French regions for a family road trip

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As a family (2 DS aged 10 and 12) we really love to travel and we don't tend to stay in one place on holiday. We've never been to France and I'm looking for suggestions for some areas for our summer holiday. We like hot weather, beautiful historic towns for mooching around and people watching, swimming (rivers/lakes or sea are all fine), exploring generally, and we need there to be 3-4 large interesting towns within 1.5-2 hours drive of each other so we can do a road trip stopping at each. We'd probably want to rent a villa with a pool for a week somewhere interesting with plenty going on but then we like to stay in high end hotels the rest of the time so some good local hotels would be good. We can't afford Cannes/Nice level high end hotels however! It'd be nice to be near the coast for a bit but maybe somewhere inland for part of the time as well. We aren't particularly into food or wine so wineries and that sort of thing wouldn't be something we're specifically looking for. So any suggestions for regions please?

If you want hot weather, I’d head south. Specifically, south of the Loire as the weather is usually more predictable. Depends how much driving you want to do and where you plan to get the ferry to?

You could do worse than the Vendée and Loire regions, or somewhere like the Landes area for beaches and pine forests, then maybe inland. Or Annecy with interesting stops (near Dijon maybe?) on the way down. Not sure about availability of villas and pools here - but we are Eurocamp types so that sort of accommodation is not really something I’m good with!

For guaranteed heat, the Mediterranean coast on the western side (Agde, or further round near Perpignan) would be good, perhaps combined with Nimes or Avignon. But it is quite a drive - although you could fly and hire a car.

Try the Dordogne and the Lot (not coastal, they’re two departments next to each other, southwest/south central France). Chocolate box villages, bucket loads of castles, history, river and lake swimming and canoeing (a fabulous day out btw) and amazing artisan markets. Yes it will be busy in the middle of the summer holidays esp Dordogne but if you’re on the move and do your research you can probably avoid the crowds somewhat. The Lot is less tourist and has some wonderful remote areas. You can drive from Calais in about 8hrs or fly to Toulouse or Bergerac.

If south, we'd probably just fly and hire a car.

Annecy - located on a beautiful lake, which you can swim in, surrounded by mountains. Chamonix and Geneva are an hours drive from there. We drive down, stopping en route to break the journey.

The Dordogne 100%. You're actually not that far from the coast, a couple of hours. Lots of lovely towns eg Sarlat, Bergerac, Brantome etc and interesting places to visit Inc prehistoric cave painting, château and canoing is a must. In high season I love the night markets.

Absolutely the Dordogne. So much to see and do.

Thanks. What coastal towns nearby are nice please? I think we'd like some time at the coast.

I love France but dragging kids round historic towns is boring.

I would look at big kids attractions on route and work my way around them.

Two days beech, two days mountain climb and spa (kids are allowed in many of the big spas in France), one day big kid attractions. The lakes are lovely to swim in (some of them) but we only go to the ones that get tested for bacteria levels regularly.

I hate holidays but I love travel so I understand the desire to be on the move from place to place.

Personally I love Biarritz as a beach with kids it has other stuff there too and it is not busy in the mornings. Also has a big rock you can jump off into the sea which my kids loved to do.

I also don’t like being too hot and the South/ South East is too hot for me.

Another for the Dordogne/Lot region. If you want to add days at the sea, then the beaches along the Landes area (West of Bordeaux). But with kids, if you end up driving, try to go to Puy de Fou en route fir the whole day. Cannot recommend that highly enough.

I watched that Mortimer & Whitehouse fishing programme over Christmas and they were in the Lot valley near Cahors, which is an area I've never been to (in spite of having been to France a lot). It looked absolutely stunning and immediately made me want to go there!

We went to Normandy last year and loved it. 2 hour drive from Calais and lots to see and do. We did the D-day beaches and museums, Bayeux tapestry, villages, seaside towns, train into Paris for a day trip. Was amazing 😊

I'm thinking we might need to move further south, Swimming in the Atlantic doesn't appeal. I think we need to Med coast! Biarritz sounds good @Purgepossessions2025 the kids love jumping off rocks. My kids are not so bothered about 'kid attractions'. I'm not even sure what that means - theme parks? If so, then that's not really for us as they hate rides. They're good at mooching as long as there's lots of swimming. We wouldn't go visiting castles I don't think - that's not really my idea of fun either.

Cognac is an area we have done with toddlers and always had a great time but can’t imagine it now they are older as not enough to keep them occupied.

Friends did Île de Ré last summer with active 12 and 14 year olds and loved it.

I've done several two-centre holidays in France, usually one week inland and one on the coast. We usually do Loire valley and west coast - either Brittany or Charente. Charente is better for weather but we love Brittany. Loire valley has loads of historic towns and chateau and is easy to get to. Weather has always been hot when we've been but it's not as reliable as further south.

Dordogne region is also great for history and lovely towns. You could combine with a week at the coast near Arcachon or Charente (Royan/Ile de Re or Ile d'Oleron).

Sorry, missed that you want to do south coast. I hate cold water but manage to swim on the Atlantic coast every year. The sea is not that cold in the summer.

DH refuses to go to Portugal as he says the sea is too cold, so I think it'd be vetoe'd. We usually go to Greece or Croatia or Italy so his expectations are high! TBH, I struggle with the water temp even in Greece so prob best to stay on the Med side.

So many more attractions than theme parks in France.

All over the country there are child friendly events.

You just have to look.

If you are travelling down France Zoo De Beauval is excellent especially the bird show and the pandas.

Honestly, you have your pick of child friendly activities as I said the spas are excellent and child friendly, my DC love spas to this day 🤣

Tbh @Purgepossessions2025 I think the kids at 11& 13 (by the summer) are a bit old for that sort of thing. They really aren't fussed by attractions. They just love posh hotels, good food, swimming and being with us!

My kids are different. Although they love restaurants ( loads of Michelin star restaurants in France) they also love what we love which is snowboarding, climbing mountains, zip wires, daredevil rides, wildlife and reenactments (which are very popular in France).

Beaches and swimming are okay for a couple of hours but gets very very boring! That’s me and DH though🤣 Wandering round a town no matter how old or pretty is not our idea of a holiday.

Have a look at Alsace. It does mean ditching the sea, but there is lake and outdoor pool swimming, lots to see in historical towns like Strasbourg and Colmar, and just over the border in Germany you have Europa Park, which is probably the best (and certainly best value) theme park in Europe. Stop off at Amnéville (a town that is a sort of real-life Disney World, hard to describe but check out the attractions on the web) for a night or two on the way across from Calais, with or without a detour via Paris.

Gorges du Verdon, spectacular scenery, lakes for swimming, lavender fields etc.

Ah thanks, but I don't think that's quite our sort of thing. We like hot weather, hanging out by the sea, eating fish on the harbour, and really hate amusement parks!

I think we're quite different! My kids love skiing, but the wildlife, reenactments and daredevil rides would be looked at with a hearty shrug! My eldest particularly just loves a chichi town and a posh hotel.

That looks interesting. I was already looking around this area. But I couldn't work out where would be good to head to the coast around that area? I'd watched a Rick Stein around the Carmargue that looked interesting, and I hear that Marseille is interesting if a little gritty. Not sure we can afford Cannes or St Tropez but I like the look of Avignon.

Bordeaux is good for shopping & the coast just further up is decent. Ile d'Oleron/Ile de Re/La Rochelle are all nice upmarket places & have nice restaurants & shops. I've a feeling it's Atlantic Coast though....