MEVmom

We plan to take our kids to France in Sept/Oct of 2017. They will be ages 11, 10, and 7 at that time. Our plan is to choose a place or at most two places to rent a home as our vacation base. So either rent in one location for 4 weeks or possibly 2 weeks in one region and 2 weeks in another. If you could choose just two regions/towns in france for a stay with kids, which would they be? I'm already interested in the following: Dordogne, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Montpellier, Gordes, Beynac-et-Cazenac, Colmar, and Annecy. Help me narrow it down, or tell me if I'm missing something major!

kerouac

Paris is not on your list?

If not, I would recommend Strasbourg and La Rochelle.

MEVmom

We want to visit Paris for a few days but not stay there long term as it seems expensive. What are your thoughts on this?
I'm thinking 4 weeks in one place is too long which is why I thought of splitting it. We will make a couple excursions during the month- one to paris, one to rome, one undecided as yet.

MEVmom

Also what are your reasons for recommending Strasbourg and La Rochelle?

kerouac

They are excellent bases for seeing some of the most interesting parts of France and have a lot to offer children of the ages you mentioned.

Regional trains from Strasbourg take you in less than an hour to places like Metz, Nancy, Sélestat, Obernai or Colmar and the city of Strasbourg itself is a delight for both adults and children.

La Rochelle has its fabulous old port, aquarium and easy access to other coastal cities.

Some of the places on your first list are dead end tiny villages, which of course would be fine if you have a car to go to other places every day but would soon be dead boring otherwise.

MEVmom

Ok thank you! I want relaxed but NOT boring.

StCirq

Beynac and Cazénac are IN the heart of the Dordogne, so I don't get where you're coming from with that. Have you looked at guidebooks? I'd do the Dordogne and the Pyrénées, but I live her so don't really know what Americans like.

BTW, I don't find Paris expensive, at least compared to where I used to live in the USA (DC). Depends on how you approach it. The Dordogne can be expensive too, if you choose high-end visits, as most Americans do. Or it can be very affordable, as those of us who live here know.

You're obviusly missing major parts of France, but who couldn't with only the short amount of time that you have? It's a huge country with many, many wonderful regions. The ones you've selected will suffice.

MEVmom

StCirq, I don't know much about French geography which may explain the awkwardness of my question. I'm glad my choices will "suffice". I'm hoping for a little more than that though! Of course I know I can't see the whole country in a month. I'm not going to even attempt it. Since I'm not familiar with the regions, maybe you could tell me more about the Dordogne and Pyrenees?

Regarding Paris, maybe it's that I feel it will be too hectic with kids. I don't know..

aliced

Hmm, some of our 6 grandchildren are the ages of your children; no way I would do anything else but 2 weeks based in Paris with day trips built in; then the second 2 weeks down in Provence (Aix) or east in Nice. I cannot see any of your kids being remotely interested in areas of Bordeaux (which encompasses La Rochelle for practical planning purposes), Dordogne, Languedoc (which areas we loved, but for kids -- not so much). Take the TGV out of Paris down to Provence/Riviera and return from there. It depends a lot on where you live and what their interests are: do they live near the sea? are they outdoors a lot? Are they very interested in old history -- prehistoric? Do they care one iota about this stuff? Mine sure don't, at least not yet. My daughter was in Strasbourg & Metz when she was 17, whole different story at that age.

MEVmom

Thank you for your helpful input! I'm starting to think maybe 1 week in 4 locations would be better...My kids are pretty into the outdoors, history, food, etc though.

Lexma90

Without knowing anything about you and your family, including your kids, what you like to do on vacation, whether you prefer big cities or rural destinations, and what your budget is, my overly-general suggestion would be two weeks in Paris and two weeks in the Dordogne.

Obviously there's enough to do or see in Paris to fill at least a year, for any age.

We're returning to the Dordogne for the third time late this Spring, with our 17yo DD. We took our 12yo DS previously, and he LOVED the area and everything we did. It's a gorgeous region, more beautiful IMHO than the other regions of France that we have been to before (I haven't been everywhere in France); great food, especially if you like fois gras; caves with interesting formations; many great castles of the defensive period of castle-building that I find more interesting than the Loire Valley pleasure palaces (obviously a matter of opinion); and prehistoric art that makes my top-10 list of man-made things I have seen in my life. We like staying in Sarlat, because we like having a greater number of restaurants to walk to for dinner. There are also a lot of activities (boating, etc.) to do on the Dordogne river, but we've never done any of those (merely because other things interest us more).

Rick Steves' video on the Dordogne is pretty good.

Provence is also very interesting with a lot to see/do, but we think there's a greater number of things in the Dordogne, especially for kids.

MEVmom

That's great info. I do like all the medieval aspects of Dordogne. And we all LOVE food! Thanks

StuDudley

We've spent over 3 years "on the ground" vacationing in France in various regions. The Dorodgne & Provence are our two favorite regions. Followed by the Cote d'Azur, Languedoc, & Brittany.

Stu Dudley

jacolis

We took our kids ages 7 and 9 to France a few years ago. We spent one week in Paris, one week in the Dordogne and one week in Nice. Paris and the Dordogne were the best weeks. There is so much to do in Paris with kids! They also loved visiting the castles in the Dordogne (medieval warfare museum and getting to "launch" a soccer ball from the trebuchet; bird of prey show at Milandes; troglodyte "town" at La Roque St Christophe; Gouffre de Padirac and seeing Lascaux II). They also loved paddleboarding down the Dordogne. We followed a lot of Stu's recommendations and it was great. We rented a gite from the Domaine de Monrecour and the location was perfect (including pool and laundry facilities)!
http://www.monrecour.com/

I enjoyed the Nicois "hinterland" but it was less interesting for the kids. Also, the beach in Nice is quite rocky. I think there may be sandier beaches in other towns along the Riviera.

We went back this summer with the girls (now 9 and 11) - spent 4 days in Paris, a week in Normandy and a week in Provence near Les Baux. I still think our week in Dordogne was the best! Just my two cents.

MEVmom

Thanks, that is super helpful. You guys have changed my mind about Paris. I'm now thinking a week in Paris, 1 in Strasbourg, 1 in Nice or Aix, and one in Sarlat. I would like to know of any sandy beach locations if anyone knows them...

Jacolis, when u went did u rent a car or just use public transportation/walking? I'd like to keep costs down obviously.

MEVmom

Also, Jacolis, in what town in the Dordogne region did you stay?

FrenchMystiqueTours

I don't know. I wouldn't let anyone sway you as to where you should go or what you should do. I think you need to just spend time with guidebooks and doing research to figure out what would most interest you. Plenty of great advice given here but with an open ended question like yours there are literally hundreds of possible answers and mine are different than ones others have given, though not any better, just different. I can give you a photo report with lots of sandy beach locations about a week I spent in Brittany:

http://tinyurl.com/8xuuryc

But I don't think you'd be swimming there in Sept./Oct.

Or another photo report about an area near the Dordogne:

http://tinyurl.com/koqtuel

But maybe you aren't interested in anything in those reports. So do some research and figure out what you like best.

kerouac

There are loads of fantastic sand beaches along the southwest Atlantic coast. They are rarer and much more crowded along the Mediterranean coast.

Pvoyageuse

The Languedoc coast from Le Grau du Roi to Argelès is sandy. In September and October the beaches won't be crowded. Bear in mind that it will be off season and that school starts in September. The usual children entertainments will be closed.
You could chose a base between Carcassonne/Narbonne and Përpignan. There are castles (so-called Cathar), beaches, abbeys, hikes, plenty to entertain your children.

StCirq

There are also hundreds of sandy beaches along the Atlantic coast of France, as kerouac notes particularly in the SW.

Whoever said the Dordogne doesn't hold appeal for kids is so off-base. It's a children's paradise and playland. And it certainly isn't all "medieval," though there's plenty of that. It's absolutely impenetrable without a car, though

I agree with French Mystique Tours. You really need to hit the guidebooks and internet and sort out what part(s) of France intrigue you. They are all unique and very different from one another.