Piximelle

Hi

We're a young couple (mid 20s) looking to go to France for about a week in July 2010. We don't have a car and I'm a lousy driver, so I would prefer not renting one either. We will be flying from London and would like suggestions on where to go. We are ideally looking for a picturesque place with hiking possibilities and great views for photography. If the weather is hot, we would like to be able to go swimming in a lake or such. We enjoy good food, but I'm a vegetarian, so hopefully somewhere that caters for veggies. A vineyard wouldn't be too bad either. We love sightseeing but don't need any tourist shopping areas or such.

Any suggestions? I have never been to France and know very little about various regions.

cathies

I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent and suggest that unless there is a special reason that you want France, then Cinque Terre in Italy sounds like the ideal spot for you. Cinque Terre is on the coast, the hiking is spectacular and the restaurants would certainly cater for your vegetarian needs. You won't need a car at all as you could fly to Pisa and then fairly easily go by train (I think) to one of the Cinque Terre towns. Anyway, it's worth a thought....

Can't really help with France though as we had a car and weren't looking to hike.

Either way I hope you have a great holiday.

Christina

YOu might start by getting a general guidebook to France that covers all of the country and read about the various regions to see if anything appeals to you. There are many areas of France that fit your description, and it's a huge country. I don't know about the swimming in a lake thing, but one area I liked is in the Vaucluse around the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains which has plenty of hiking opportunities and it is right near the Gigondas and Vacqueras wine regions. I don't think there is any lake around there, though.

If you want a lake, maybe go to Annecy although I don't know much about it (no wine over there that I know of). I believe people do swim in it.

Christina

sorry, I realized you want to go hiking and visit vineyards without a car. Can't do that.

I really would take back the Vaucluse idea without a car, although you can get to Annecy by train and it's a popular resort area so that's a better idea.

Echnaton

The Esterel mountains would be the perfect place for you. Look for towns like Agay or Théoule-sur-Mer.

Here the wikipedia article with photo gallery:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massif_de_l%27Esterel

Here a book about hiking:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979279623?...T0Q6S547RJWWD&

primeranoche

I don't think you want le Cinque Terre in July. It's too hot to hike, and crowded.

I've never stayed at in the Limousin lake area of France, but it might appeal to you. If you can fly from Stansted in London, there is an airport right in Limousin.

http://www.the-limousin.co.uk/limous...d%20rivers.htm

You haven't said what your budget is, but if you can afford the room with dinner (they will cook vegetarian for you) it might be a nice relaxing stay -- provided the hikes were reachable from the property with a car.

http://www.chateauribagnac.com/en/leisure_hiking.php

But I'll bet there are lots of properties in all price ranges, with and without dinner. I like using the Logis de France website to research acommodations:

http://www.logishotels.com/en/feelin.../limousin.html

primeranoche

I made a typo in the above post. I know you don't want a car, so I meant to suggest that you check first with any lodging that hiking trails and lakes or waterfalls are reachable by foot from where you want to stay.

StCirq

There's a bit of a disconnect between the things you are most interested in doing and the fact that you won't drive, but it's not impossible to find places. You might consider taking the train to Sarlat in the Dordogne, getting the Grandes Randonnées maps, and planning some hiking trips around that. You can swim, canoe, and kayak in the Dordogne and Vézère, hike all over, see gorgeous photographable scenery, and find a little B&B or cottage to stay in. There's also horseback riding and wonderful outdoor markets and rock climbing, and castles galore. It's not the easiest place to get around on foot, but plenty of people do it - you'd just be confined to a relatively small area, so couldn't expect to see a whole lot in a week.

StuDudley

Annecy would be my choise too - if you won't have a car.

Stu Dudley

primeranoche

Pixmelle-Sorry, I'm having brain fry (time for coffee!)

I meant you could fly from Stansted to Limoges (in Limousin.)

primeranoche

I don't know how touristy Uzerche is, but it looks pretty and you can get there by train

http://images.google.com/images?clie...N&hl=en&tab=wi

http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/L...e/uzerche.html

Have fun wherever you go!