Planning a trip to France - Any Tips?

[baab95]

Does anybody have any suggestions for places to visit (or those to avoid) or self-catering style accommodation in France? We are planning a driving holiday in either September or October. Any advice greatfully received, as nothing has been settles as yet. Thanks Baab

[franbee]

Give us a bit of a clue, baab, are you looking for the seaside, cities or country? The south will obviously have the better weather, we find that places further north start to wind down towards the end of Sept. Have a look on the travel thread at my camping notes.

[eleanor2]

baab the weather can still be lovely in october but France does wind down as fran says in september.i actually like out of season if you have no children to entertain.cus everywhere is quieter and you can sit outside the French cafe watching the world go by.the markets are all still in full swing all year round.which part did you want to travel too.

[baab95]

Thanks for your responses Fran & E. We are aiming for a relaxing family holiday focusing more on the countryside. We plan to start from Paris and are not sure where to head next. Food, wine, historic villages & towns are our preference. We are not that interested in visiting seaside towns unless there is something fairly spectacular about the area. As you can see we are open to suggestions. Thanks

[franbee]

Baab, you put up a thread 2 years ago about France and Italy, did you ever go?

I like Provence, lots of interesting old villages, markets, mountain scenery, Roman remains. Apt is a good centre.

However, the Dordogne is also a favourite, more old villages, troglodyte caves. Sarlat is a good centre there.
I can't say if they would suit youngsters or not though, probably not!

[eleanor2]

fran do you mean Dorgogne or dordogne.....thing about the Dordogne our neck of the woods.is they have river beaches in the little towns.which are super relaxing places.the thing about France it is so relaxing in rural france.yet you still have your touristy things but not in a frantic way.the French people still all take lovely picnics out for the day.you see families sitting relaxing as they have a long picnic time.i said to my sister who is nervous of going abroad.when she came to France with us.one night at a firework and fairground night.i bet you wont here any shouting,swearing or see any drunkennes at all.there were hundreds of folks out.lots of youth yet what a lovely happy famlyish feel night.France truly is a different sort of holiday

[baab95]

Fran I did put up the earlier thread but unfortunately the trip came to nought, and we ended up a little closer to home - in Asia. This time (I am assured) it will go ahead. Everyone is fairly excited, including the youngest who is being bribed with the prospect of Eurodisney. Fran & E your accounts of the Dordogne make it sound lovely - so I will do some further research.As much as we would love to go to Provence, I am not sure whether or not we will get that far south , maybe we will have to save it for another time.

[franbee]

Where are you travelling from, baab?

[baab95]

We're tavelling from Australia, Fran. So its quite a long flight just to get to France. I think we will lose approximately 2 days just in flight travel.

[franbee]

So do you fly to Paris, then, or a regional airport? Paris would be an extra day's drive from the places I mentioned.

[baab95]

Straight into Paris is the plan.

[franbee]

So it will take you a day's drive to either Provence or the Dordogne, but the weather will be warmer the further south you go.