We have an opportunity to spend two weeks in Perpignan in September. I've read some mixed reviews and would appreciate your thoughts on Perpignan as a destination?

Thanks in advance,
Boots

I'm curious. What was mixed about the reviews? Is Perpignan in competition with another destination for you? I spent a week there and in addition to Perpignan, enjoyed trips to Ceret for the cherry festival and the great art museum, Prades for the abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa which became "The cloisters," in NYC and Collioure for its loveliness. Restricted by transit options of bus and train I was unable to get to other places in the mountains. Natural beauty a plenty. Spanish influence from the long history of its Catalonian past and the immigration of Spanish refugees during and after the Spanish civil war. All in all, a very interesting part of France. After all, Salvador Dali pronounced the Perpignan train station the center of the world.

Good location if you like the sea (the nearest beach is 6 miles away), the Pyrenees (Little Yellow Train), the Cathar castles, abbeys and Roman chapels. International photography festival (VISA International during the first two weeks of September. Spain half an hour drive.
I live in Perpignan. If you care to let me know in which area your home exchange is located, I'll tell you if it is a nice part of town.

Thanks Envierges.

When I did a search, this post had stood out to me-

>>Marko on Aug 4, 10 at 5:46pm
Half day trip to Perpignan, its a gritty sort of place not all that pleasant ( they do have a very good Rugby side though !), a quick wander around was all we needed.

Also-

>>I would bypass Perpignan and enjoy Collioure.

>>I'm also hearing the suggestion that Collioure is a worthwhile visit, but skip Perpignon and head further down the coast for a better daytrip.

For a city of that size I didn't find a lot of posts hailing it as a desirable stand alone destination.

I'm hoping I got the wrong impression and that it is more than just a good base to explore from.

Thank you Pvoyageuse - we haven't gotten far enough in the conversation to ask for the location yet. We want to make sure we liked the destination in general before proceeding.

The description (translated by Google) says "Our apartment is in the heart of the historic town, surrounded by beautiful buildings and beautiful shops"

and

"Our apartment is on the first floor of an old building in the heart of the pedestrian area, near the Saint Jean Cathedral. It is surrounded by all the necessary shops and also offers access to the best restaurants and most enjoyable terrasses."

Oh I just checked the map and it shows these as nearby:

Rue de l'Argenterie
Croix Rouge Francaise
Restaurant l'Art Scene
Cathy Lair
Supermarket Carrefour City
Perpignan Argenterie

There is a part of me that simply likes to travel anywhere, it feels like an adventure, and to spent two weeks living in another country in a town that it is not a mega-tourist destination can be interesting, especially if you are interested in the overall culture of the country and Europe.

But another part of me can be very fussy about where I choose to go if I have only one opportunity to travel for a while. Having been to Perpignan to see its castle, and having explored the surrounding immediate area of beaches and low hills, it didn't strike me as someplace I would choose for a two-week European holiday. Perhaps I missed the best of the historic center & I didn't eat a meal there, but in general I found the area not tremendously rewarding. And the few points of interest have been discovered by tourists and really stick out as touristy in the negative sense. I wouldn't return to Collioure in the tourist season, or probably ever. Undertouristed areas closer to the Spanish border and over it were more interesting. The most rewarding attractions in that area are up in the high mountain peaks.

Want to correct my post to say I went to Perpignan to see the palace, not the castle. ( It was more than 10 years ago.)

Here are some links with detailed recent information about the city if you haven't seen them already.

http://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/La.../perpignan.php

http://www.48houradventure.com/2011/...-in-perpignan/

We've visited Perpignan several times - most recently in 2015. We did three half-day trips to Perpignan & had dinner there twice. We actually stayed outside of Prerpignan near the town of Ceret for 2 weeks in 2004, and visited Perpignan as a day trip from Carcassonne in 2015. I didn't think it was gritty at all. We really enjoyed Perpignan because it was not overly touristy and more of a place where you experience "normal daily life". We were busy every day for our 2 weeks visit in 2004. We took a train to Barcelona for a quick overnighter. We also drove to Gerona and the Costa Brava in Spain, explored the Pyrenees, did a day trip to Carcassone, visited several Cathars castles, Collioure, Banyuls, and enjoyed the Tet & Tech river areas. Very pretty area.

I developed a Languedoc itinerary which has a section about the Perpignan area. I've sent my various itineraries to over 6,000 people on Fodotrs. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. However, we depart for a month in France in about 4 hours - so you may have to wait until July to receive the itinerary.

Stu Dudley

Am taking you up on offer for itinerary - thank you Stu.

Thanks for those links frencharmoire - they were a bit more colorful than the wikipedia article on Perpignan.

Boots

Judging from the description, the apartment is located rue de l'Argenterie (which is where I used to live !) It is indeed in the historical center, the Croix Rouge building is a medieval palace. The only problem will be parking but there is a large underground parking place nearby.