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?

I'd second the Languedoc - we've had a couple of fab holidays there. Hired a house for 6 of us between Limoux and Quillan, with a pool, for c.£1.5k for the 2 weeks. We flew into Toulouse, and it was about 1.5 hours drive on the peage, and there was loads to do in the area - Carcassone (v touristy, but interesting), the Cathar castles (there's a bit of a 'trail'), Toulouse and Perpignan for cities, Foix, and the caves nearby, not too far from the Pyrenees, etc. Also train links to most places nearby. We loved the area. :)

The Basque region? You would need to fly and hire a car.

Oops. Yes, I guess it is Basque-ish, but in my defence, it's in my 'Rough Guide to the Languedoc-Roussion'. :) The OP was looking at somewhere about an hour from an airport, and it's not much more than that from Carcassone or Perpignan airports (slightly longer from Toulouse, but depends on where you're flying from...).

Sorry Jenster, I was making a general suggestion to the op, not trying to correct you :)

The coast from Biarrtiz going south is gorgeous. The area is busy in the summer hols but a very different atmosphere to Brittany / Loire Atlantic. There's lots of interesting villages, hills, good shopping on the main towns, great place to learn surfing.

Goolash You got there just before me! I was about to suggest Biarritz and the Basque region. Lovely coast - popular with surfers - and fantastic countryside in the foothills of the Pyrennees

Goolash no worries. :) I love the Basque region further down that coast too. Oooohh. I want to go to France again now, too. :)