SamWhit

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy an interrail ticket and make our way around france this summer.

Apart from the obvious places, like Lille, Paris, Lyon, Nice, Toulon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, can anybody advise me of some places to stop off in between each of the main towns? We've never been before, and if anybody could suggest a potential route that would be really helpful to get us stared on our research. We are very outdoors people who love walking, hiking, canoeing, watersports, we love beaches but also like cities, but aren't all that into historical features and museums.

Any help you could provide would be much appreciated,

Thanks,

Emma

bilboburgler

Ok your interests are mainly about the outdoors and then you mention towns/cities. ....

I look at France by thinking about rivers and wine districts. There are two lovely rivers that have fine walking, bike riding, canoeing and wine. These at the Loir and the Tarn. The Tarn will be very hot in mid summer while the Loire stays a little cooler. So for me take the train say to Saumur or Angers and find ways of riding, canoeing between them, with a little google work you will find some great paths and rental agencies. These smaller cities are very pretty and probabky far nicer than Toulon and Lille (Lille, I ran a factory there and apart from one swimming pool it is a dump), You might also look at Bordeaux to Cahors (both on the rail and river with rugged hills either side. Have a look at http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Bordeaux_Guide.php for a bunch of ideas.

bilboburgler

Silly me, you can do Bordeaux to Bergerac which is a bit easier than going for Cahors (though still possible)

StCirq

The Loire and the Loir are two different waterways. I assume bilboburger is recommending the former. I also don't think of either the Loire or the Tarn as great wine attractions, though the Loire has some fine ones, and you can find wine all over France.

I also don't get why, if your interests are outdoor activities you are aiming for the great metropolises of France - especially Lille and Toulon (ick) - doubt first-timers would like/appreciate Bordeaux either. Even the major (TGV) routes these days can drop you off in places outside huge cities. And if you take regional trains you get get to hundreds more places.

Google for a complete TGV map and see where those trains can take you. Then look up information on the places that interest you along the main routes, keeping in mind once you're in a TGV destination you'll probably have lots more options for getting to more out-of-the-way places on regional and local trains. Then read up on the places that look good to you and put together an itinerary.

Then figure out if a railpass is really going to save you money by looking at point-to-point prices and comparing them.

Christina

You aren't really going to be able to make up the routes you want, you will have to go where the train lines are. THere are many wellknown French cities you can visit along the rail line that runs from Nice west over to where you must transfer to go north to Toulouse, Toulon being only one of them, but that's okay if you really want to go there. Some other possibilities are Antibes, Marseille, Montpellier and Narbonne (which I think is where you'd transfer to go to Toulouse, but Narbonne is a nice city). I guess you'd go from Toulouse to Bordeaux.

I would suggest Avignon on the route from Paris south (you will have to go through it to get to Nice from Lyon, I think, but it's a good place to visit, anyway. There are lots of other wellknown places you can visit just a short jog off then main raile line (still on the rail, of course), just as Aix-en-Provence or Arles.

I think your issue is you aren't into cities that much (or the museums, etc.) but you want to do the railpass travel method. Of course you can walk anywhere, all across cities, but some of the real outdoorsy activities are not going to be right on the rail line. But look at a map of the rail line down at the bottom and decide where yo umight want to visit along the coast.

Michael

Check out this train line:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_de_Cerdagne

bilboburgler

Loir
Loire
Tarn
all have A/C wine produced along them

Loire is by far the longest river and the more famous wines but there is something special about finding that little AC that was next to your hotel and becomes "your wine"

PalenQ

Are you a European resident - must be to qualify for Inter-Rail Passes. If not you can buy a France Railpass - a Youthpass if under 26 for a great price that would be the equivalent of Inter-Rail - anyway check out these fab IMO sources for great info about planning a French rail trip and answers to questions like you pose - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

and of course for schedules and fares to compare to a pass - www.voyages-sncf.com - note the deep discounted Prem tickets sold online - these could be cheaper than a pass if not traveling a whole lot.

PalenQ

Lille, Paris, Lyon, Nice, Toulon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, can anybody advise me of some places to stop off in between each of the main towns? We've never been before, and if anybody could suggest a potential route that would be really helpful to get us stared on our research>

Ok presuming you are coming from merry Ole England? Vai Chunnel train to Lille? Personally I'd keep right on going thru Lille to Paris

PARIS
the city and possible short excursions by train out to Versailles for the world's most famous palace- but you like walking and the great park of Versailles is fantastic for that - check out Marie-Antoinette' Le Hameau where she liked to play peasant girl) or Chartres (world famous Gothic cathedral) or Reims (great cathedral and even great IMO Champagne factory tours with free samples! - all easy short train trips from Paris

lyon is a nice nice city but for first-timers I'd rather head to Provence and much dreamier and more romantic cities like Avitgnon and Arles - each is a great base - hop a bus to the Pont du Gard - walk across this ancient Roman aqeudecut - nice hikes on trails all around this area - Avignon is especially dreamy - walled city with everything inside the walls it seems reeking of ancient days

Move on by train to Aix-en-Provence - a lively university town but also like Avignon reeking of older days in its old town, but hinting at Parisian boulevards in its stately modern town by the university

Train to Nice - beaches galore - nicest ones IMO are near Antibes and Cannes - Nice's beach is rocky if I recall - but Nice is a lively old town and a great base - take trains to Cannes for the beach day or to Monaco for something Mouse That Roared Difference - outstanding hike between Monaco and Cap d'Ail train station - all along the sea and totally undeveloped area in natural state - a hard find in this generally high developed coastal area - take train back to Nice

Toulon is a nice old town but also rather industrial - I'd take Marseilles over it anytime for real color and unique exoticness.

Rail on to Toulouse - another neat old town with a large university component. Day trip to nearby Carcassonne, one of Europe's most intact fortified medieval cities - in fact the Cite Medievale (sp?) is walled and tops of craggy ridge -even though Ersatz in that it was basically rebuilt from rubble in the 1800s and 1900s it is still an amazing site - if into youth hostels there is one smack inside the walls up there.

Go via Tarbes to Lourdes - weird pilgrimage mecca - see the swarms in the daily Parade des Malades (sp?) - parade of sick folk seeking God's healing - many pushed around in wheel chairs - ambling along on crutches, etc - see the water baths and perhaps if you have an ailment take a bath yourself!

Move onto the Bayonne-biarritz-Anglet area that has some of the world's finest beaches and usually warm - well known for surf's up and surfers - a neat youth hostel on the beach at Anglet -

Bordeaux to me would be low on any list of first-timers and you may as well hop the TGV to blow back to Paris though you could wind thru the Dordogne (train to Sarlat) and then up to Paris.

How many days do you have - and if doing this type of travel some kind of railpass will be cheaper than any combo of online discounts, which must be booked far in advance to get and cannot be changed - railpass lets you take any train anytime and since you may be traveling a lot...

Oh and if you are Limeys you could from Bordeaux head to Caen and Bayeux - see the D-Day beaches and Bayeux's famous Queen Matilhda's Tapestry (sp?) woven shortly after 1066 when William the Conqueror set sail from this area to take over Saxon Britain - tapestry on display and Bayeux is a neat old town with a splendid cathedral to boot. Boats from nearby Oustreham take you back to Angleterre - there are even night boats and frequent catamarans in the day or at least ferries - catamarans run also from Cherbourg - a dud city IMO for tourists - one of the least nice looking cities I've been to.

PalenQ

To add in a day of tremendous awesome hiking in Nice hop the Train des Pignes as this toy-lie train is dubbed and ride it into the hinterlands of rugged Provence - sleepy Provence of ages ago - take the train to say Annot - a sleep regional town and walk from there along the Var (?) River to another train station to go back to Nice!

SHANNON00

On your way to Bordeaux and Toulouse, stop for a day or two in Sète (near Montpellier) an authentic fishing town considered as "the most fascinating small town on the Meditteranean coast" according to the Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/th...ect-break.html. It is bordered by canals on one side and beautiful sandy beaches on the other. Boating, kayaking, and bicycle paths. A fabulous daily indoor market with local produce, great seafood, especially oysters from the neighboring oyster farms. Plenty of lively festivals during the summer including water jousting.

StCirq

Sheesh, SHANNON, enough with the repeated verbatim messages about Sète. Are you the town's city council's PR person, or what? Sète isn't even "on the way to Toulouse or Bordeaux" unless one is coming from southeastern France, which the OP probably isn't. And while Sète has its charms, it's hardly a first-class destination in France, and it's certainly not "the most fascinating small town on the Mediterranean coast." FAR from it.

PalenQ

Well it seems that some folk or at least travel writers think Sete is fantastic!

Sète, France: the perfect break - Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk › Travel › The Perfect BreakFeb 23, 2011 – Sète is the most fascinating small town on the French Mediterranean coast precisely because it doesn't go out of its way to be charming.

StCirq

Yes, and SHANNON has posted that link umpteen times, verbatim.

I've been to Sète many, many times and know it well. It's not without its charms, but its also not without its throngs of drunken Brits swarming the quais on a summer evening. And construction galore. And seedy back alleys. And given the planned expansion of the port, it's likely going to have to continue not going out of its way to be charming in the future.

Not slamming it as a destination - just saying it's not the only town on the Med. and doesn't deserve repeated links to that Telegraph article (and yes, I've been a travel writer - you get paid to write a whole lot of stuff you don't even really care about).

PalenQ

I've been a travel writer - you get paid to write a whole lot of stuff you don't even really care about).>

Moi aussi! And ain't that the truth - tell em what they want to hear!

I have not been to Sete - one of the few such charmers in France I have not been to - will try to go there and judge for myself - but it does seem to be just another fascinating seaside town - fascinating to some and a tourist trap or hectic Brit-dominated resort to others.

Michael

Before you go you should memorize <i>le cimetière marin</i> and a few Georges Brassens songs.