guanciale

Hi Fodorites, our family of four (2 kids 12 and 9) is planning to spend two weeks next June/July in Paris and a beach town, possible on the Adriatic. Since my husband and I have been to the areas around Nice, and we've been to Italian Riviera, we would like to visit a new destination. However, I realize it may be a huge stretch to try to make it all the way to Adriatic/northern Italy (probably an overnight in Lucerne or Zurich?). We're also interested in Salzburg, so thought about taking a train/car from Paris to Salzburg, then down to Adriatic, but that would be even a longer stretch. We'd ideally like to spend 5 nights in Paris and about the same in the second destination, with just a a few nights in between for commuting. Has anyone done this route efficiently, and have a quaint beach town to recommend (probably around Rimini, but I think that gets very busy)? Alternatively, if this ends up looking like it's going to take too much time in transportation, we would like to look at another area of southern France besides Cassis, or Nice/Antibes/Cannes area. Thanks for any help!

hetismij

How about the Atlantic coast of France?

guanciale

I thought of that briefly, but am not familiar with the various towns there. If you have any specific suggestions, I'd love to hear them, or if anyone has had experience elsewhere in southern France or Adriatic coastal towns, would love to hear that too! Thanks again.

PalenQ

I'd investigate the water quality of the Rimini Adriatic area - heard reports of problems - kids will want to swim i think.

Now i'm not sure but i'd say to check. Red tide or some such stuff.

hetismij

Sadly I have never been, but I understand it is lovely there - long white beaches, and because it is the Atlantic the water is cleaner than the Med/Adriatic too. A friend goes every year, mostly to the Ile d'Oleron I think. It is very popular so you would need to book early if you wanted to go in July.
Otherwise consider Brittany, lots to see and do though the weather is less reliable, but I am sure your kids would enjoy it.

travelbunny

re Atlantic cooast of France. The area near La Rochelle is lovely but VERY touristy in July August (esp August). The Ile de Re is very nice..again a zoo in summer. You might want to plan to go in June to beat the crowds if you choose the Atlantic.

StCirq

If you're interested in the Atlantic coast of France, I'd go far south, to the Bayeux/Biarritz/St-Jean-de-Luz area. St JdL in particular is a wonderful oceanside town.

La Rochelle is lovely, but the beaches there are like big mud flats where you have to walk out a half mile to really swim. The Ile de Ré is gorgeous (looks a lot like a Greek island with whitewashed houses and bougainvillea everywhere), but same deal with the beaches.

The Ile d'Oléron is interesting, but WAY less attractive than the Ile de Ré, and the traffic going out and back to it on the one and only highway/bridge is insane in mid-summer.

And there's nothing much between La Rochelle and the far south that's terribly interesting, at least along the coast. Arcachon has a decent beach, but all the ones north and south of it are pretty tacky.

PalenQ

Arachon may be a good bet - a few miles from it is what i think is Europe's largest sand dune - the Dun de Pylat (sp?) which is huge and your kids may have fun tumbling down and below it a fine vast sandy beach.

Arachon is an atypical seaside resort town in that it also has antique charm - an active fishing industry and more character to me than the typical 'front de mer' as they in France seem to call the usual blah high-rise flats in many resorts.

And it's fairly close to the Dordogne area in case you want to vary your trip a bit or the Bordeaux wine area around St-Emilion.

guanciale

Thank you all very much! These towns do look very interesting and beautiful. Hmmm...now another direction to ponder.