Recommended towns/cities in SW France?
- Thread starter teuchter
- Start date
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Rail connections don't look too promising.
gaijingirl
Well-Known Member
We're hoping to head down that way later this week for camping and cycling. I actually have no idea where we'll go - there was nice things said about Lot et Garonne on here, so I had a vague idea of going there maybe. Will report back on any train friendly places we see.
Meanwhile I'll watch this thread with interest myself - especially interested in nice places for cycling, but not too hilly (my capabilities are drastically reduced all of a sudden...
) and with good swimming potential (river/lake/sea/open air pool).
Meanwhile I'll watch this thread with interest myself - especially interested in nice places for cycling, but not too hilly (my capabilities are drastically reduced all of a sudden...
) and with good swimming potential (river/lake/sea/open air pool).
cesare
shady's dreams ♥
The big Bordeaux wine festival is every two years, next one 2010, which is a shame re timing (also a different month). You might find the Bordeaux tourisme site worth looking at, if only to get an idea of what it looks like and the type of things going on. The site's a bit of a pain though (one of those that uses a lot of flash, images slowly loading up). I quite like it as a city, it's on the banks of the Garonne and quite picturesque. I prefer the smaller towns though, and the reasons that I mentioned Saint Emilion/Bergerac is because I've stayed in that area myself at the same time of year. Bergerac is cheaper to stay in than Saint Emilion but Saint Emilion is more picturesque and has the cachet of being the epi-centre of the Grands Chateaux.
The second part of the Jurade which is the Vintage Banns take place there on the weekend of 12 September, I missed that myself but I imagine it would be worth seeing. Here's the Saint Emilion tourisme site (another horrible flash one
) but there's a lot more there about what's going on at that time of year: http://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com/The area that you drew on your map crosses more than one region, but I picked Aquitaine:
http://www.tourisme-aquitaine.fr/en/tourisme_aquitaine,375,m1_2AA27304,wine,festivity,aquitaine.html
And this one where you can choose your own region to search (left hand navigation):
http://www.culture.fr/fr/sections/r..._fr&SearchableText=&SearchWhere=saint emilion
^ Those two sites are quite easy to navigate, search and informative.
For places to stay, I've often used Logis de France in the past. My experience has been that they've been very reliable in terms of the descriptions and cheminées ratings:
http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/index.htm
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Thanks for those, they are useful.
It seems that the weekend we woudl be there, there will be the Skylark Whistlers' World Championships.
I've also come across this website:
http://www.sawdays.co.uk/accommodation/?countryColl=France
which looks potentially useful for accommodation.
cesare
shady's dreams ♥
So you'd start nearer Stanley's suggestion, Biarritz. Make sure you get some Bayonne ham
CyberRose
أرفع الشفرات
I stayed in a campsite called Camping La Cite
Great location about 5/10 mins walk to the Cite (walking along a stream with ducks and dragonflies!) and then another 5/10 mins after that to the centre of Carcassonne. We stayed in a tent but they've got static homes as well. Don't know if that's what you were looking for? Should imagine there's plenty of decent hotels around the town
paulhackett
voiced by strother martin
if you go a bit out of the circle, perpignan has an airport and train connections to towns on the coast and also to Barcelona.. if you're not driving.
if you've booked a ticket already then obv. this is shit advice
if you've booked a ticket already then obv. this is shit advice
teuchter
je suis teuchter
So... a couple of places I'm looking at at the moment (largely based around having found good accommodation in them) -
Le Puy en Velay in the Auvergne (looking the most promising so far).
Les Baux-de-Provence (bit concerned this is just going to be mobbed with tourists though)
Le Poët Laval in the Drôme Provencal.
If anyone is familiar with any of these or surrounding areas, comments gratefully recieved...
(yes I know I've strayed out of my red circle somewhat with some of these)
Le Puy en Velay in the Auvergne (looking the most promising so far).
Les Baux-de-Provence (bit concerned this is just going to be mobbed with tourists though)
Le Poët Laval in the Drôme Provencal.
If anyone is familiar with any of these or surrounding areas, comments gratefully recieved...
(yes I know I've strayed out of my red circle somewhat with some of these)
Someone mentioned Toulouse - very nice city and not as busy/commercialised as an equivalent size British city.
Personal recommendation is Cahors in the Lot department. Town of 20,000 in a loop of the River Lot - the main drag through the town is a tree lined avenue with lots of cafes and bars that leads down to the river. To the east of this is the Quartier Ancienne around the Cathedral - again with a good selection of restaurants. Wherever you are you're less than a five-ten minute walk to the river.
Also in September the weather should be pretty good.
Personal recommendation is Cahors in the Lot department. Town of 20,000 in a loop of the River Lot - the main drag through the town is a tree lined avenue with lots of cafes and bars that leads down to the river. To the east of this is the Quartier Ancienne around the Cathedral - again with a good selection of restaurants. Wherever you are you're less than a five-ten minute walk to the river.
Also in September the weather should be pretty good.
ericjarvis
give a feck for the feckless
A mate of mine used to run an auberge just outside Brive. It's a pretty fascinating area. Fantastic food and wine too.
