Where in Europe is this place?

[phonebox]

It's my ideal fantasy destination and I daydream about it regularly.

Does anyone know of a place like this? that doesn't cost a bomb to stay in

It's a small hotel/apartments in a charming, old-fashioned village (maybe in France?) not hundreds of miles from the coast, but close to countryside too. It has tons of history and is the kind of place where you go to the local bakery to have your breakfast and sit in the village square watching the world go by. There's an amazing, ancient church to visit and maybe a museum and the most interesting shops/market full of antiques and strange things.

Tourist tat is rare. The kind of activities available are slightly quirky.

That's as far as I've got. I'd love to discover a place like this!

Parga, mainland Greece.

Actually, scratch that (too many tourists, too near he coast)

Castellar de la Frontera, Andalucia, Spain

the Ile de Re - drive/fly to La Rochelle and go over the bridge to the island...

Gozo- island next to Malta. Untouched by 2oth century. Amazing 6000 year old temples. Tiny island but vibrant- amazing parades and festivals all summer long. Beautiful architecture- not a modern building in sight, amazing huge churches and cathedrals. Ancient citadel. Beautiful countryside great for walking.

Somewhere in Provence.

Warnemunde and surrounding seaside towns in Germany. A lovely area for a non commercial type of holiday with so much history.

Aubeterre sur Drone comes to mind

Istambul. God I miss that place.

Urbino ...is 45 mins /1 hr too much to the beach???

Google the red soil villages in cyprus.

Thanks for all your ideas :) will check them all out!

Mdina, the old capital of Malta, or Gozo. Get the Bradt Malta&Gozo guidebook to whet your appetite - it made our honeymoon amazing!

Lots of places like that in the South of France. The ILs have a house in a village in the Languedoc that sounds about right. It's about an hour from the coast, lots of history in the area (Roman bits and pieces and Carcassonne fairly nearby), boulangerie, village square with a couple of cafes, etc. I can't wait to go back!

Tuscany :)

Lljubiana

Marking place as this is my dream too!

Avignon and lots of bits of Provence outside the main tourist season.

Salamanca.

Not a village, no, but you can do everything in your list there.

Cinque Terre in northern Italy.

There are lots of places like this in Brittany. I'm thinking of Carhaix-Plouguer, and Plouescat, and there are plenty more.