where in france?

[dreamingofsun]

we loved brittany but the kids are now teenagers and more demanding. i'm looking for somewhere which is within 1 hour of an airport or 4 hour drive from st malo. is sunny, isn't really busy/comercialised, but has some things to do and bars/shops etc, and the villages/countryside have some character about them. not really really expensive either.

i guess somewhere like brittany but hotter.

northern vendee lacked character.

any ideas?

Try the South Vendee _ more character than the north, and better weather.

The area round Fontenay le Compte is nice. The Forest of Mervent has lots to do, the beach is only half an hour away, Puy du Fou is a great day trip, as is Futuroscope. The area is ideal as you can do lots.

Fly into Nice airport in South-East France. You can stay at Nice, Cannes, Villefranche (lovely little seaside town, minutes from Nice), Monaco, or Menton, all of which are under an hour's drive from the Nice airport.

Cote - Nice is fine but teenagers will find further up the coast a bit dull IMO. I adore Villefranche but even I find it a bit "relaxing" sometimes!

The driving is really scary too those roads are twisty! However it is hot and very very beautiful.

thanks. CoteD - i had been steering clear of Nice as i assumed it would be expensive both in terms of accommodation and eating out etc and also very busy. Are you saying my assumptions are wrong?

Frenchfancy - so what are the areas called, as i can't actually spot anything on owners direct that says south vendee?

thanks for your help

Which direction do you consider "further up" the coast? It is an east-west trajectory in my mind's eye.

I drive on those roads every day and never thought of them as scary, to be honest, even when I first moved here. For scary, I would recommend you drive in Istanbul for a day

dreaming - I guess you could call Nice busy, although having just spent 5 days in London, it looked very sparsely populated and calm to me the other day

Look into Juan-les-Pins and Antibes, which are closer to Cannes than Nice but still about half an hour drive from Nice airport.

Try Ile de Re, La Rochelle or any of the countryside/coastline in that area.

It fits all your criteria and is perfect for your family.

I am off to the jura region in august, never been before but happy to report back.

If you still haven't booked your holiday, then contact www.TripFinders.net.

They have just found us a great Gite in the Southern Vendee area with everything for teenagers - so they can have their independence and mix with other similar aged children, whilst you can have your space, but they will still be safe.

They had a really large portfolio of places for us to choose from. They charge a fee, but we got it back by the great price they managed to arrange for us.

Good Luck.

mljr - is that area called 'Charente Maritime' as i've found a couple of nice looking gites there?

Cotes - I think coasts are all pretty much described as "up" and "down". From Nice the coast goes down to Cannes and then carries on down to Spain. It goes up to Monaco and then hits Italy - which is up till about Genoa and then maybe goes down again etc.

I'd be interested in knowing which of the towns on your stretch are the more/less expensive. Villefranche is expensive for accommodation but reasonable in terms of food and getting around. Haven't been to Cannes or Antibes for example.

The south Vendee is simply the southern part of the departement. I guess anywhere south of Les Sable d'olonne would be classed as south.

The towns to look out for are Fontenay le Comte, Luçon, Vouvant, and towards the coast La Tranche sur Mer and la Faute sur Mer.

In Owners direct go to the Advanced search section, then on the right under quick search type the name of the town.

cotedazur - nearly had heart failure when searched under juan on owners direct - only suitable one was 15K!!!! But nice looking aparment in antibes within our price range.

think we will have to have a family conflab. somethings going to have to give as struggling to find 4 bed villa, near town, with pool and sky TV, for 1.5k a week.

thanks for your help. whats charente maritime area like, as villas seem cheaper there. does that mean its not very nice?

Charente Maritime is lovely, we are going back for second time this summer. We stay in a town called St Jean D'Angely, near Saintes and Cognac. It is inland from beach, but can get to beaches within 40 mins (which we didnt get to last time because the children were so happy on the gite complex).

Research the area on the Internet and you will find info.

What about the Languedoc? Vias Plage is nice - shops, bars and restaurants. Good beach. Huge fun fair up the road, mini golf etc. 15 mins in a Taxi from Beziers airport.

porto - yes started looking at languedoc, will search on via plage. thanks

ruthie - thats good to know as we can afford several suitable places. plus a lot of places talk about cycling which will appeal to some of my family

dreaming - Juan-les-Pins is quite a small area, but you should still be able to find a suitable place for less than 15K - that's outrageous! I will rent you our 140 m2 apartment in Monaco for less than that and it is a stone's throw from the beach.

I think you should look at French websites. Search for location vacances.I'm looking here and here for example, and (without knowing how many you are) it looks like rents are nowhere near even 5K per week, let alone 15K.

thank coted. that definately gives more options. its 6-7 people.

nothinggold - I've been living here for over a decade and have never heard of anyone talk about "up" or "down" the coast, but anyway...

re cheap/expensive accommodation - I think every place has cheap and expensive options for accommodations. Because we live here, I have never had to stay at any of them, but would recommend checking out French websites rather than English ones, because the latter are full of English homeowners who quote exorbitant fees for their properties imho.

Look at this house in Villefranche, for EUR 1,590 per week in high season. Pool, lovely views, and it looks like it's in the centre of town, too.

wow. see what you mean cotedazur.

lol

Try flying into Toulouse, or Perpignan, and heading for the Aude. Carcassonne is the biggest centre, but VERY touristy. Limoux is fabulous - vineyards, wonderful food, gorgeous scenery and easy reach of castles, beaches, mountains, gorges. Also, has lovely restaurants and bars/cafes, loads of which are family-friendly. I really like it

Quillan is further in the hills. Mirepoix in the Ariege is nice too.

We're in a similar situation. We used to love Eurocamp-type holidays in Brittany when DCs were younger, but now they're teenagers, we're a bit stuck for ideas. LouMurray - Tripideas sounds interesting. Do they come up with several holiday ideas to choose from and with vacancies for the dates you've chosen?

How about flying into Geneva and going to Rhone Alpes region or Jura??

Beautiful scenary, lovely lakes, huge mountains within a shortish journey.
We drive it (7/8ish hours from Calais) but its one or two hours from Geneva. The cycling is fantastic (that's why we go), and plenty of opportunity for outdoor type activities (walking, climbing, cycling, dry tobogganing!) if you have active teens.