but we want to try somewhere new. Ideally we want to get close to the beach/sea but not in the big towns/cities.
Can anyone recommend a family friendly village to look out for or even one of the Eurocamp style places? We tend to hire a house but with the baby we had a fantastic time at one of the camps last year.
On our trips we like to explore, the Carcassonne region has some brilliant places, such as the Cathar castles etc. We also drive, as we love the drive down and then exploring. On the way back we'll probably go up to Switzerland and back to Stelvio pass. The sort of place I fancy will be close to beaches, if a village (not a camp) a nice friendly place with good bars, possibly a fishing area but one that welcomes English visitors with limited language skills (we always at least try).
Oh and on top of it all for me, some good roads poss some recommendations of mountain passes!
Cheers
Carry on past Carcassone on the A61 to the Med, then turn right on the A9 direction Barcelona. Couple of really nice places along the coast there. Come off the A9 just before Port Leucate, modern new village a bit like Port Solent, low rise holiday homes but loads of water sports and a good marina and a pleasant place to stay. Then carry along the coast road to Couliorre, though I've probably spelt that wrong, it's a very pretty old port then staying off the main motorway make your way alongside the Med past Banyuls across the border to Spain. Couple of really nice places along there, almost deserted and the real Spain. Try to end up at Roses and then Empuriabrava. This is very different sort of resort, it's primarily holiday homes but built on a canal network rather than roads, each house has it's own mooring, a really wonderful place to stay for a few days and lots to do, even parachuting from a local airstrip. Oh and you can rent boats too.
As an alternative, if you turn left at the end of the A61, then you've got Narbonne, Agde (with it's nudist beach) and Sete, all worth a visit and a few days stay, especially Sete. During the summer they have water jousting every evening with teams from all over France coming for a "fight". Look it up on Google, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBlJuG_XCI Sort of big row boats, with the jouster standing on a platform trying to knock the opponent off and in to the water. Great hilarity and the crowds are stunning, all very partisan cheering for their team, it's a great evening, though the place gets packed and you'll be hard pressed to find a hotel with a free room and the traffic in and out, oh la la, c'est formidable.
As an alternative, if you turn left at the end of the A61, then you've got Narbonne, Agde (with it's nudist beach) and Sete, all worth a visit and a few days stay, especially Sete. During the summer they have water jousting every evening with teams from all over France coming for a "fight". Look it up on Google, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBlJuG_XCI Sort of big row boats, with the jouster standing on a platform trying to knock the opponent off and in to the water. Great hilarity and the crowds are stunning, all very partisan cheering for their team, it's a great evening, though the place gets packed and you'll be hard pressed to find a hotel with a free room and the traffic in and out, oh la la, c'est formidable.
ColinM50 said:
Carry on past Carcassone on the A61 to the Med, then turn right on the A9 direction Barcelona. Couple of really nice places along the coast there. Come off the A9 just before Port Leucate, modern new village a bit like Port Solent, low rise holiday homes but loads of water sports and a good marina and a pleasant place to stay. Then carry along the coast road to Couliorre, though I've probably spelt that wrong, it's a very pretty old port then staying off the main motorway make your way alongside the Med past Banyuls across the border to Spain. Couple of really nice places along there, almost deserted and the real Spain. Try to end up at Roses and then Empuriabrava. This is very different sort of resort, it's primarily holiday homes but built on a canal network rather than roads, each house has it's own mooring, a really wonderful place to stay for a few days and lots to do, even parachuting from a local airstrip. Oh and you can rent boats too.
As an alternative, if you turn left at the end of the A61, then you've got Narbonne, Agde (with it's nudist beach) and Sete, all worth a visit and a few days stay, especially Sete. During the summer they have water jousting every evening with teams from all over France coming for a "fight". Look it up on Google, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBlJuG_XCI Sort of big row boats, with the jouster standing on a platform trying to knock the opponent off and in to the water. Great hilarity and the crowds are stunning, all very partisan cheering for their team, it's a great evening, though the place gets packed and you'll be hard pressed to find a hotel with a free room and the traffic in and out, oh la la, c'est formidable.
This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^As an alternative, if you turn left at the end of the A61, then you've got Narbonne, Agde (with it's nudist beach) and Sete, all worth a visit and a few days stay, especially Sete. During the summer they have water jousting every evening with teams from all over France coming for a "fight". Look it up on Google, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBlJuG_XCI Sort of big row boats, with the jouster standing on a platform trying to knock the opponent off and in to the water. Great hilarity and the crowds are stunning, all very partisan cheering for their team, it's a great evening, though the place gets packed and you'll be hard pressed to find a hotel with a free room and the traffic in and out, oh la la, c'est formidable.
Nothing to add except you can also visit the Camargue see white horses, flamingos. Aigue Morte (medieval walled town) Le Grau-du-Roi and Palavas Les flots for beachy stuff and seafood restauants.
Yes. My recommendation would be Narbonne and then Collioure. Argeles sur Mer and Argeles Plage is basically an entire town and mini coastline given over to camping/Euro camping sites of various lux. I would personally recommend giving Perpignan a miss...we thought the place was dull. Narbonne is lovely though.
Be warned about Collioure and Argeles...summer...packed. Ram-jam-packed as half of western Europe goes down there on holiday. An uber cool thing about Collioure is where the French equivalent of the SBS have their base. Its a hell of a long bloody drive across to Switzerland and Stelvio though. Its not North-South equivalent of a long drive either, West-East across France is just dismally depressing and dull. And long. Very long. However long you think its going to be, its going to feel twice as long.
Be warned about Collioure and Argeles...summer...packed. Ram-jam-packed as half of western Europe goes down there on holiday. An uber cool thing about Collioure is where the French equivalent of the SBS have their base. Its a hell of a long bloody drive across to Switzerland and Stelvio though. Its not North-South equivalent of a long drive either, West-East across France is just dismally depressing and dull. And long. Very long. However long you think its going to be, its going to feel twice as long.
Thanks all, will have a good read later! I will be turning Left on the 61 though (as I am selfish and want to do the St Bernard and Stilveo again, also get back to Thun...)
The post about mid France, will def look at that perhaps for next year but Narbonne is somewhere we had looked at a few years ago so think I will set that as my target. We will be going in mid-May. Isn't there that really long Roman road down there somewhere?
The post about mid France, will def look at that perhaps for next year but Narbonne is somewhere we had looked at a few years ago so think I will set that as my target. We will be going in mid-May. Isn't there that really long Roman road down there somewhere?
Hair Flick said:
Thanks all, will have a good read later! I will be turning Left on the 61 though (as I am selfish and want to do the St Bernard and Stilveo again, also get back to Thun...)
The post about mid France, will def look at that perhaps for next year but Narbonne is somewhere we had looked at a few years ago so think I will set that as my target. We will be going in mid-May. Isn't there that really long Roman road down there somewhere?
Yes. It runs through the centre of Narbonne aswell! In fact the main narrow thoroughfare through Narbonne is it! They uncover a wider section in one of the plazas so you can look at it. Very cool I thought The post about mid France, will def look at that perhaps for next year but Narbonne is somewhere we had looked at a few years ago so think I will set that as my target. We will be going in mid-May. Isn't there that really long Roman road down there somewhere?
Then that sounds the ticket!
Would it be possible, if not too much to ask, to recommend some of the good mountain roads down there? Obviously if we're on the 61 we'll be heading up to Turin/Milan that way to then head up back through Switzerland. Any of the more interesting routes would be most welcome as (and she does not know this yet) I am planning to get a GoPro 3...
Would it be possible, if not too much to ask, to recommend some of the good mountain roads down there? Obviously if we're on the 61 we'll be heading up to Turin/Milan that way to then head up back through Switzerland. Any of the more interesting routes would be most welcome as (and she does not know this yet) I am planning to get a GoPro 3...
another vote for Sete
lots of camping resorts, between Cap D'Agde and Sete is a miles-long beach with at least one family camping village
didn't have kids when I went there though, so dunno what it's like
not a mountain road as such, but the coast road that goes over the border to Spain is as wiggly a line as you'll see on a map
lots of camping resorts, between Cap D'Agde and Sete is a miles-long beach with at least one family camping village
didn't have kids when I went there though, so dunno what it's like
not a mountain road as such, but the coast road that goes over the border to Spain is as wiggly a line as you'll see on a map
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