advice required. French City break and not Paris

Mailman

Hi,
Can anyone recommend a nice easily accessible city break for two days in France or a French speaking country.
Thanks in advance.

rossie1977

nice would be the obvious choice.

Chamonix would be one most wouldn't think of, its a small town (10,000 population) in the french alps with western europes tallest mountain (Mont Blanc) dominating every part of the town about 1 hour west of geneva (which is also french speaking btw) so you are killing two birds with one stone

Clink

I'd say Nantes (think Ryanair go there now) or Touslouse, both would be cheaper than Nice.

Diairist

Rennes in Brittany is lovely, near Finistere, Mont St Michel. Aer Lingus goes there 10 June - 4 Oct

Degsy

Nantes & Toulouse FTW!

Mailman

All good replies. Chamoix and Geneva interest me most to begin with but Toulouse, Nantes and Brittany sound good too.
I was thinking of Nice/Lyon too but couldn't see enough to interest me there so struck them off the list.

eamon234

Good thing about Nice is that it's a stone's throw from Monaco and Cannes - I love Cannes and it's not as expensive as you might think as long as you don't go drinking in the Hilton!

Diairist

a sexist remark about Lyon: the ladies will drool over the silk shops and they're great value. Google 'canut'.

Miss Fluff

Carcassonne or Montpellier, you'll get a little bit of spring sun at this time of year and lots to do in both. If going to the latter as well it is a short hop and a skip on the train into Gerona in Spain so you could kill two birds with one stone.

jam_mac_jam

Tours is lovely also, its in the Loire valley would be very nice for a couple of days. Ryanair fly there.

Miss Fluff

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Tours is lovely also, its in the Loire valley would be very nice for a couple of days. Ryanair fly there.

Good choice, Tours is beautiful.

hunter164

Monaco's lovely..

AckwelFoley

Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nice, Lyon... or go down to Andorra
Pick any city tbh except Marsailles.. thats a dump of monsterous proportions

Mailman

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

donaghs

Ryanair go to Carcassonne. Nice small town, only takes a weekend to see it all. Castle, canal , etc.

P. Breathnach

I'll comment on a few places accessible by direct flights from Dublin.

I didn't find Nantes particularly interesting. It was badly damaged in WW2 and much of the replacement building does not appeal greatly to me. The chateau is an impressive lump.

There is a lot to see and do in Lyon, from Roman remains through interesting architecture and great atmosphere in the old city, and it is the gastronomic capital of France. http://www.en.lyon-france.com/

Bordeaux is stylish, great 18th/19th century buildings, one of the best museums I have ever visited, very enjoyable place.

Rennes has a great buzz about it -- university city, humming with life. Great vieux quartier.

I don't rate Tours very highly. Half a day for the old city and the cathedral, then you could use it as a base for visiting Loire chateaux.

I liked Nice. Nice easy outing to see Monaco (local bus, short and scenic trip) and one of the nicest rail excursions I have ever taken: http://www.beyond.fr/travel/railpignes.html

dermoto

Nice all the way. And its a 20 min train trip to Cannes, and close to Monaco too. Nice is fantastic, had an amazing week there last year.

Bogger77

Fly Dublin to Geneva and travel onwards from there, and avail of duty free!!

I liked Lyon, spent a week there, small enough city with good public transport.
maybe get train up to Annency or Chamoix.

CantGetNoSleep

Brussels is another option, very easy to get to, although i'd recommend Antwerp for someone going to Belgium, but it's not French speaking

DadaKopf

Someone said it: Montpellier. You can fly to Marseilles and get a train. It's essentially the Cambridge of France (if Paris is Oxford). It's close to other stunning places like Carcassonne, Aix, and not too far from Spain - you can see the Pyrenees from Girona, which you can travel to via Péripngan.

One word of warning: check to make sure the Mistral wind isn't blowing. It's a freezing jet of wind that flies right over these places for 2 weeks each year.

theCzar

I loved Lyon, forget the shopping ,get stuck into the best food in France though you're usually best adopt a "don't ask, don't tell" policy as to what your actually eating. Lyon's traditional dishes usually use a colloquial vocab so non natives often struggle to figure out menus.

Toulouse is nice, Bordeaux is nice, Carcassone is nice (though a bit medieval theme parky and monstrously busy all summer) Nice is next (on my list that is).

DadaKopf wrote:

One word of warning: check to make sure the Mistral wind isn't blowing. It's a freezing jet of wind that flies right over these places for 2 weeks each year.

Its chilly alright, but it shouldn't interfere with a city break, and its not so fixed that you can plan your holiday around it.

CantGetNoSleep

DadaKopf wrote: »

Someone said it: Montpellier. You can fly to Marseilles and get a train. It's essentially the Cambridge of France (if Paris is Oxford). It's close to other stunning places like Carcassonne, Aix, and not too far from Spain - you can see the Pyrenees from Girona, which you can travel to via Péripngan.

One word of warning: check to make sure the Mistral wind isn't blowing. It's a freezing jet of wind that flies right over these places for 2 weeks each year.

I heard that you will soon be able to fly Cork to Carcassonne with Aer Lingus

CantGetNoSleep

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

I heard that you will soon be able to fly Cork to Carcassonne with Aer Lingus

Sorry my mistake it was Ryanair, Cork or Dublin to Carcassonne

This would be the closest airport to Montpellier

BanzaiBk

Another Rennes recommendation! Great buzz about the place and situated nicely in Brittany. Tours is another good recommendation, haven't been there in a while though. I've done Rennes with both the OH and my friends and each time was immensely enjoyable.

Carawaystick

Carcassone is a fairytale looking city alright but it's a bit overrun with tourists. La Rochelle is really nice, Aer Arran used to fly there dunno if they still do