South of France - Holiday Suggestions

RyanAsh

Hi folks, just wondering does anyone have advice on a holiday in the south of france; myself & the boyfriend are thinking of going in Aug/Sept for maybe 10 days. At the moment the plan is to fly in & out of carcassone (ryanair!) and spend a few days in that town coz its meant to be fab, we've no idea where to stay when we're there tho and how long we'll need before we move on. After that we'd like to go somewhere different so i know theres a national park up north a bit, about 100km north of montpelier, Cevennes, - has anyone been there, would like to do some caving maybe and the OH is mad into mountain biking so would let him off doing that for a day while i sun myself, are these options in this place? Would Montpelier be a good place to stop also? Or is there a beach type town near enough montpelier where we could go for a few days also. My thinking is that we'd have 3 stops, one culture (carcassone), one activity (hopefully Cevennes) and one relaxation (beach & shopping....no idea of location for this one!!). We dont want to spend too much time driving but a 2-3 hours between stops would be grand you know. Any recommendations/suggestions/criticisms to improve the trip and get what we want out of the area would be great! Thanks!

hargo

Montpellier is a lovely town, i think it is called the Paris of the south with good reason. On the outskirts of Montpellier is La Grande Motte where there is an abundance of accomadation with beautiful beaches. Within an hours drive you have the Camargue, Aigue Morte (better fortified town than Carcassone) Nimes ( lot of Roman History) and the Pont Du Gard which is a must while in the area. I am not sure that Carcassone is worth 3 hours never mind 3 days. Also might be worth looking at going home via different airport eg Rodez or Marseille.

RyanAsh

oh god! is carcassone not that good, i'd been told by a few people that it was very pretty...that was what prompted the whole holiday to that area and we fleshed it out from there. well we had south france as an idea but going to & from carcassone was based on the recommendations. I guess its horses for courses. What can you do there?

Judge

If I could make a couple of suggestions:

Carcassone is very nice. But really only for a daytrip. But don't be downhearted, this is a lovely area of France. I would suggest one of two possibilities:

Stay in Montpelier and either drive or use the TGV to visit Arles, Nimes, Avignon and maybe Orange. That should sort out your need for a few days of culture.

Alternatively, stay in Toulouse which is a lovely city, often bypassed by tourists, and use either your car or the train to see Carcassone and Albi (highly recommended) which are nearby. Also near Toulouse are the Gorges du Tarn which should satisfy your need for an activity holiday (you will need a car to get to the gorges).

Hope that helps.

Baybay

I think Carcassonne (Costner's Robin Hood was filmed here) is well worth visiting and may work as a base for visiting the surrounding area but 3 days would not be required to see the fortified town itself.

There is also the Canal du Midi with it's tow paths so that's good for walking, cycling & barging and there are good villages and towns enroute to it's end at Sete which is also a nice town. Canoeing around Roquebrun, the Grottes des Demoiselles (caves which apparently were used as the basis for some underground scenes with Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film) near Montpellier, in fact, have a look at the Rough Guide to the Languedoc as it's a good source of information to pick something that suits you and also for historical references etc.

I love Montpellier or Cap d'Agde at any time of year.

ballintemplefc

Flying to Carcassonne in middle of August and want to hit coast around perpignan - Argeles sur mer,any help would be great.2 Adults with 4 young kids.Mobile home V house??
price dictates a little as well but want to make a nice holiday for kids.

brayblue24

ballintemplefc wrote: »

Flying to Carcassonne in middle of August and want to hit coast around perpignan - Argeles sur mer,any help would be great.2 Adults with 4 young kids.Mobile home V house??
price dictates a little as well but want to make a nice holiday for kids.

I have done this. If you want to stay in Argeles Sur Mer I have stayed in "La Sirene" campsite twice and highly reccommend it. There's also plenty to do around the area but also enough entertainment on site to keep the kids occupied at night. Alternatively when you drive to Narbonne you could turn left to "Nouvelle Flouride" in Marseillan Plage-Terrific site and town again with facilities close by, or turn right and pop over to Spain to Rosas, Estartit or Pals. Again, great sites with plenty of facilites and off site attractions. Go to eurocamp.co.uk, canvas.ie, campotel.ie or keycamp.ie for late offers. Many of the sites also have their own accommodation available but with them it's pot luck who your neighbours are and the language barrier could be a problem!