A day out in/near Bordeaux?

[dottyaboutstripes]

Can anyone recommend anything? We are spending a week in a villa just under 90mins from Bordeaux and looking for something to do.....we've found there's a zoo - is it any good? We have 6 kids, 3 teenage girls and 3 young boys....the girls are fairly amenable but the boys object to too much shopping

90 mins from Bordeaux in which direction? That is a pretty big area to look at.

Sorry, yes that was an oversight! We are NW of Bordeaux, near Chalais. I suppose I was thinking Bordeaux itself....I was looking at Royan for a daytrip but it was over 2hrs away and I wanted something a teeny bit closer.

Bumping 'cos we're going to the same area.

Royan has a little zoo and funfairy stuff for tots. There is a fab Go Ape type thing for older children/teens not far from Royan.

Have you thought of going to the Ile d'Oleron? It's lovely!

It sound like you are near La Rochelle? Gorgeous place, castle/city walls, loads of shops and nice cafes, etc, and lots of street performers.

We've been to that area twice (stayed in Pillac which is only a few miles from Chalais). We tended to stay fairly close to home, so I can't particularly help with Bordeaux ideas, but will tell you about some of the places we did visit on our trip.

• Aubeterre is a very pretty village with nice places to eat, good views and the underground church is interesting to visit. Also the river makes a great place to sunbathe, and my older DS enjoyed a canoe trip along the river with his dad.
• Lake La Jemaye is also nice to visit - not a huge amount to do here as I recall, but we enjoyed our trip there.
• On our second visit, we combined our trip with a stay in Biscarosse (about 3 hours away so too far for a day trip) but on the way we visited the dunes at Pyla. We really enjoyed this one, although the drive home was hideous! But I mention it as if you're willing to go to Bordeaux, you may want to consider going the extra few miles to visit Pyla.

Overall, our trips to this area have tended to be quite low key, staying round the pool kind of holidays, but it's a very beautiful area to visit.

The zoo at Royan definately isn't little - it is one of the biggest in France. Definately a full day trip to make the most of it.

do you fancy the caves at lascaux? they might be a bit far away, but there's not many prehistoric caves around!.

St Emilion is lovely. You can do a iittle train ride round the vinyards.

In my defence, we never actually went to the zoo, I just thought it was small!

There's a small water park nearby called le paradou in a place called parcoul. Not been there for years but it was fun when I was a kid!