My husband, 11 year old daughter and myself will be traveling to France the last week of March. We are going to skip Paris entirely.....we have been a few times. I am looking for any suggestions from Le Mans to Colmar and anywhere south for our family. We don't mind driving and I will book hotels once we figure out our itinerary. I was more reaching out to this wonderful community to seek advise on places and things to do that would keep the interest of an 11 year but also us adults. We love the charm of small towns but understand that more sight seeing opportunities will be in bigger cities. I have purchased the latest France book from Rick so that will be helpful to us as well as we plan. Thanks in advance for taking the time to make suggestions.
Posted by
France Southwest
1819 posts
from Le Mans to Colmar and anywhere south
What do you mean?
Le Mans is to the west of Paris and Colmar to the east, and anywhere south is approximately 75% of France (up to the Spanish and Italian borders)
more sight seeing opportunities will be in bigger cities
Certainly not.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10226 posts
How long will you be in France?
Posted by
OP
Port Tobacco, MD, USA
4 posts
We will be in France for 9 days
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
646 posts
Amber,
Although I love all of France, I especially love Brittany, Provence, and the Dordogne/Lot /Vizerevalleys. Last year we spent 10 days in the Dordogne (seven people, three generations- from 80 years old to 9 years old) and loved it! There were lots of different things to do and the young ones truly enjoyed it. Prehistoric caves, kayaking (maybe not in March), castles, markets, medieval historic places to visit, drop-dead scenery, delicious food, wineries, walnut orchards and farms to tour....so much variety!
(As you can see, I should work for their tourist bureau.) We rented a gite (house), had a car and enjoyed a peaceful and satisfying holiday. You might find this a good place to go. You can fly, or go by TGV from CDG or Gare Montparnasse (2 1/4 hours) to Bordeaux, pick up a car and drive about 3-3 1/2 hours on D (non-autoroute) roads to your choice of towns or villages to stay in. Reverse this to go home. Some of us took the TGV to Paris, then CDG. Others had connecting flights from Bordeaux to the flight home.
The variety of activities is what sold us on the area and we are so glad we went there!
Whatever you choose, amusez-vous bien et bon voyage!
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10226 posts
Is that 9 days or 9 nights? Are you flying in and out of Paris? In reality that’s not very much time, so I would try to keep places geographically close, such as the Loire Valley and Brittany, or the Alsace (Colmar, etc.) and Burgundy. You could even consider Provence and the Riviera or Bordeaux and the Dordogne region. It would be a bit far to drive to those from Paris, but you could take the train there and pick up a car.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9420 posts
I’ve traveled all over France all my life and i love it all. My favorite trip was Provence. We stayed in St Rémy-de-Provence, the most charming town in France imo, had a rental car, and drove to many towns and cities within an hour drive. St Rémy has a lot going for it, lots of fun shops, places to eat, a great marché, enough for a whole day of exploring and enjoying. We stayed in a very nice, but not expensive, hotel called Hotel du Soleil, in town. They have a nice pool, lounge chairs, free pkng, and the best buffet breakfast included in the price.
If it were me, with your short amount of time, i’d stay in St Rémy and do day trips from there.