France in 2 weeks time- where?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Ideally drive there. Ideally not Flanders style weather etc and quaint yet near cosmopolitan?

[TTmonkey]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Ideally drive there. Ideally not Flanders style weather etc and quaint yet near cosmopolitan?

Recently went to Troyes and Dijon and they were lovely.

Also, Strasbourg is delightful.

[Stella Tortoise]

Going to Beaune and Lourmarin shortly, been to both before and enjoy.

Edited to add, people tell tell me that the Alps resorts are good in the Summer. Not sure how cosmopolitan they are though.

Edited by Stella Tortoise on Sunday 30th July 17:06

[PositronicRay]

I love small rural French towns plenty are quaint but not really cosmopolitan.

For Cosmopolitan head for the bigger places Paris, Lyon, Marseille, not quaint though. Tours has quaint bits, along with an Arab quarter, but I wouldn't describe it as particularly cosmopolitan. You may find cosmopolitan and quaint in Strasbourg, but I've not visited.

[omniflow]

It really depends on what type of holiday you're looking for. Possible options include

Brittany
Ile de Re / La Rochelle
Cote Sauvage
Bordeaux / St. Emilion
Biarritz

[bolidemichael]

Has down to Perigueux and enjoy the Perigord region. There’s also the incredible spectacle of the Lascaux IV visitor experience, too. Be sure to book an English language night tour.

[DB4DM]

Collioure is a good base but without a reservation I'd doubt you'd find somewhere to stay

St Jean de Luz is IMO nicer than Biarritz. Great chocolate museum between the two if you like that sort of thing

[littleredrooster]

Depends how far you want to drive.

Bayeux
St. Malo
Dinan
Rennes
Le Mans
La Rochelle
Saumur
Millau
Colmar
Avignon

...all have excellent 'cafe culture' and restaurants and loads of good, inexpensive hotels. We absolutely love France.

[seyre1972]

A touring holiday, or a pitch up and stay holiday ?

Likewise - what’s your entry point (Chunnel/Calais/Brittany/Spain (ferry to Santander/Bilbao etc))

Maybe a few more bits about what you like to do etc (Beach/chateaux’s/historic sites)

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I'd say land at Calais and 4-5 hours from there.

[Chicken Chaser]

We had a day in Colmar this week and it was a beautiful place. Didn't get the opportunity to visit Strasbourg but basing yourself near there will probably give you the best of both worlds.

[paulwirral]

Honfleur ticks a lot of boxes

[NDA]

paulwirral said:

Honfleur ticks a lot of boxes

Beat me to it.

Honfleur is excellent - a large and ancient port town which is full of shops and restaurants. An easy 3 hour (max) drive from Calais. A couple of snaps from when I was there recently...

[Puggit]

If the weather stays as is and you want something better, head for the lower half...

[Hammersia]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I'd say land at Calais and 4-5 hours from there.

This ^^^^

The French troll us by having nothing to see the first three hours from Calais, after this you can't go wrong.

[bolidemichael]

Hammersia said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I'd say land at Calais and 4-5 hours from there.

This ^^^^

The French troll us by having nothing to see the first three hours from Calais, after this you can't go wrong.

Not quite! Reims and the Epernay champange region is very charming. Normandy too, with Aigle, Bayuex and Falaise -- home of William the Conqueror.

[Hammersia]

bolidemichael said:

Hammersia said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I'd say land at Calais and 4-5 hours from there.

This ^^^^

The French troll us by having nothing to see the first three hours from Calais, after this you can't go wrong.

Not quite! Reims and the Epernay champange region is very charming. Normandy too, with Aigle, Bayuex and Falaise -- home of William the Conqueror.

Reims is three hours and Bayeaux 4 hours from Calais, as I say.

[bolidemichael]

Hammersia said:

bolidemichael said:

Hammersia said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I'd say land at Calais and 4-5 hours from there.

This ^^^^

The French troll us by having nothing to see the first three hours from Calais, after this you can't go wrong.

Not quite! Reims and the Epernay champange region is very charming. Normandy too, with Aigle, Bayuex and Falaise -- home of William the Conqueror.

Reims is three hours and Bayeaux 4 hours from Calais, as I say.

Not driving fast enough!

[PositronicRay]

NDA said:

paulwirral said:

Honfleur ticks a lot of boxes

Beat me to it.

Honfleur is excellent - a large and ancient port town which is full of shops and restaurants. An easy 3 hour (max) drive from Calais. A couple of snaps from when I was there recently...

I agree lovely place, not particularly cosmopolitan though.


In all honesty I'd wait till nearer the time and assess the weather.

[Boxster5]

PositronicRay said:

NDA said:

paulwirral said:

Honfleur ticks a lot of boxes

Beat me to it.

Honfleur is excellent - a large and ancient port town which is full of shops and restaurants. An easy 3 hour (max) drive from Calais. A couple of snaps from when I was there recently...

I agree lovely place, not particularly cosmopolitan though.


In all honesty I'd wait till nearer the time and assess the weather.

Agree that Honfleur is lovely - we’ve been many many times and we were there in June. However it’s become a victim of its own success (very very busy esp on a weekend) and we said we’d stay elsewhere on our way south. If you’ve never been though, we’ll worth a shot (just don’t eat around the harbour!)
You could try Epernay, heart of champagne country and around 3 hours from Eurotunnel.