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

Original poster

France with 5 yr old and 1 yr old

15 replies

bean07 · 15/09/2024 08:24

Hi all,

We are travelling down to Perigueux way next summer and planning on doing an extended journey down and back (4 night stops each way to save our sanity).

We would like something big/fun for our girls in both directions. Roughly speaking we are thinking of going more western route and more across country to get back to Calais on the way back.

Any recommendations for places to visit/cities to stay in/attractions? We were looking at Futuroscope and Aquascope in Poitiers for a couple of nights but I’ve just read reviews and it doesn’t actually look like it’s worth it with them being so little.

OP posts:
Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 09:32

Sorry, I forgot to say - eldest will be 5 and youngest will be 1!

OP posts:
Forgottenmyphone · 15/09/2024 11:41

ZooParc de Beauval is possibly the best zoo I’ve been to. https://www.zoobeauval.com/en/ticketing/stay

There’s also Terra Botanica which is a very unique theme park and unlike anything in the UK. It’s fantastic for small children and we stayed very close to it in a hotel called Domaine du Moulin Cavier, which has family rooms, a kids menu and playground.

YouBelongWithMe · 15/09/2024 12:09

We did Futoroscope. Was a fun day but probably not worth the money when they were so little (similar ages to yours).

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 15/09/2024 12:33

I think they're too young for futuroscope. I'd just do the drive. We've got a caravan down that way and have been doing the drive for years.

yikesanotherbooboo · 15/09/2024 13:15

We have done Disney on that journey eg setting off early , having the day there and leaving early the next morning but when ours were young a park, a run around and an ice cream sufficed. Friends did Asterix if that works for you and is still there. We listened to story tapes and generally had a maximum of one stop off and often none.One time we stayed in Paris on the way back and another time we stayed in the Loire and saw a castle on the way down. We have done loads of driving through France type holidays and usually just aimed to get to our destination as quickly as possible even if we stayed close by on the first night.

Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 16:10

Forgottenmyphone · 15/09/2024 11:41

ZooParc de Beauval is possibly the best zoo I’ve been to. https://www.zoobeauval.com/en/ticketing/stay

There’s also Terra Botanica which is a very unique theme park and unlike anything in the UK. It’s fantastic for small children and we stayed very close to it in a hotel called Domaine du Moulin Cavier, which has family rooms, a kids menu and playground.

These both look awesome - thank you!

OP posts:
Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 16:12

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 15/09/2024 12:33

I think they're too young for futuroscope. I'd just do the drive. We've got a caravan down that way and have been doing the drive for years.

Thank you - we drove down when our eldest was 2 but we definitely needed the breaks on the way for her. I mean it probably didn’t help that our air conditioning broke 😂 we have family near Toulouse and we’ve been flying mostly until dd2 was born

OP posts:
almay8830 · 15/09/2024 16:15

Following

Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 16:17

yikesanotherbooboo · 15/09/2024 13:15

We have done Disney on that journey eg setting off early , having the day there and leaving early the next morning but when ours were young a park, a run around and an ice cream sufficed. Friends did Asterix if that works for you and is still there. We listened to story tapes and generally had a maximum of one stop off and often none.One time we stayed in Paris on the way back and another time we stayed in the Loire and saw a castle on the way down. We have done loads of driving through France type holidays and usually just aimed to get to our destination as quickly as possible even if we stayed close by on the first night.

Oh gosh I would love to do Disney but hate driving near Paris so we’ll have to train it some other time. You’re right, a run around and an ice cram is good but we tend to get bossed around quite a bit by family at the destination so trying to have some fun and some independence on our journeys if that makes sense! Castle is a good shout too, are there any you recommend with young kids? Thanks again :)

OP posts:
HelloDaisy · 15/09/2024 16:28

La Flèche is another good zoo to visit.
Le chateau du Saumur was good and we also liked the chateau in Chinon. Dd was about 2 then and loved the glass lift that when from the street up to the castle! There were lots of activities for little children then but she is now 18 so could have changed!

If you are looking for somewhere to stay I would recommend Loire-gites.com. It’s a small family run campsite in Mouliherne with a few gites and a swimming pool. We have stayed there a few times and it’s always been good.

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 15/09/2024 16:36

@bean07 we had one drive where the gas went in the ac, it was 40' and the petrol tankers were on strike! It was ten years ago so we had dvd players, it was so hot they wouldn't work. Not one I want repeat 😂

Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 19:06

@HelloDaisy oh fab yes I forgot about la flèche. We looked at that one as a potential on our last drive down. They are all roughly in the same area aren’t they - thank you so much that’s great.

I love the sound of this glass lift, that sounds so fun. Will check out the gites thanks ☺️ We are looking at hotels currently - trying to find nice ones with suites or at least two doubles in a room really as both girls end up sleeping in with us for most of the night. Have learnt from when partner ended up on the top of a tiny bunk bed in an Ibis one time 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
bean07 · 15/09/2024 19:09

@boulevardofbrokendreamss omg no! 😂 god this could have been us tho. we were trying to go to carcassone when the air con went and a wildfire jumped the entire carriageway and the firefighters shut the road… traffic just ground to a halt for 3 hours. Similar temperatures. And for some reason I thought just before the trip was a great time to start potty training? 😂 more lessons learnt 😂

OP posts:
Lincslady53 · 16/09/2024 17:02

We stayed at Terrasses de Saumur last year. It is on the outskirts of Saumur, has a lovely pool area, and lodges with loads of space for a family - we were surprised as we thought we had just booked a room.https://www.lesterrassesdesaumur.fr/

Les Terrasses de Saumur

https://www.lesterrassesdesaumur.fr

samarrange · 16/09/2024 23:16

Just a general tip when driving in France: Consider stopping at McDonald's, even if you never go there. There's one in an industrial/commercial on the edge of every small-to-medium town. The coffee is OK, the little pastries in the McCafé bit are surprisingly good, and the loos are usually pretty clean (and if they're not, someone will be dispatched to fix them). By all means have dinner in a nice traditional restaurant, but nowhere else is as child-friendly for a pit stop.

The French love "McDo" and France is the most profitable country for the corporation after the US. They have embraced the food, added menu items that are genuinely tasty, and made it part of their national life in a way that nobody could have predicted 25 years ago when a protestor (who was actually using McDonald's as a symbol for his general anti-Americanism) famously demolished a half-built one with a digger.

(I apologise if this sound like an advert! But we lived in France for many years and I remember with fondness how much we enjoyed a mid-afternoon break at Macca's on road trips with the DC.)

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