Whathello

France is all 'regions'.
You've got
- the north - Lille and the coast (Boulogne, cap griz and cap blanc nez etc)
- Normandy (DD beaches, Bayeux, Rouen, etc)
- Brittany (north and south, not the same)
- Loire (castles, castles)
- Vendée (La Rochelle, Arcachon, oysters, beaches etc)
- Pays Basque : St Jean de Luz, Biarritz
- Pyrénees (mountains)
- Dordogne, lubéron
- Provence
- côte d'azur
- southwest (ma a lot less familiar - long time no go)
- Savoie (ski, but not only)
- Alsace
- center (cévennes etc : walks, sights)

Each of these regions can occupy you for 2 weeks. There are kid friendly things about evenly distributed.
Buy a Green Michelin guide about France and pick wht you'd like : rural, cities, moutains, beaches etc.

Weatherlike : spet is usually ok october can be quite miserable in the north/center.

Ah, Corsica is part of France too. Fabulous weather and fabulous beaches and strange people ;-)

jacolis

Hi,

Our gite in the Dordogne was in St Vincent de Cosse - about 2 minutes from Beynac (20 mins from Sarlat). You definitely would need a car. We took the train from Paris to Brive and got our rental car in Brive. We returned it in Toulouse and flew to Nice (got very cheap flights on easyJet). We didn't need a car in Nice - used public transport along the coast and went by bus up to the Nicois hill towns. We didn't need a car in Paris. Took the metro everywhere.

You can read my trip report to this area here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm


There is so much to see in France - I am sure you can't go wrong! It just really depends on your collective interests...Seeing Lascaux II was on my bucket list but my children thought visiting the Gouffre de Padirac and taking a boat on an underground river was pretty cool.
My hubby was very interested in the DDay sites in Normandy and also the Roman sites in southern France such as the Pont du Gard and old ampitheatres. Bonne chance!

julies

Brittany is one of our all time favorites, and I think it would be a really good match for kids. Depending on the weather and if it is earlier in Sept. or later in Oct., they might even be able to wade at least.

plambers

we are taking our kids, 14 and 12, to europe for the first time this summer. We are spending 3 weeks there - split between paris, dordogne (near to sarlat is our base) and then provence in the luberon.

we did a dry run and took kids to nyc last year for 5 days. they enjoyed the museums (dd loved the met and ds adored the museum of natural history) and they were great walkers. i am taking my dd to a fashion show in paris while my son will go to the army museum with my husband. we are also hiring michael osman for a day in paris. we enjoyed him our last trip and think he will give a great intro to paris day for kids.

I have been to paris many times and a week in the luberon. i am most excited about the dordogne for the kids-so many wonderful activities as listed above.

HappyTrvlr

Sandy beaches : Antibes, and west of San Tropez, near, and below Ramatuelle, a charming village.

MEVmom

I've read lots of articles online, but what guidebook(s) would you recommend?

StuDudley

Fodors. Not Rick Steves.

Stu Dudley

Whathello

Michelin Green Guides.
Made by French.

Christina

I don't really think Michelin Guides are that good for getting a general sense of an area due to the way they are organized. Just alphbetically by name of city/town or perhaps attraction. They do have maps that can give you a good idea of a driving route, though. But I don't prefer them to get a good overview, more as an extra bit of information. I think Fodors does a good job, I also usually like Lonely Planet, Frommers, and Cadogan guides are good for southern France. Just the usuals, I guess. I just get mine at the library before a trip, so I get the latest copies and don't have to buy them. Some books appeal more to some people than others. For example, I detest Eyewitness guidebooks and find them worthless but a lot of people like them because they are colorful or something.

Whathello

Is Fodors translated in french BTW ?

Green guides are easy for us - we have had them since 50 years at least, they were nerly the only ones available, so we got used to them, not the other way round. And each time we used another one (for France) we were disappointed.

As a second one we often take Visa guide.

StCirq

I always have a Michelin Green Guide handy, but they are more complicated than the ordinary traveler needs and require some in-depth study. I love Cadogan for the details and off-hand comments and remarks.

StuDudley

I agree with Cristina's opinion about the regional Michelin Green Guides for a first-timer trying to figure out which region to visit. MEVmom needs something less than 1 inch thick, so she can understand what there is to do & see in each area in France. I think there are around 12 Michelin regional guide books - and that's too much info for most people to wade through in this situation. Perhaps just purchase the Green Guide for France - and not any of the regional guides. Once MEVmom determines which region to visit - then get the guide for that region. I have almost 2 meters of shelf space that hold my travel books for France. And another 3/4 meters for maps. The Regional Green Guides and the Cadogan Guides are the best for France, IMO, once you've determined where in France you want to go.

Stu Dudley

Chichonne

Hi !
I'm French, I would recommend being in the south around October ans exploring the north of the country in september,just to give you more chances of a nice weather.
Annecy is a small city, it's great for a week end, but there is not much to do in my opinion. If you have kids, I would recommend the south east (Provence, drôme, Ardèche), there are always lots of activities (canoe, castle visits etc...)
There is also Bretagne (north west) but the weather is riskier. If it is a sunny month, it is a nice region to visit. If you want to choose between Nice and Montpellier, I woud advice Montpellier. It is the same weather, the same landcapes but less snob than Nice.
Wherever you decide to stay, you will have to rent a car. Be aware that it is a lot more expensive than it is in the US and that gas coast a lot more also.
As for a guide, french people use 'Le routard', if you understand french, i would recommend it.

sundriedtopepo

Hi MEVmom, I like Lonely Planet for a good overview of a country or area. Online you can buy downloadable pdf versions of chapters of the areas in France you are interested in. Each chapter is around $5, so a bit better than having to buy the whole book. Also, if you take a tablet with you, your pdf guide is a lot lighter than a big book.
For more detail, the Michelin Green.

shellio

I just Googled "best places to visit in France with kids" and got tons of resources. If your kids are the deciding factor in where you go you might do well to read these.

MEVmom

Thank you all! I'm going to check my library for some guides ASAP. I feel like I'm already pretty sold on the Dordogne region based on what I've read online so far.

Chichonne, thank you for your weather tips as well! And for the advice about Montpellier. That's very helpful.