France hols for first time with kids - which area to stay in?

[AmywmcgP]

Hi 👋 Looking at France for our family hols this summer with kids aged 9 and 7. We haven’t been to France before so need some help deciding on an area. We’d like to take the car on the ferry or tunnel so don’t want to drive too far south. We aren’t big beach lovers so would be equally happy inland as well as coastal. Somewhere with interesting things to see and do and good food… enough to keep kids busy for a week. Any suggestions please! 🇫🇷

Lille? Lots to do, around 1hr15 min drive from Calais. This is a good list. Lille With Kids - 22+ Great Things to Do in Lille With Family
Lots of B&B/ Airbnb/ Hotel options and is not as expensive as Paris or Nice for example

Southern Brittany around Carnac / La Trinite is great.

Normandy/ Brittany.
There are dramatic cliffs on the north coast.
Castles galore - Fougeres, Dinan, Falaise etc. Visiting Mont St Michel is fun.

What are hoping for weather wise?

Sunny weather would be lovely but I realise that’s never guaranteed and we don’t really want to drive for hours to get to the south. So will probably have to roll the dice with the weather and just hope we have some August sunshine ☀️ thanks for all the suggestions so far. Am looking them all up!

Another vote for this area. We’ve been to France a lot and our best holiday was here.

We usually stay in holiday parks listed on Eurocamp but book direct. They have space and great facilities for children plus they can make friends to play with when not out and about.

Have a look at Le Croix de Vue Point, you have Disney if that's your thing and Paris as easy option then

Another vote for southern Brittany. Concarneau area

Depends where you stay, but if you can get a train one day for a day out at carcassonne it is worth a visit. Think we got the train there from bordeaux when we stayed.

The Dordogne is amazing - castles, rivers, caves, dinosaur parks etc. Might be too far though.

Carcassonne is fab but a heck of a way south if OP wants to stay north.

my vote would be for the Alps or possibly the Jura. Loads to do with kids. But admittedly it’s a further drive.

Again, Brittany! You can get the ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo, or Plymouth- Roscoff if you're from the west of the country. The South Coast is significantly warmer.

And/ or the Loire Valley. It's not just chateaux (Although some of the chateaux are fun for kids). Good for flat cycling, pretty towns, caves, and various other attractions aimed at families.

Between the two is Nantes, where you must visit Les Machines de l'Ile, if you're in the area.

Another vote for Carnac.

It is a lovely old style seaside town. Eat pancakes until they come out of your ears. Go and look at the standing stones which are amazing. Go to a market and see stallholders still wearing their traditional hat. Go to see the castle at Josselin.

If you don't want to do too much driving in France going to Carnac will mean a long ferry crossing.

Normandy is brilliant for that age group. The museums are really interesting (Juno museum's staff were amazing with my 2, so patient explaining things) muse de Caen was equally good, bayeaux tapestry has an English language kids tour.

Then there's amazing beaches, great food, beautiful countryside

Lived here for many years and have yet to find as brilliant a spot as round Quimper/ Benodet and then around Vannes/ Quiberon/ Carnac. The summers here are so hot now and the weather and beaches here are such a welcome relief. Other places are Noirmoutier/ Île d’Oleron/ île de Ré ( but vv busy in Summer and expernsive). Also Belle-Île ( but similarly overpriced).

The southern border of finisterre and Morbihan is nice too. Around Guidel.

Parents also recommended Trinité sur mer which is along the coast but went with guidel area instead

I would second this.

When our children were school age, we always did a summer trip to France.
In the early years the Normandy coastline was great. Lovely sandy beaches and the little seaside towns opened up for the French summer holidays. As they got to junior ages they enjoyed the history and we ventured further to Brittany. Eventually we did long drives, stopping, through the western side South and back the Eastern side. Great holidays that set them up for their own travels.