Southern France 2019 summer family trip

The itinerary you've outlined sounds wonderful!

It's impossible to predict exactly what the weather will be like, but you should plan on a certain amount of rain and bring layers of clothing to adjust to hotter / cooler temperatures. If you're interested in weather science, the Weather Underground website gives searchable temperature histories for various locations.

Toulouse and Annecy were miserably hot last June. I was in Avignon and Arles in late May, at which point they hadn't yet reached "intolerable" on the misery scale.

Summer average temperatures in Lyon are about 1 degree cooler than in Toulouse; it didn't feel quite as hot there, so I think the weather changed in my favor.

I'd suggest tweaking the itinerary to allow some time actually up in either the French Alps or the Pyrenees. This is assuming folks with Dordogne experience cannot report something encouraging about summer weather in that area. I've never been there.

I think I'd recommend 4 nights in Lyon; there's a lot to see there, and your first day won't be very productive.

Thanks for those ideas...so maybe we can leave out annecy and Lyon. We could fly to marseilles and come back from Bordeaux....

Well, I hope you're not a spelling teacher...

Seriously, I used to live in Lyon and have visited Marseille a few times for work and leisure, and I would definitely recommend Lyon over Marseille. Don't get me wrong: Marseille has plenty to see and do and can be interesting as well. But with the ages of your children, I think Lyon would be a better choice.

I'm not a fan of Annecy, but having lived around Lake Tahoe in the past perhaps I'm somewhat benumbed to pretty lakes with mountains.

If you reconsider Lyon, feel free to send me a private message and I'll do some thinking about activities younger children such as yours might enjoy. Coming from Montreal, I assume you all speak French, which should lead to an enriched experience for you in France.

As for the heat, it just depends on if you arrive during a heat wave. It can be pleasant, or it can be very warm. One can't really predict that far ahead, so the best thing to do is to not worry about it but keep track of the weather forecasts as your departure date approaches (consider Météo France's website) and if extreme heat is predicted during your visit (with nearly a month's visit during the summer, it's likely you'll see at least a brief heatwave), just consider leaving some of the warmer clothes and bringing more of the cooler ones.

Sounds like a great trip. Your kids are going to love it!

Thanks for that answer and sorry for my bad english. Le français est ma langue habituelle.