Cheap European Sun Break End of August

gaillimh

Hi.

Myself and my girlfriend (35 and 30 yrs old respectively) are looking to go for 5 nights or so in the last week of August (probably Monday 25th to Saturday 30th). Just looking for a relaxing break in the sun. Not interested in nightlife at all. Just sun, food & wine.

We would be looking to get away for as little money as possible. Anyone have any recommendations? Any experience of locations that maybe not the norm for your average Irish/Uk tourist?

I was looking into Sopot in Poland (never heard of it prior to Euro 2012) but the weather seems to be a little unpredictable at that time of year and guaranteed to be that warm.

Anyone any ideas?

thanks

Paul_Hacket

Two suggestions. Both are in the South of France. This region will be busy at that time of year and rates are a little higher in August but still surprisingly affordable. For food/wine/beaches/weather/scenery/culture and museums it's really hard to beat the south of France, and it's actually very good value.

(1) Fly to Nice and take either a taxi or the airport shuttle bus to Villefranche-sur-mer, about half an hour east of Nice. It's a small historic town on a beautiful harbor with a decent beach just west of the town (only drawback is that the beach is more pebbley than sandy).

Villefranche is also on the coastal train line with the station located right behind the beach - you can be in Monaco or or Nice in 20 minutes on the train and it's a beautiful journey. There are good restaurants in the town. Not much of a bar scene but the harbor front is lined with cafe-bars where you can sit at the waterfront. The town is at the base of a beautiful peninsula called Cap Ferat which you can walk out along. It has more beaches and some nice beach bars, and is dotted with amazing villas (David Niven's old home is spectacular) as well as one of the Rothschild's mansions which is open to the public.

There's a well situated cheap hotel right on the harbor, with great views from the rooms. It's about 100 euros a night in August, make sure you get a room facing the ocean if you go: http://www.hoteldeladarse.com/alpes-maritimes/

(2) Another option is to fly to Marseille and rent a car (you can get small cars for about 30 euros a day). Drive one hour south east from the airport to the beautiful historic port town of Cassis. Cassis is spectacular, similar to Villefranche in a lot of ways - it's a sheltered port with mountains/cliffs sourrounding it. There's a spectacular chateau looking down on to the town, tons of restaurants and bars along the port front and a lovely little town beach. You can take boat trips out to the famous calanques and there's also a great casino in the town if you like to gamble. One of the best parts is that the town is surrounded by vineyards, many of which are on clifftops. They are spectacular to visit and the cassis wines are superb - especially the whites.

There's a an old fashioned French hotel on the western edge of the town with great views right over the port and a lovely terrace restaurant. Rooms are also about 100 euro a night (maybe a little more in August). If you go ask for a room on the 2nd floor with a large balcony and sea view. Rooms 8, 10 and 12 were best as I remember.
http://www.legolfe-cassis.fr/

Either of these will work very well for a five day vacation as they are compact and walkable but also allow you to take daytrips to nearby attractions. I've been to France a lot and both are genuinely spectacular and not very well known by non-French visitors. You can get cheap ryanair flights to both Nice and Marseille. Be aware that in August there will be a TON of French tourists in both places but I wouldn't let that stop you.

If you've never been to the Cote D'Azur before you might consider Villefranche first as it gives you easy access to Nice and Monaco (which a bit over-rated in my opinion but obviously worth a day trip). Cassis is simply amazing though and is somewhere I will be returning to.

gaillimh

Thanks a million for those suggestions. They both look really nice. We were actually going to head to the south of France for 2 weeks in May but heading to the States instead so just looking for a cheap few days away at the end of August if at all possible.
I'll look into the price of flights etc but they look really good thanks very much.

If you had a choice of one over the other would you have a preference? Leaving aside your tip about a first time visit to the South of France I mean? Thanks again for that

Paul_Hacket

Hmnn, well when we stayed in Cassis we had a car and you kind of need it. Would be a bit of a chore to get there from Marseille without one and also useful for going to the vineyards and nearby daytrips. So if you're not up for renting a car that would rule Cassis out.

Didn't have a car in Villefranche and you really don't need one cause the train station is right there in the town and trains run every 20 mins to Nice/Cannes in the east and Monaco/Italy in the west. You can actually get to Sanremo in Italy in an hour on the train from Cassis and the cost is about 6 Euro!

For me I slightly preferred the town of Cassis itself - it has a really wonderful atmosphere and slightly better restaurants than Villefranche. Pretty much everything you need is very close to Cassis, the vineyards are on the outskirts of town and you can take a boat trip from the port out to the calanques. With a car you can also take a day trip up to Aix-En-Provence or Avignon. The roads in that part of France are great and very scenic to drive on. Make sure you get a compact car though - better for parking and dealing with the bends on the mountains.

With Villefranche you can walk out along Cap Ferat, which makes for a great day - some nice beaches, restaurants and the Rothschild mansion and grounds are there. The beaches on Cap Ferat are probably better than those in Villefranche or Cassis. The main sway though would probably be in whether you wished to take a day trip to Monaco or Nice. Several times we took the train in to Nice in the evening for dinner and a drink - it's that convenient.

Honestly, I'd have a hard time choosing which to return to myself - they were both awesome. I'm around your age and my gf and I stayed in both for 5 nights, they're perfect for that duration. Aerlingus also fly to Nice (not sure about Marseille) and their flights are reasonable for August, around 100 Euro. I'd probably pick the one that had the most convenient flight times and fares if I was you.