bkel4464

Hi All,

Long time follower, first time poster. I need help with an upcoming holiday to Europe. We (my fiance and I) have been to Europe many times before however never to San Sebastian or the South of France. We are travelling between June and July. The trip so far involves a week in Rome, 2 weeks in sicily, 1 week in Hvar. We have 1 week remaining and cannot decide between the two.

We like all the usual things - culture, shopping, sun and of course food.

We were leaning towards the South of France due to the food and the shopping if it is anything like Paris?

Any insights from anyone who has been to these places would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

sheri_lp

It's about time, bkel...we've been waiting for your first post!

A good friend grew up in SW France, just over the border, and she only has the best things to say about San Sebastian. I've seen Anthony Bourdain's episode of that city and it looks like a top pick. Big for surfers too - here's a video I found focusing on the food culture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zrnRSSrZXs

bkel4464

Thanks sheri. The food in that video looks amazing. I was leaning towards the South of France but am now stuck right in the middle.

danon

the South of France offers more : a number of small or big towns to choose from, easy to explore beautiful coast, no shortage of good food either.

TPAYT

Since you have already planned Italy do the South of France. There are so many charming towns that it has called us back 3 times and we would like to return again.

Start reading trip reports. We absolutely loved Monte Carlo, Eze, Antibes, Nice, Grasse, Villefranche-sur-mer,Cap Ferrat, etc. It's enchanting and wonderful.

Check out Stu Dudley's trip reports for amazing information on the area.

Let us know what you decide and the Fodorites will give you many suggestions on restaurants, etc.

bkel4464

Thanks danon. Food is a very important factor for us.

Tpayt - some of those places you mentioned look amazing. especially Cap Ferrat and Villefranche-sur-mer. I am reading that trip report now.

mpprh

San Sebastian has the best tapas I've found.

It is under 30 minutes from the South France Atlantic coast at St Jean de Luz, Biarritz, etc.

If you go there, take a circular days drive to St Jean Pied de Port and Pamplona.

Peter

bkel4464

Thanks mpprh. Thats a good idea. That way I would be getting the best of both worlds.

JoyC

<b>South of France</b> is a fairly large region which includes but is not limited to Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine etc. Which of these areas are of interest to you?

We loved the tapas of San Sebastian (as mpprh maintain) but we adore the ambiance and overall feel of Alpes-Maritimes and Pyrenees-Orientales regions.

DeborahAnn

We spent a week in a small town on the water near St. Jean de Luz and liked it much better than San Sebastian which we only visited. But I am an admitted francophile!! From our location we toured the small villages in the Basque area of France and watched surfers in Biarritz and the other towns along the Bay of Biscay. We enjoyed such a variety of foods between the coastal area and the Basque hills. Deborah

primeranoche

I don't think the food in the south of France is particularly good -- and it is CERTAINLY not as fanstastic as the food in San Sebastian. (Or even in Catalonia).

I found St Jean de Luz filled with bus tourists and with an unappealing beach scene. But if you like shopping, you might want to go look. It's crammed with shops. It's not far from San Sebastian. I'd go there for a week and see more of the Basque coast in Spain.

bkel4464

Thank you so much for all of your feedback. When I said "South of France" i meant the Coe d'Azur. Sorry for not being clear on that.

The tapas in San Sebastian sounds amazing. We have been to Bacelona twice and loved the food there. If it is anything like that then we will be hooked.

kimhe

San Sebastián is food heaven! According to Ferran Adrià (El Bulli) it's the best place to eat in the world "in terms of the average quality of the food, in terms of what you can get at any place you happen to walk into".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rink.shopping2

The article "A different kind of Spain" gives you an idea of San Sebastián and the Basque Country: http://marshlands.blogstream.com/

"There is dining that features more Michelin starred restaurants per mile than Paris, New York, or Vienna. There is a culture brought Woody Allen to the city’s Film Festival last year, brings Herbie Hancock and Bob Dylan to this summer’s Jazz Fest, and embraces Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum just down the coast in Bilbao. There is the zest for life that drew Ernest Hemingway to nearby Pamplona and was immortalized in The Sun Also Rises.

San Sebastian’s setting on the coast is a panorama reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro - a horseshoe bay of blue water whose entrance is guarded by Mount Igueldo, a wide sandy beach circling the bay, green mountains extending all the way to the water, and a statue of Christ on Mount Orgull overlooking it all. At the back of the bay lies the city, clad largely in white, perched on the beach and the slopes heading up into the mountains".

Lots of charming villages along the coast towards vibrant Bilbao with the famous Guggenheim museum:
http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao

18 Michelin stars in San Sebastián, but the best food experience might just as well be going for the delicious pintxos/tapas served in every bar around town.
http://www.todopintxos.com/home/home.php?lang=en

Surfergirl

I haven't been to San Sebastian, but it sounds like an amazing place to visit.

So I will talk about the south of France, and the Cote d'Azur in particular. I will further confess that I am not a foodie and don't as a habit make a production out of a meal, but my mother is and will go miles out of her way on a trip to France to experience some amazing meal.

This last trip we drove from Nice to Golfe-Juan for a morning at the beach and probably the most ridiculously expensive bouillabaise luncheon at Nounou, a combo beach/restaurant, and next door to the more famous, and more ridiculously expensive Tetou.

I love fresh fish, and bouillabaise even more so, and we weren't let down. It is a production meal here, and takes a while to prepare, but what better spot to chill right on the beach after a morning's swim and sunning?! Both restaurants (Tetou and Nounou) prefer cash (Nounou will accept credit cards, Tetou does not).

We also revisited Colombe d'Or in St. Paul de Vence for lunch, again amazing, but very expensive meals meticulously prepared.

Even in the cheap restaurants, like La Cigale great moules frites) or Miam Miam (terrific paella) in Ste. Maxim, or one of the Pizzerias by the old harbor in Cannes, the seafood restaurants, or the pedestrian zone in Nice, or the harbor area in St. Tropez, I haven't had a bad meal.