Where's good in France if you're driving?

[Burpalot]

Thinking about booking the Eurotunnel in Oct/Nov for a week/10 days. I don't really know France at all...

Any ideas for areas would be helpful!

Just for me and DP. Somewhere peaceful. We will do self catering probably. I like rural and remote, DP likes being by the sea!

Take a look at Wissant, our favourite seaside town. Nearby also worth looking at is Cap Gris Nez and Wimeraux - all seaside with lovely beaches it also rural. We have stayed nearby or in Wissant for years and we love it.

Erquy, Saint-Quay-Portrieux and Perros Guirec are small and quiet coastal villages in Brittany. Not too bad for driving from Eurotunnel, but even better if you can get the ferry to Saint Malo.

At that time of year I would probably head for the Loire Valley as the weather should be more reliable. You could get down to the coast near Nantes for a longish day trip. I like the bit round Saumur best, but it is all lovely. Lots of walking / cycling, chateaux and wine tasting. It is a pretty smooth run down the autoroute, about five hours driving.

Currently staying in a holiday cottage in the country in Finistère right on the GR34 coastal path near Plougonvelin - we can walk 3 mins to the end of the lane and there is a rocky inlet where you can swim and pick up the coastal path in both directions where we can walk to beaches. Utterly quiet and rural but in 10 mins we can drive to restaurants in Le Conquet, Plougonvelin, Pointe Saint-Matthieu etc. And all the shops are open too so we just went to Carrefour and cooked ourselves mostly.

Oh and it's about a hour's easy driving from the ferry port at Roscoff.

Seconding Wissant and Wimereux. I prefer Wimereux myself.

If you want peaceful and rural go a bit inland to the Vallee de la Course near Montreuil sur mer (it's not on the sea confusingly). Beautiful villages with little streams.

The Loire valley area mentioned above is lovely.

Loire

We stayed here in one of the self-catering places. You can also camp. It’s run by a lovely English couple.

Dolphin gites

Also stayed here if you want to head westwards.

Annecy is beautiful if you want a much longer drive.

Pretty much anywhere in France. Would head south we love the areas around Tours / Limoges. But never had a bad holiday in France and the driving is awesome and easy.

Personally I would avoid the long ferry crossings and the northern / north-west coasts in Oct / Nov. We live in Normandy and find the Loire weather the most reliable at that time of year, within reasonable driving distance.

Missclimpson good point. I don't think I'd completely taken in the time of year, posted too early in the morning. The North is lovely, but the weather is the same as Kent in Oct/Nov.

I like Brittany, down near Carnac and Auray.

Any where based near Vannes gives options for driving to beautiful coastal areas.

Oh yes. Just seen the time of year.
We had 3 weeks in Provence in November and the weather was sunny enough to sunbathe from 11 until 3.
The Languedoc would be nice too. And around Bordeaux, Arcachon.

It all depends how far you want to drive? Le Touquet is a nice seaside resort about 45 minutes from Calais but I wouldn't stay there for 10 days. Normandy coast is about 3 hours - Deauville/Honfleur are nice and it's scenic inland a bit too - on the cider route. I love Brittany but personally wouldn't drive there all the way from Calais. We always go via St Malo if visiting the west coast.

Inland, in the North-East there are the Somme battlefields not far from Calais. Or you can drive to the Champagne region fairly easily - Epernay/Rheims. The Loire Valley would be probably 3-4 hours and has lots of chateaux to visit. Eastern parts like Blois probably easiest to reach. Burgundy is around 5 hours and has vineyards/wine tasting/historic towns.

If you were really prepared to drive you could get to Provence or even the Cote d'Azur. The Luberon region of France (setting of Peter Mayle's Year in Provence books) is lovely but would be a good 9 hours from Calais.

Wow thank you all! Lots of ideas to Google

I'd go for a lakes and mountains type holiday to please both of you. The auvergne region is beautiful.

Brittany is lovely then work your way back up to Normandy if you are interested in the War/history sites. They are very moving.

You'd need to go south at that time of year for warmth. Provence, Bezier, around Carcassonne. You can't go far wrong in France!