France, no car, two children and gran- any ideas?

[hopingforanother]

I've never stayed in France and have no idea where to start, other than somewhere near the sea!

None of us can drive, we will have Ds (0.8) dd (4.5) and gran with us - so five in total. We'd like a bit of beach and a town.

I'd be happy with hotel, villa/cottage/apartment or holiday park, but camping will be tricky with no wheels.

Does anyone have any ideas?!! Much appreciated :-)

How about somewhere near Nice or Nice itself? The airport is very close to the town centre so you would have no problems travelling to accommodation, there is a great transport network along the coast, both buses and trains. Some lovely small towns to visit, such as Villefranche, Antibes, Menton, you also have Monaco and a trip into Italy is possible. Lots of different types of accommodation available. There are lots of things to do with children (on our return from there last year my 5 year was asked by the neighbour if he had enjoyed it there - reply was 'oh yes, it had everything I needed'). It is also a nice place for gran if she wants a bit of relaxation on her own - many older French people there and she could have a stroll along the promenade, have a coffee etc alone with no problems (maybe she would do that anyway anywhere but my mother often found new places a bit intimidating if alone). The weather is usually nice but without being too hot.

The downside is that the beach in Nice is pebbles - no sand, although there are nice beaches close by, eg at Villefranche, Juan les Pins, Antibes. It is also very crowded in French school holidays, we went in June and it was great at that time of year (this year we are going in August so will probably be like sardines on the beach).

Hope this helps a bit as a start

We were in St Mandrier sur Mer last year, and it was not as busy as Côte d'Azur.

You could to stay in La Seyne sur Mer rather than on the peninsula of St Mandrier, since it would be easier to get around without a car.

The beach is lovely.

You can take a boat to Toulon.

Biarritz is good, although I prefer St Jean de Luz which isn't too far from there.

You could also try Perpignan/Nimes those areas which are in the Languedoc and have regular & budget flights.

Yonker, Mme Lindt, thanks these are great ideas- I'm off to suds them out forthwith!

I love 'it had everything I needed' what a lovely, classic 5 year old response :-)

Another vote for Biarritz- dead easy to go down on the train from Montparnasse. Anglet just a short bus/taxi ride away was lovely.
There are hotels, villas, campsites whatever you want really.

Thanks for the new suggestions!

Gran has just revealed she doesn't really want to fly...

So that's France by ferry or train, no car, two children and gran. I think 8 or 9 hours by train might be a bit hellish. So it needs to be within an hour ish of ferry or eurostar I think. Not asking for much then...

Any more ideas? :-)

Hi again

The non-flying bit makes it a bit more difficult. Is she really so set against it? My dad used to really dislike flying but he would do it (he liked his hols!). My DH on the other hand flatly refuses to fly other then when forced to for work. So all our holidays are either by train or car.

If it is by train/ferry you could look at going to Brittany direct from the UK by ferry - to Roscoff or St Malo. I've never been to that part of France but sure someone will be able to tell you more if that appeals.

I wouldn't take the ferry to Calais if you have no car. If you are thinking of northern France I would say Eurostar to Calais Frethun is a better option. There are places that I think are easy to access from there by train, for example Calais to Le Touquet Paris Plage (seaside resort) is only 45 minutes away. Again, I don't know that area very well but to be honest the weather would put me off for a summer holiday there. Also not sure if there is a lot to fill a week or two if you are reliant on public transport.

If you get Eurostar to Paris you would have a lot more options but would still need more than an hour to really get anywhere for the type of place you are looking for. I wouldn't worry to much about a long train journey with the 4.5 year old, I used to do south of Paris to northern england with him on my own from him being about 2 (train to Paris, metro, Eurostar, train in UK), used to take a long time but he loved the trains, meeting people on them, the excitement of the stations etc. Have also done a few other long train journeys with him, and never had any problems at all. Your DS at 8 months may be a bit more difficult of course but still think it is possible. Also depends on how far you have to travel to get the Eurostar as well.

If you think you can handle a longer journey a few places are
Biarritz as Tulpe and DarkSkies have suggested - 5.30 hours from Paris
La Rochelle - lovely old port town, nice restaurants, some beaches, good for boat trips out to little islands off the coast (would love to go back) - 3 hours from Paris
La Baule - seaside town with lovely beaches in western France - 3 hours
Montpellier - old town on the south coast (not sure re beaches) but really nice coast town - 3 hours
Nice - 5.30 hours (the TGV also stops in Toulon, St Raphael, Cannes, Antibes before Nice - so could be a shorter journey if you like any of these

Not a seaside town but Annecy, lovely old town with pretty buildings and canals on the lakeside at Annecy. Very nice place, swimming in the lake, nice lakeside parks and trips into the mountains if you enjoy that (we have spent a few holidays there and it really is nice - Gran would love this one). 3.40 hours from Paris

Just had a thought that as an alternative to going on Eurostar via Paris you could go via Lille. I think in the summer there are services that go direct from Lille to some of these towns. That would mean you wouldn't have to change stations in Paris, making it a lot easier and a bit quicker. Couldn't find any times (timetables may not be out yet for summer) but this site may give you some more information www.raileurope.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=39 (sorry can't do the clever one word links )

Sorry, this has turned into a bit of an epic but hope it has given you some alternatives

Sorry - when I say 'with him on my own' obviously mean my DS!

Yonker thanks so much for this! Really kind of you to share so much info.

I think I need to examine the not flying gran a bit further. The other issue with rail is that a return trip for all of us from at pancras to Biarritz or Nice seems to be £1000- £1200 which seems really quite a lot. I think the children would be ok on the train, my concern is the mental health of the grown ups on arrival! Also weather wise I think we'll be going in June, so Northern France sounds like it's a miss. Dd says she wants to go 'to Portugal or somewhere like it' tho this is based on the only other holiday we've been on other than camping - so I think we need a chink in the clouds at least.

Now I can see what is possible so have a good starting point, dh seems a little busy with work, so I think I have carte blanche (haha) to sort out a trip

Aha! The Rail Europe site is exactly what I need- thanks!

Hi hopingforanother - no problems, quite like planning holidays and ours is sorted so thought I would plan yours for you

I did think the train may be a bit too costly but didn't want to make any assumptions about your budget. I would present the non flying gran with the costs and times for everything - she may very well change her mind. Even my DH has flown twice when looking at the alternative costs and travel times (twice in 25 years, and we are now back to absolutely no flying!), so it is worth a try. If it is June I would head as far south as possible, not too expensive at that time of year as well there for accommodation and you will miss the crowds.

Just too add - a great website for planning train journeys (but doesn't have costs ) is the german DB site - very accurate, easy to use and covers the whole of europe reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:& , you can put in trips from UK to france and it will give times for UK trains, eurostar, metro, transfer times etc. Even if you fly it may be useful to plan train travel once you are there.

seat 61 is another good site for railway info.

There may a direct eurostar London to Avignon in the summer, certainly was a few years ago when i made the trip with ds, who was 11 months at the time.

If you can get gran to fly.

Fly to la Rochelle and get a cab to Ile de Re. It's a fantasic island, lovely villages can travel round island bus or taxi, or there are loads of cycle routes

I have friends who did this with 2 slightly older kids but also gran and went from Glasgow - La Rochelle on the train and had a ball!

A second vote for Ile de Re, wonderful place. Don't know why I didn't suggest it before (transport perhaps), but as hpsaucy says it is fantastic. I would love to go back, but being in a no fly zone not really possible if you do go.

Sorry if I am planning your hols yet again

YY to Ile de Re... Everyone cycles, you can hire bikes (and trailers for kids) and cycle paths criss cross the island, so really easy to get about. Nice beaches. Perfect.

Wow thanks!

It seems dh has been to La Rochelle and Ile de re before and seems quite keen on going back, I'm keen on Nice, Toulon or Biarritz for the weather but La Rochelle is tempting with Ile de re close by to go and visit.

Gran is saying she would fly if that's what everyone wants to do.... So am in the business of comparing these places and transport to and fro at the moment! How exciting!

Weegiemum- Glasgow to La Rochelle is a brave bet by your friend, well done to her!

we've been to Normandy in June (Deauville area) & the weather was fabulous - kids in pool all day. So don't discount it altogether if you really can't face the long (& expensive) train journey

(late May-early June in fact)

The weather in La Rochelle/il de Ré is generally better than that at Biaritz. In terms of sunshine hours the only place in France which beats it is the Cote D'azur.

Thanks so much for all of these ideas!

We've decided to go with Nice or thereabouts. I hope by air rather than rail, I think gran will agree....

So any recommendations of places to stay in Nice?

Question: how do you go anywhere by taxi with small people needing car seats? I guess you take them with you? But where to store them if going by taxi for a day trip? Difficult.... Does anyone have any experience of this? How did you work it?

Hi, glad you have finally decided! Hope that gran will agree to flying.

Regarding places to stay, what type of place are you looking for? After having DS we have always stayed in an apartment/house etc for longer holidays. For us, just easier with a child. No need to go out for dinner every evening, we can stay up after he has gone to bed without disturbing him, if the weather is bad at least we have a bit of space inside without all being cramped in a small hotel room. A hotel may also be very expensive for you, DC and gran (sorry if I am pointing out the obvious here).

Sorry, but don't have any specific recommendations. We stayed in a lovely flat last year in Nice but it was only 2 bedrooms (second one very small with bunk beds), so wouldn't be big enough for you. This year we are staying in Antibes but again only a two bedroom. Before having DS we stayed in a few hotels in Nice. Hotel Brice was very good, but there are probably others in Nice that are better. Also stayed here, very nice old hotel on the promenade (lots of older French people there - good it you have a pushchair as ramps etc everywhere!).

For booking apartments etc, have used a few different websites that you book direct with owner, here, here and here for different places in France. Usually have been very good. Nice tourist office also has a list of hotels and apartments, as do most of the tourist offices in the towns along the coast.

For taxis, it would be difficult to find a taxi with a car seat as you say. We never used a taxi in France until DS was about 4 years old, then only a short trip with adult seat belt in the back (although wasn't really happy about that). One of the reasons for suggesting Nice or that area originally was that the public transport system is really good there, it is very easy to get a bus from the airport to the town centre, buses also go to some towns along the coast and inland and there are trains for the others. So, wouldn't think you would really need a taxi for a day out. However, if you think you will need one there is a list here of English speaking firms who may be of help with the seat problem.

We stayed in Antibes and got a taxi from Nice Airport. In fact most days we walked into Juan Les Pins - the beach there is gorgeous - sandy and gently shelving. Nice has pebbles. Dd was 18 mo at the time and had a whale of a time. The train runs along the whole coast so sightseeing is easy.