Where to go on holiday in France?

[Howmanysleepstilchristmas]

I’m stumped! We’ve been to a fair few places and loved them, but want somewhere new. We’d like country rather than city, activities (kayaking, riding, watersports etc), warm weather, pretty or historic villages/ towns, good scenery, beach optional. We weren’t fussed on the Loire or Ardennes, loved Charente and Brittany. Would catch the ferry, but don’t mind an overnight stop or longer en route. Dc are aged 6-14, and not into kids clubs.

I am generally speaking not a big fan of France but I really love the Cote d’Azur. Avoid places like Nice and instead take a look at Menton. Gorgeous town and Italy is just around the corner as well.

What about the Dordogne area? We have stayed just off the river south of Sarlat in the past and there is loads to do - kayaking, water sports, loads of history and scenery and pretty towns.

We have always been late July into mid August and had good weather.

Normandy or the Vendée might fit the bill

The Dordogne sounds like it would fit the bill perfectly. We loved it and had similar criteria. Brantome or Sarlat are beautiful and have access to kayaking etc. We also drove to Lacanau on the coast which is well worth a visit.

Definitely Dordogne

Honfleur, Normandy is very pretty. Not far is Deauville which is more lively.

Sarlat and the local area is lovely, but I adore St Tropez and the nearby beaches. Sailing, kayaking, water parks. It's a playground really, and it's beautiful.

The Alps. Amazing in summer, especially if you’re into sports. Look at around Annecy for a base for sailing, SUPing, hiking, zip wires and stunning scenery.

The South West ticks every box, particularly the Tarn et Garonne region. Take a look on Google for St Nicolas de la Grave - they do alsorts of boating and canoe activities, as do lots of other places in the area. There are also man-made beaches, swimming/play pools, country walks, an observatory etc. The scenery is incredible. If you like vineyards or home grown produce like garlic, jam, honey, cheese etc, then that's the place to go.

I second Tarn et Garonne. Also the Loire area around Angers.

I'm going to throw Franche Comte into the mix.

I'm going to say Biarritz. Ferry to Bilbao or Santander (Noja has a good campsite and fabulous beach if you fancy a few days there too) and Biarritz is gorgeous (two hours or so from Bilbao I think) or you could go here

Not the Côte d'Azur, but the Pays du Gard. It's got the Ardeche, the Pont du Gard, various amphitheatres... it's our favourite place, maybe in the world. The weather is great, the views are great. There's Avignon fairly near. Check it out. We used to stay in Bagnols sur Cèze

The area around Aubeterre/Riberac in the south west. Beautiful. Not far from Bordeaux, Bergerac, Perigeux, Brive etc

I would ferry into Calais, then stop for two days and do Disneyland Paris then drive up to Normandy and visit the landing beaches, there are some great museums for you and the kids. If you don't want to do Disney then ferry into Normandy! We used to do this as kids and they were my mostly fondly remembered holidays, even the car journeys were great fun