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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Best small city in France for a solo trip

59 replies

squashyhat · 30/09/2023 08:43

I'm planning a short solo break in France for next spring and would like to go to a small historic city. I went to Marseille last year and loved it and have also been to Lille, Carcasonne, St Malo, Nice and Avignon. Any other ideas? I can fly from Gatwick or take the train.

OP posts:
Ginmonkeyagain · 01/10/2023 07:04

Nimes is great. We went there last year, lots to do if you are interested in history, the Roman museum is great. If you were fine with Marseille any "gang activity" in Nimes won't phase you ( we were there a week and saw no issues at all)

We went to Perpignan this summer. A small city but a nice place to walk around, interesting mix of Spanish and French culture. Also you are a short bus or train trip to the beach and beautiful coastal towns.

Lovelyautumncolours · 01/10/2023 07:20

Another vote for Reims - we were there this summer, loved it - it's got a nice pedestrian street with lots of outdoor eating and drinking (also the Holiday Inn there has a roof terrace with great views over Reims) and you can go on tours of the old champagne house if that's of interest - I went years ago and found it really interesting.

Personally I didn't like Dion.

SabrinaThwaite · 01/10/2023 12:06

Biarritz and Bayonne might also be a good mix - Biarritz for some slightly faded glamour and Bayonne for history.

DelphiniumBlue · 01/10/2023 12:10

BonjourCrisette · 30/09/2023 17:14

Rouen is fantastic. Very walkable and good train service to get there. There are buses to get about if you want to but there is tons of stuff to do and look at in the city centre. There's a beautiful square with lots of lovely restaurants (hit me up if you'd like any recommendations).

DD and I spent five days there in March and we did not run out of things to do! I also have an AirBnB recommendation if you would like it.

Just came on to say Rouen! I spent a few days there this summer, and it is gorgeous, lots to see, great food, lots of people watching opportunities! I would have liked to have stayed there for longer. I also liked Caen.

carbuncleonapigsposterior · 01/10/2023 12:13

I thought Blois was lovely and quite small when I visited it.

Growingouttogether · 01/10/2023 12:20

With that long I would do Bordeaux, you get city life and then on one side you have arcachon/Atlantic and on the other you have the vineyards.
I also love Montpellier, lyon, Annecy, perpignan but these are smaller and without a car to explore surrounding areas it may be hard.

Ginmonkeyagain · 01/10/2023 12:26

We were in Perpignan this summer with no car. There are decent train and bus services to surrounding areas - the train timetable is a bit erratic to some areas though

Cazzovuoi · 01/10/2023 12:27

Aix-en-Provence or Hyères

LaChatte · 01/10/2023 12:45

Growingouttogether · 01/10/2023 12:20

With that long I would do Bordeaux, you get city life and then on one side you have arcachon/Atlantic and on the other you have the vineyards.
I also love Montpellier, lyon, Annecy, perpignan but these are smaller and without a car to explore surrounding areas it may be hard.

Montpellier is pretty good for transport now (apart from the roadworks) you can even get the tram down to the beach.

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