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France in July or August?

Posted by on

Hi,

We’re planning a 2 1/2 to 3 week family trip to France for next summer, visiting the Loire valley, Burgundy, and the French Alps. Our intention is to rent a car and stay at a gite in each of these regions. We have two windows in which to travel, and are having trouble deciding which would be the best. One option is leave at the end of June and stay through mid July, and the other is to leave in mid August and stay into early September. It’s my understanding that most gites require full week rentals during July, but is this the case in late August and early September? We will probably want to spend a little more time in Burgundy and a little less time in the Alps, so some flexibility in rental periods would be useful. Are rentals generally cheaper later in the season as well? On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, if August is a big vacation period for the French will availability be more of a problem then? And will the second half of August be a problem in terms of shops and restaurants being closed, especially since we’ll be focused on small towns and villages rather than larger cities. (we’ll probably cook many of our own meals, but it would be nice to dine out now and then).

Thanks!

Posted by
2916 posts

If you haven't already done so, you might want to take a look at the Gites de France web site (https://www.gites-de-france.com/en). We've been renting gites in France for decades, usually through GDF. Besides finding gites through that site, it should be helpful to give you an idea when rates go down, as well as when rentals are only for full weeks. When we started renting gites, pretty much everything was by the week. Now, partial week rental is very common, but probably not during the summer. We've never gone during the summer, so I never paid attention to that.

Posted by
10625 posts

August 15th is when the French vacation period just begins to start winding down for families in order to get children ready for school which starts in early September. However, a lot of adult European tourists will be around. Since it’s the second half of August, that’s what I would choose. Shops and restaurants will be open.

Posted by
7303 posts

I am of the opposite opinion because August is becoming significantly busier than July in French tourist hotspots, and the peak only really starts after 14th July in most places.
Also, the days are significantly longer, which is very pleasant, and late August can get quite stormy in the Alps.
I would say that the requirements for week-long stays will be similar in early July and in late August. I can't see why it would be different. But some places might be willing to agree to a shorter booking if you contact them.

Posted by
11 posts

This is great information. I was originally leaning towards July simply because it would allow us to be a bit more flexible with dates, and if there is likely to be little difference between then and late August then it may be better to stick with that. Plus, the fact that days are longer would also be nice.

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