SW France (Pyrénées, Biarritz or Perpignan?) - help!

[GustavsGonad]

Hello lovely people.

Looking for travel tips / experiences for a family trip to SW France, we are thinking of these 3 areas, but can't decide which as have never been there, but we love other parts of France and want to try somewhere new.

1. West coast around Biarritz coastline (gives the option of driving into Northern Spain (San Sebatian, Bilbao etc)

Posted too soon!

2 - South coast (west side): Perpignan coastline / inland area.

3 - Pyrenees area: somewhere perhaps midway between the two coastlines with mountain views etc.

(Sorry for epic posting failure😒)

Bumping🫠

Been to Perpignan—a absolutely beautiful area,stayed in Argeles. Would recommend x

St Jean de Luz is lovely ❤️

We did a week in Pau one year before driving up to Bergerac to stay with DH's sister - it was nice - we drove into the Pyrenees easily from there and DH did some early starts to go for bike rides. Was beautiful.

Bidart
bayonne
st jean de luz

Thank you for the tips! I’ll be Google map searching with my 🍷 tonight :)

Pau is a lovely town and the drive up into the Pyrenees is amazing. Loads of highland cattle and wild ponies and you can get a gondola lift up to the top.

There are loads of marmots too which are like giant Guinea pigs.

Not many people either considering how lovely it all is.

We have stayed near Biarritz and loved it. We have also stayed nearer Perpignan and that was also lovely. Carcassonne in particular was amazing. We also stayed in a little village called Bize Minervois which was a picture perfect little place where you could swim in the river.

Another year we did a combined visit with Spain and stayed in San Sebastian which was also great. Beautiful beach and amazing food.

Around Perpignan is great. If you stay south of there, near Collioure or Argeles, it's easy to travel into northern Spain too.

Collioure is very pretty, very busy in summer but nice safe beaches - one sandy, two pebbly - lively, little independent shops, boat trips, music etc.

Argeles is more seasidey, less quaint. There's a water park nearby which is fun.

Slightly inland, Ceret is a lovely arty town. Fantastic market on Saturday mornings.

Lots of little art galleries, museums in the area. And some stunning castles like Peyreperthus to visit in the Tete valley. Great walking and cycling area too.

You won't find any big hotels; tourists tend to self-cater, camp or stay in small family-run hotels.

It's Catalonia so there's quite a Spanish feel to the area. It was actually part of Spain a few hundred years ago.

Bayonne is gorgeous and highly recommended

Would you say the whole region has a Spanish feel? Or more on the Perpignan side, as opposed to the Biarritz side?

Total newcomer to this region, closest I’ve been is Bordeaux in the west..

You can’t go wrong with any of those places! Toured the area a few years ago on motorbike and loved it.

We've been to both the Pyrenees and the Perpignan area. - stayed very near Collioure.

Both are lovely. We preferred Collioure as we're into snorkelling and diving which is very good on that coast, the towns were lovely and there was a lot to do. In the Pyrenees we mostly did hikes which DH and I enjoyed but the DC had limited enthusiasm for!

We go to the Ariege (to cycle) often stay in Ax Les Thermes, Foix or Tarascon most years & to the coast, the seaside town of Banyuls sur Mer is lovely.

Would depend on how old your children are and what they like doing but there is a Wolf park nr Ax, incredible place.

One thing though, in the afternoons, can get incredibly hot and humid from late June onward.

We went for several years to various gites near salies de Béarn, which is prob about an hour inland from Biarritz. Charming little spa town with hot springs to bathe in. Popular with French people for their hydrotherapy! V rural and quiet area, beautiful countryside, easy drive up into the mountains. Defo the place for peace and complete relaxation.

I don't know Biarritz at all; it's also very near Spain and it's Basque country isn't it, whereas Perpignan is Catalan so I imagine Biarritz is Spanish in a different way. It's obviously the Atlantic rather than the Med too.
Around the Perpignan area lots of people speak the local language; signposts, menus etc are in Catalan as well as French so just a bit different culturally from other parts of France.
Interesting history to do with the Retirada when half a million Spanish people fled across the Alberes mountains into France to escape the Fascist regime (and then were interned - not good) then just a few years later the Resistance were smuggling Allied soldiers back the other way.
Yes, the snorkelling is great and we go to the protected marine park near Banyuls sur Mer which is especially good.
And Ceret is very much on the edge of the Pyrenees too. Le Canigou is the first of the mountain range and within easy travelling distance. You can walk up to the convent on the mountainside, or you can get a (bumpy) jeep most of the way up to the Refugio from where you can climb a pretty easy route to the summit in under two hours. Or you can do what we did and climb the lot in a couple of days. Never been so exhausted but a brilliant experience.
There's gorge walking and canyoning too. It's a really versatile region for outdoor activities.
Also near Ceret, at St Jean Pla de Corts, there's a man-made lake with pedal boats, inflatables on the water and flying fox across the lake among other stuff.
Not sure how old your kids are OP but it's a great area for all ages.

Oh this sounds lovely!

Thank you so much. This is really helpful😀

Do you want a beach, or mountains? The Pyrenees are high mountains, beautiful and much less developed than the Alps (we are going to the Pyrenees this summer, probably around Argeles gazost but been to various places in the past).
My parents live near Argeles sur mer, and agree certet and the lower hills at the end of the Pyrenees chain here are great for hiking and cycling. Plus great beaches for snorkeling (paulilles is interesting, an old munition factory, can walk around some of the old buildings and make way to a shingle beach good for snorkeling). Racou is my parents fave beach at Argeles, free parking in the morning and less busy then. There is an extensive network of cycle paths up the valley inland from argeles which are easy going and take you to the StJean du pla Corts lake mentioned by previous poster. This is a favourite of my kids, pedaloes, water inflatable course, rope course- all these when we went much much cheaper than their equivalents in the UK. Maybe because it is not such a tourist spot being inland. Plenty for families and a restaurant or popular snack bar. The roads can get incredibly busy in the Argeles area though in high summer, particularly at lunch time and Saturdays and on the road from la boulou motorway Jct to argeles and into spain via La Jonquera (a big shopping destination - esp if you were in the market for a giant paella pan😂).
Biarritz coastline is surfer country, so if that or body boarding is your thing head there.
Figures and Roses over the border in spain from Perpignan are beautiful and lots of Dali stuff if that's of interest and a lovely rocky coastline.
Collioure is pretty, but hugely busy, need to park out of town. Banyuls not so pretty but has aquarium and less touristy harbour to wander round. It's a big Mecca for diving trips and has the self guided snorkel route (there are bouys you swim out to with info about what to look for) at Peyrefite beach.

It really is. Would be heading there myself but am taking DS to a language school in Montpellier instead.

While I think on, I feel I should mention that if you do visit the pays basque you will be able to purchase in the local patisseries the gateau basque which is quite simply the most delicious thing I have ever put in my mouth.

We're going to Perpignan next month, cannot wait!

We love that side of France - Nimes, Montpelier, Sete, Narbonne are all also great places in the area to visit and are well connected by train.

Oh so many good tips, I’m getting quite excited for planning now😁

We aren’t really big outdoors activity people, but we do love being outdoors, walking, exploring beaches / villages / cities etc and DH is a modern huge art fan. Youngest is a bit too young for long independent cycle rides unfortunately, she’s almost 7 and not that confident yet, both kids can swim well though and would love to snorkel / bodyboard etc.

Personally, I fancy a bit of coastal walking, lovely mountain views, nice food, but of art and maybe a city visit..