We will be traveling for 15 days in late June - beginning in Belgium and ending in Southern Spain. Between those two locations we will have about 8 days. We were thinking of traveling through France to see different towns along the way. Been to Paris and don't mind missing it this trip. Where should we go? Should we fly down the French Riviera and drive along the coast? Or should we drive through France stopping along the way? Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

Might consider the Loire Valley and/or Provence. Also, a 4 - 5 day barge trip. Personally, I'd skip the Riviera, but that's just our own preferences.

Drive down through France. Loads of lovely towns and villages to see on the way, with great little traditional French hotels. You could perhaps decide to drive part of the pilgrims route thet goes through France to Santiago de Compostella.
One time we pottered down through France, visiting Chartres, Vichy, Puys de Dome, and other extinct volcanoes in the Auvergne, then rented a gite near the village of Estaing and from there visited amongst other places the Gorges du Tarn, and the medieaval village of Conques which was lovely. That is a beautiful and not very touristy area.
Sadly the holiday was marred by it being in September 2001 - the events of the 11th put a real damper on things. I remember sitting in a cafe in a French village watching the TV and every one there had tears streaming down their faces.

Thank you both so much for your reply.

DFR4848- I will look into those suggestions. What didn't you like about the riviera?

Hetismij - You mentioned so many places! If you had 8 days to drive through France from the North to the South what would your day by day itinerary be?

Take you finger and trace a fairly straight line on the map going from Belgium to Spain. If going to Barcelona you will have one route, if going to San Sebastian you will take another. Then get the Michelin Green Guide for France and see what it suggests you might want to see along the itinerary that you traced.

On the other hand, so far, I am enthralled with the French Riviera.
I enjoy the spirit of it, the wine, the food, the impact of other cultures.
Wow, htat's a lotta driving. I used to enjoy road trips though.

IMO, great regions to drive through would be Alsace (great wine, very pretty), the Loire Valley, and Burgundy.

Also, IM(humble)O, skip the French Riviera...

Worth checking out Languedoc ?

Peter

I agree with Michael, above. The best part about France is meanderng country roads and discovering villages along the way. Take a few B&B books with you, and follow your nose.

With some others, I didn't like the tourism of the French Riviera.

You can see some of my meanderings from a recent 3 month France-Italy trip below. (& a link at the bottom of the photos page to a travelogue from a 6 month driving trip in 2000.)

Karen
http://tinyurl.com/2cq89n

I too am a fan of the Loire valley..rent a gite for a week (stay in a chateau) and you will find much to do in the area. I also loved Nimes and Avignon, well worth spending a few days there. I am not a fan of the Riviera.

Rent a car. Go south. Anywhere south.

But north is also good.

Hi there Cabrack,
My friend and I were recently discussing this very question - so decided to check the Fodors board for any thoughts - and noted your 2007 request for village/town suggestions.
My own view, after many visits to France, was for the two small villages in France (although one could be Spain; it's on the north eastern border of France Spain) - Calaques - and the other village of Conques.
Both have old world charm in their own way and are well worth the hassle of arriving at each destination, particularly by public transport (and I know from experience).
Happy travelling ..... Jay

If you go really late in June, you could be in time for the start of lavender bloom in Provence.

If you don't mind to veer off the straight route, I would also find an Eastern routing interesting: from Brussels, for example, via Luxemburg, Alsace/Lorraine (Metz/Strasbourg), Dijon, Lyon, to Avignon/Marseille/Cote.

When you want to rent a car, I would go by train/plane to France first, and also return the car when still in France so you will not have to pay international drop-off fees.

Hey guys,

The OP has been and gone LAST June.

Ouch.. no more posting before my first coffee..

Cabrack:
I am actually sitting in Amboise at the hotel Maniore les Minimes at this very moment having a cafe creme.

Being that this was our first trip to France, we did 5 days in Paris and now 4 days in the Loire. We rented a car in Paris and have really enjoyed (now that were out of Paris) turning off the GPS and just meandering through the towns here in the Loire.

The people have been over-the-top terrific including the Police officers who pulled me over yesterday for an illegal U-turn.

I would highly recomend this area and definitely get a rental car. By the way, this hotel is an incredible deal and has been refurbished so that everything works great and it still has that old feel to it.

Enjoy. MattKn

Mattkn, If you are headed to San Sebastian head over to Bordeaux. Seems like the "new" French chefs are emerging from the Basque Country. http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/04/20...0bordeaux.html
I love to travel slowly and it appears you do to. I'm envious.