Where in France for a family holiday?

[babybouncer]

Been to Normandy and Brittany a lot as a child and loved it, but I'd like to go a bit further this time. We'll also be meeting up with some American friends who've never been to France before (although they have travelled widely in the uk and other parts of the world). DD will be 2 1/2 and DS will be 5. I know we'd like to be in a village, in a house with a garden so we can play - but I have no idea where in France that would be?

Where is good?

are you flying or driving from one of the ferry ports? if you are driving which port are you going to and how far do you want to drive the other side?

north vendee wasn't very picturesque - not as nice as brittany. loire, dodogne, massif central, south west may suit.....it depends what you are looking for. and paris...though maybe ditch the kids.

Depends on what time of year you are going and as dreaming says how far you are prepared to travel. We drive from Glasgow and have been all over, we do a lot of driving in 1 day from Calais but its worth it e.g one year we drove to the Dordogne - really recomend this, and then another as far down as the Languedoc, near the Spanish border. The Vendee was lovely as we had a lovely gite beside a canal and a huge garden for our boys to play in. Try chez nous and owners direct.

Thanks! We'll be going for a fortnight and definitely driving (although our American friends will be flying). When we looked before, we found the ferry crossings very expensive compared to the tunnel and we don't mind stopping on the way for an overnight, but I don't want to go much further south than I have to, I suppose...

loire maybe? can you order a book from your local library?

Dordogne might be good. Very picturesque and lots to do for adults and children. Here is in walking distance from Les Eyzies. We stayed at their other property which was 5 mins outside town.

I love the Charente region. never quite made it to the coast though - I do want to visit La Rochelle and the Ile de Re.

Dordogne has beautiful scenery. Lots to see also.

Languedoc is a long drive down, but I like d it there too. If you get that far south, Carcassonne is a must. That will impress your American friends !

This year we were in Normandy for a few days - Bayeux and the D Day landing beaches etc Then in the Loire valley in a rented house for a week. Very beautiful also.

Our DC are teens, so a bit different to your group.

I imagine th at wherever you end up, if you have somewhere with a pool, and a few play items for the DC they will be happy.

The year we went to Llanguedoc we stopped off in Paris on our return home to the Tunnel. But we hired an apartment privately for 2 nights, which was much easier than hotel rooms - it's a pain taking 3 DC out for restaurant meals all the time.

If you look on the rental sites - such as Home Away.co.uk - you will find gites for rent - some of which are better than others for young Dc.

The Launguedoc is lovely- and I agree, Carcassonne is a must.

Narbonne is worth visiting too, and the Corbieres area too.

There are beaches and water sports nearby too, I should say.

Yes true.

In fact in many inland places I have been to in France there have been lakes with beaches and watersports nearby. Some have more facilities than others, but most we visited had a café/restaurant and showers and changing facilities etc.