emchuxy

My girlfriend and I are in our late 20s and planned to travel for several weeks in Europe this coming September, but our work schedules have shifted our plan to be about 10 days in early/mid August instead. We had originally been thinking of spending time in either Western Germany or Croatia but recently have been leaning toward the SW of France.

I understand that August in France, particularly in the Riviera (as compared to Paris), can be uncomfortably hot and crowded. To what extent is that true for Carcasonne, Avignon, the Pyrenees, Bordeaux, and/or the non-seaside towns? We are looking to spend time in the outdoors (whether hiking or sightseeing), see the Gallic and Roman history in the area, and enjoy the fine food and wine, but we have near-complete flexibility in our ultimate choice of destination.

Can we have a leisurely vacation in those areas of France without being overwhelmed by other tourists? Or should we wait to visit France during a better time in the future, and if so, any recommendations for an August trip elsewhere in Europe considering our options and preferences?

StCirq

I live in the Périgord, in SW France, and yes, it's usually hot, humid, and ridiculously crowded here in August. Carcassonne is almost always overrun. Bordeaux is hot and crowded in August. Avignon, which isn't in the SW of France, is also a hotbed of tourism in August. I haven't been in the Pyrenées for awhile and suspect it wouldn't be quite so bad there, but it will certainly be more crowded than at other times of year.

If your intention is to avoid crowds and heat, then obviously August is not the right choice. Next August we will probably skip town and head to Iceland, South America, or India.

traveller1959

Since the big factories of Paris close in August, all France vacations in August. So, as StCirq says, it is crowded in the main areas of mass tourism. And also hot.

The are a few areas which are milder and not crowded although August in high season everywhere in Europe.

We had been several times to the Côte d'Argent in Southwestern France (the 220-km-long silver beach between the Gironde and Biarritz) in August and never found it too hot, partly thanks to the ever-blowing wind and the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

There is not too much of Gallic and Roman history in this part of France, but in the hinterland, there are a few historic towns (Perigieux has a fantastic cathedral), the Pyrenees (better on the Spanish side), the wineries of Bordeaux and some fantastic scenery, including the Dune of Pylat and the Bay of Arcachon.

Another option: Brittany

Since one of our sons had to recover from pneumonia, we spent a couple of summers in Brittany. It never ever gets hot in Brittany and I remember that often we jumped into the Atlantic to warm up (at the northern Brittany shores, the Atlantic has a constant temperature of 17° Celsius in August). It also often rains in Brittany and then expect it to rain for three days without interruption and horizontally (umbrellas are useless, but they sell world's best raingear there).

However, we loved it there and returned several times. Brittany is full of celtic history, has picturesque villages, fishing ports, castles, prehistoric megaliths and tombs and rugged coastal scenery.

Third option: Alpes

The Route des Grandes Alpes is a fantastic high-mountain road. It is open only for three or four months per year and of course, August is a good month to drive there. You drive this road in stages, but a few villages are worth staying there for a couple of days for hiking, rafting etc. I found Guillestre very attractive as a base. The Alps will not be crowded but be prepare to find zillions of bicyclists on the mountain roads.

Fourth option: Northern Spain

You may combine Southwest France with Northern Spain. There, it also never gets really hot due to the Atlantic. You will find dramatic coastline (similar to that along highway number one in California), mountains in the hinterland, splendid cities like Santander and Donostia, the Gehry-built Museum in Bilbao, picturesque villages and excellent, very inexpensive food (including Michelin-star awarded restaurants for a quarter of the price you would pay in France for the same quality).

You may do a daytrip to the wine region of Rioja - but there you will learn what heat is - and how fast climate can change during a one-hour drive!

StCirq

Périgueux actually has a wealth of Gallo-Roman treasures - Vesunna chief among them. It's not a city that cries out to tourists, however (though those who do go and spend time discovering it will reap rewards).

Mimar

To the OP, are you planning on renting a car? Because a lot of your options and a lot of the suggestions are better seen by car.

I would want a car for Brittany. You can combine it with Normandy, especially the WWII sites, and Mont-st.-Michel. But the latter will be very crowded in August.

Avignon is the main city in what we call Provence, the southeast interior of France (as opposed to the French Riviera along the coast). It too is best seen by car and a popular place in the summer. Montpellier is supposed to be a nice town and may be not so busy in the summer.

You could get away without a car in Germany and take buses and boats in Croatia.

kerouac

Traveller1959, are you still living in 1959? The days when French factories closed in August are long gone. And French vacations changed completely when 5 weeks became the minimum and on top of that there are all of the "RTT" compensatory days due to the 35-hour work week. (This is because just about everybody still works 39-40 hours a week but must be compensated because of the law.) So most of the French rarely go anywhere for more than 2 weeks, 3 weeks max, but they do it two or three times a year in different seasons.

August is generally less crowded than July now (since the southern crowding is more due to northern Europeans rather than the French), so you should be fine.

I particularly like Hossegor on the Atlantic coast -- both the surf and the Australian capital of France -- and for something totally different, last year I discovered the gorges of Kakuetta in the Pyrénées.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...f-kakuetta.cfm

Cathinjoetown

We lived southwest of Toulouse for 6 1/2 years. It can get very hot but only rarely humid. We were in Haute Garonne, beautiful views of the Pyrénées and rolling countryside. You could have your fill of hikes around St. Gaudens and St. Girons in the Ariège, the adjoining départment.

St. Girons is noted for a great Saturday market, a tiny but informative Resistance museum and for the hiking trails used by the Resistance during WWII to get people over the border to Spain. Further on about 30 minutes' drive is Foix with one of the few (or perhaps only) Cathar fortresses which didn't fall during the crusades.

Lots of little gems everywhere, you have to seek them out. A car would be, if not essential, highly desirable.

The area is busy in August but there is no huge concentration of tourists as on the Côte d'Azur or in Provence. Rarely anything resembling a traffic jam on the D roads, but try to avoid the auturoutes on Saturdays.

There aren't many hotels of note but if you are interested in the area I know several good gîtes and chambres d'hôtes. August books up early.

emchuxy

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses.

To provide more information, we are considering (and comfortable with) renting a car, although I may need to hone my manual driving skills. We really have no need to do most of the typical tourist sites, and judging from your comments it seems that we can avoid them without sacrificing anything too dear in terms of experiencing French culture. We would be perfectly happy driving from one small town to another every few days - we would love to build our trip around those hidden gems Cathin referred to if you have any further recommendations.

sheila

I agree with Cathie. I can see how the Perigord would be humid, but it's not like that closer to the mountains. It CAN be hot, but if you go up, not so much. If the weather is good, there are likely to be afternoon storms, but they are brief.

There are some wonderful Roman ruins- Montmaurain, St Bertrand de Comminges and St Just, to name a few.

It will be much busier than at other times of the year, but in the mountains that's not a big deal. Masses of [places to walk- all sorts of levels of skills/ difficulty.