France

[Peppermint]

As our villa is booked out for the school summer holidays[msnsad]/[msnsmile]we were thinking of having a holiday somewhere new. I quite like the idea of France but as I have only ever been to Paris I have no idea where would be best to go. The Bordeaux area would be ideal for the airport. Has anyone any experience of the surrounding area or tips on where would be an ideal region to stay. We have children but do not necessarily want a typical family hol as they are used to exploring/sightseeing etc. Thanks.

[bouncey]

I have stopped in Brittany which is very very nice, the only downside would be the sight seeing as I only know of the LeMont St Michel.

More of a quiet rural holiday.

[truman]

We have had some wonderful family holidays in France (camping mainly). We've spent time in Provence, The Voges, Normandy, Brittany and Marselles. I would recommend them all. Don't forget to do a wine tour!
Els

[shenon]

Why not drive over, the roads are excellent and you could plan your route beforehand, i have found this site out which seems pretty good

http://www.visitfrance.co.uk/

[Peppermint]

Thanks for the comments. I will keep looking - would like to rent a private villa if possible for the benefit of another villa owner! Thanks Sharon for the link.

[becbecs]

We can recommend the Vendee Region, beautiful beaches, lovely food and fantastic wine.

[fiona]

We have stayed in Gites and mobile homes between Brittany, The Vendee, The Archachon Basin and the Dordogne. We used to go every year while the children were young until we discovered Florida!

When we booked our gite we found it through Chez Nous which is where all the private owners advertise - http://www.cheznous.com/, otherwise you could search online and see what comes up.

We liked Brittany for the food, the Vendee for the fabulous beaches and great seafood - their local wine is pretty good too! We stayed twice near La Rochelle which is a lovely city, good food and plenty of history, and twice further up near St Gilles. The Dordogne was perhaps our most unsuccessful holiday - the weather was poor at the end of August / early Sep which probably accounts for it. Children got fed up with going into caves when all they wanted to do was splash about in the great pool at the campsite. Archachon basin - great waves, but you have to be careful as there is a very strong current - they do have patrolling police to ensure safety. Food was a mix of French/Spanish, some good, some not-so-good. Biarritz was a nice town, we never got as far as Bordeaux or on a wine trail. When just the 2 of us go back this is an area we will look at.

High season gets booked up very quickly - I found this when I tried to book a week in the Italian Lakes last year, we had planned to drive down staying at hotels.