Back from the south Vendee region - this is my review!

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Having benefitted from MNers wisdom regarding the Vendee, I thought I would come back and post a review. We went in late June/early July and the party comprised me, my husband and our son, 2.10.

What we enjoyed:

Mervent Zoo - lovely day out with beautifully landscaped grounds, quite a few animals roaming free and, for the most part, large enclosures. Cafe food indifferent, but there is a picnic area.

Green Venice - we enjoyed an hour's boat trip, even with a toddler!

Aquarium of the Seventh Continent (?), Talmont St Hilaire - lovely, huge tanks and quite quiet. Our toddler loved it!

Tranche sur Mer - loved the beach slightly to the south of the main part of town.

What didn't work for us:

Long driving distances - it seemed to take a long time to get anywhere. Everything was very spread out. We were inland so were anticipating a bit of a drive to the coast, but it still took us ages to get to La Rochelle or Mervent. More importantly, the time in the car threw out our son's sleep pattern so we lost our evenings!

Flat landscape - don't go there if you love hills!

General character - we struggled to find the French town/village life we were hoping for and would have enjoyed. Hardly any of the towns/ villages seemed to have shops or cafes, we saw quite a few shuttered-up houses and there seemed to be lots of big retail box developments along the major roads.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

Yes it is. We are planning a 2- 3 week holiday in Europe next year before DS goes to school and we can afford a lovely holiday before we're forced into peak holiday prices. The Vendee was top of my list at the moment for at least 1 week as there seemed loads to do with a wee one but actually all the things you said were wrong were the things I was worried about.
Our favourite bits of France are probably the Auvergne and the Loire Calley but I don't suppose our DS is keen sitting drinking red wine and admiring the view.
Would you recommend anywhere else for a toddler?

If he is a good walker then we have really enjoyed going to the Haute Savoie region near Geneva. At the moment our son is at the stage when he is not quite old enough to do mountain walks, but too heavy for a back carrier!

How about further south in France? We've spent a few holidays near Avignon, or further over, in the Basque country, near Narbonne/Beziers. DD is 4 now, and we went with her when she was about 1, and again last summer. There are lots of lovely wee villages, and also good beaches if you're nearer Cap d'Agde. You can do boat trips, see Roman ruins at Nimes, Arles, etc., go to Carcassonne for castle-y fun, there's a wildlife park (Parc d'Afrique) at Narbonne, or there's the Camargue nearer Marseilles, with horses, flamingoes, etc. If you went for Basque country, you're nearer the Cathar castles, the Pyrennees (the train jaune is a fun day out), lakes for swimming, etc. Any use??

That is useful thanks. I'm thinking the Sw might be good as we could nip over the border to Spain and do a week there as well and maybe boat to and from Santander.

I would say SW France too, but on the other side of Narbonne in Perpignan direction.

Lots of lovely traditional French villages and great scenery.

We went to the Vendee years ago - I was very underwhelmed, though La Rochelle was lovely.

I much prefer Haute Savoie - Annecy is just lovely and from there you can get to Chambery, Yvoire and even Chamonix quite easily. We stayed in Annecy and went for an overnighter in Annecy, returning via the Mont Blanc tunnel the pretty way.

'Tws lovely.