Greek islands, south of France or the algarve or where?

[ClashCityRocker]

Hello

It's been a long time since DH and I went abroad - in fact, we've never been together - but we are quite keen to get away, possibly this year, but more likely next year due to work commitments. I'm not sure that the holiday we want actually exists, but here are our requirements:

1. Villa or cottage, preferably with own pool and nice outside space - will be just him and me. Would rather not be attached to owners.

1. Travel time - DH wants within a three hour flight, I'm ok with four hours.

1. Accessibility - would rather not hire a car.

1. Budget - realistically wouldn't want to pay more than 2k for a week for travel and accomodation.

1. Location - would like restaurants/village/small town within walking distance. Near to a beach would be preferable, but I suspect we wouldn't enjoy the larger resorty type places.

Looking to go mid-late may or june.

Dh has a strong preference for South of France - easy to get to, we both know enough French to get by. I'm erring towards kefalonia (sp?) as you seem to get a lot more for your money. The algarve sis also tempting - the benefit of these latter two being that a lot of companies sort out the villa, flights and transfers, which seems to be less of the case in the south of France. Also, South of France seems quite expensive.

Having said all that, I have no experience of any of the places, and don't want to book somewhere that looks nice, but I've overlooked something which compromises our enjoyment of the holiday.

So, wise Mumsnetters, I would welcome your thoughts on how/where best to achieve a fairly restful holiday, but with access to bars and restaurants?

I love Kefalonia. That being said, I've never stayed in a villa there and also have never done it without a hire car. If you a really keen not to hire a car, I would stay in Fiskardo on the northernmost tip, the only village not destroyed by the earthquake (and thus the only one with original architecture). It is beautiful and also a port, so you can easily access the boat trips to nearby islands.

We have always travelled to Kefalonia with Thomson and have never been disappointed but then I like someone else to organise everything for me (which I know some people hate). This gives you an overview.

Yes, I think someone else organising things really quite appeals - I'm a bit nervous of travelling abroad because it's not something I've experienced before. Thanks for the link will give it a read.

Will have a look at fiskardo - I suspect ultimately we will need to hire a car - DH is a bit nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road!

if youre already nervous then why not just stick to south of france where you can speak enough of the language to use public transport etc.
For May/june, you could get a lot for your money

I think that's the way dh sees it branleuse...although in other places it seems you can book self catering holidays through a company that takes care of all the arrangements which does appeal to me.

Having said that, South of France does look lovely...but is it not really expensive? I have visions of yachts and the jet set, but I am pretty ignorant - will do some research and try to pick out some more specific areas to target.

I live in Carvoeiro, a smallish village on the algarve, lots of villas and apartments and you don't need a hire car if you book somewhere fairly central, happy to answer any questions

Thanks costa will have a look.

We would make an effort to learn some portueguese phrases beforehand, but is English commonly spoken? I'm fluent in german, too, and we both know enough French to be understood in most situations.

OP, try the western end of the south coast of France away from the cote d'azure. Caddis is very pretty.

Cassis!

English is spoken freely in all the shops and restaurants - in fact lots of them reply to me in English when I've started the conversation in Portuguese (which is quite frustrating for me, but great for tourists!). German is also widely spoken, eg, most menus will be in English, Portuguese and German

Try the Cote Vermeille down on the French/Spanish border. Collioure is a beautiful jewel of a town, and there are loads of lovely daytrips to do in Dalí country.

That side of the French Med is much less chi-chi than the Riviera - beautiful mountains, beaches, towns as well.

I secnd Collioure and the Cote Vermeille. You can fly to Perpignan. There is a bus which takes you anywhere between Perpignan and the Spanish border for 1€ and a train line as well. The coast is wonderful; we go every year.

Thank you so much for your help! I've found a place that looks absolutely perfect in Cerebere in the cote vermeille - DH is interested as a day trip to baracalona seems doable from there...he's already mentioned the neucamp twice

Oh cool! In Spain I recommend trips to Figueres to the Dali museum and lunch at the Hotel Duran - beautiful Art Deco place where Dali used to eat. Cadaques is lovely as well.

In Collioure you will get the best moules-frites I've ever had. With lashings of aioli. All those villages down the coast are lovely - try walking Le Racou route from Argeles to Collioure, a not too difficult cliff walk that was taken by refugees during the Spanish Civil War.

Cerbere is lovely (as long as you are not driving). Probably a bit of a hike to a big supermarket. There are some decent ones in Banyuls though. Figueres is great and the market is wonderful.

It's definitely looking like a go-er for us...

The place I'm looking at is a ten minute walk down to the town and beach, down a quite steep but looks perfectly doable.

emily do you know where the nearest big supermarket is? I'm assuming there will be shops in cerbere itself that we'll be able to get bits from.

There is a medium size Carrefour Market in Banyuls (though not in the town centre). There are quite a few small supermarkets, bakers, greengrocers in the town itself. I think it is about 15 mins on the bus and quicker by train.
The nearest big one that I know of is probably too far as it is right back up towards Argeles.
I can't see supermarkets in Yellow Pages in Cerbere, but there must be some small shops, I would think.
Over the border in Port-Bou always looks quite poor. I think there may be one in Colera (true) just up the road.
We only flash through on our way to buy wine in Lidl in Figueres
Googling found me quite a useful article on Cerbere in the Telegraph.

we are going to that area in may, it looks amazing

Just read that article emily - looks right up our street!

Looking at tripadvisor, there seems to be a small supermarket with a butchers counter in cerbere itself - that'll do for a few bits on arrival day, I think, before heading off for something a bit bigger if necessary.

branleuse I'm really glad I started this thread now, when i thought South of France I thought cote d'azure, St tropez etc which, whilst look lovely, didn't seem to offer what we wanted.

Think the place I've found will be perfect, and around half the price of what we were looking at on the Riviera.