Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

Toulouse to Annecy -- Need help with itinerary

Posted by (California) on

My head is swimming! I've been reading post after post and trying to cobble together a route and plan of how to spend 3-4 days or so driving from Toulouse to Annecy, stopping to see things along the way, staying overnight, etc. We need more like three months! Any and all suggestions are welcome and much appreciated. Some details:

*We are a family of four, including two boys ages 12 and 16.
*Trip will be in mid-June.
*We will have a car (I think? Also open to trains, but like the freedom and mobility of the car). Scenic drives are a plus.
*Hoping for a mix of activities that will appeal to (or at least be tolerated by) an enthusiastic, curious 16 year old and a reluctant 12 year old traveler (impossible, I know!). So, perhaps some natural beauty, a beach?, quaint towns, quirky/off the beaten track stuff, easy e-bike rides, history, castles, hiking, art).
*Visiting friends in Toulouse, so that is our starting point. Visiting friends in Geneva, hence Annecy as our ending point.

My very loose thoughts about this so far go something like this:
Leave Toulouse early and head to Carcassone. Spend a few hours exploring there. Drive on to Pezenas and have lunch there. Continue to Sete and spend the night there. Or, keep going further? Aix-en-Provence?

I was thinking it would be nice to go to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Looks gorgeous. Also, perhaps Grotte des Demoiselles? Thought the boys might like that.

And then there's always Avignon, Arles. Or, possible take advantage of having the car to visit smaller villages: Vaison-la-Romaine, etc.

As you can see, I have no idea what I'm doing! I know the more specific my questions, the easier it is to get helpful answers, but I feel I don't even know enough about the region to know what to ask. Thanks so much for your help

Posted by
2916 posts

Your suggested start to Carcassone then Pezenas is good; although I didn't like Carcassone, many people do. Then I'd suggest stopping in Sete for the night. It's really a charming little city. From there you can drive to Moustier and spend the 2d night. We spent a week in Moustier and loved it. After that, you could either drive to Annecy with a stop or 2, or drive to Vaison la Romaine and spend a night, or just spend half a day in Vaison and stay somewhere a little further. Grenoble might be worth a stop, although the traffic there is pretty horrendous, which could cost you a lot of time.

Posted by
18 posts

Thanks, Robert. That's really helpful. Curious what you didn't like about Carcassonne. People seem pretty divided on whether they enjoyed it or not. I'm not wedded to that idea. Any recommendation for where to stay in Moustiers? and/or Sete?

Posted by
4132 posts

Your boys may not care, but mid day is the worst time to see Carcassonne. That time of day it is the worst kind of tourist trap. it has a different personality once the tour buses leave.

I think that is why many people dislike it, and why Rick's advice is to get of out town that time of day.

I realize your time is short, so maybe spending the night is not an option. If if you had the time, I'd suggest that.

Alternatively, how about some real ruined castles? Not for the phobic of heights, the Hautes Corbieres on the way to the coast are pretty cool. You could stay in Perpignan or Coulliore.

Posted by
18 posts

Agreed about mid-day. We are planning to leave Toulouse bright and early, putting us in Carcassonne by 9:30. Hoping we will avoid the hordes that way. But your point is well taken. I’ll check out the places you suggested. Thank you!

Posted by
4132 posts

I have to admit that my suggestions do not get you any closer to Annecy at end of day versus spending a night in Carcassonne (which you do not want to do for reasons of time). So maybe your original plan is best.

Your boys and the grownups might like some of the grand Roman antiquities in Provence, such as the Pont du Garde and the Roman theater in Orange. I'd go for those over Aix at any rate.

Posted by
2916 posts

Curious what you didn't like about Carcassonne.

I thought it was mostly a tourist trap, and my dislike was cemented by the lunch we ate there, which was one of the worst meals I've ever had in France.
I agree with another poster about Albi. Maybe you could skip Carcassone, stop in Albi. then head to Sete to stay the night. As to where we stayed in Sete, I believe it was L'Orque Bleu. It's right on the canal, and we stayed there twice and loved it.
Edit: I left out Moustiers. We stayed at an apartment for a week, so I can't recommend any hotels. But I seem to remember there were several. And Moustiers really is beautiful.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.