Town Overnight near ?Toulose? ?Bourdeaux?

Posted by julia.hoover1 on 03/31/25 07:55 PM

My husband and I will be in France in May for 11 days, and part of it (probably ~3 days) will be spent visiting his sister in Sauviac 33430, a tiny town in the SW, about 2 hours NW of Toulouse, an hour SE of Bordeaux, 3 h NW of Carcassonne (which everyone has agreed we'd all like to visit). But we really do want to see Sauviac for many reasons - the area history and my SIL's home leading the list.

I have a ton of medical issues which makes staying with my sister in law impractical in case I need medical care quickly.

Our needs are for comfort and readily accessible food in the morning and around dinner, fresh is good.

Our likes are pretty accommodating - I love history, but from many eras. This is his first trip to France, so he'll be pretty wide-eyed and happy to see whatever.

I'd like to not have to drive two hours each way to see her if possible. So, does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

Posted by Stefan

04/02/25 01:57 AM

49 posts

Hi Julia,

If you love history, you should look at Saint-Emilion. It's very historical. Make sure you do the underground Saint-Emilion tour. Fair warning, the town can be a little pricey.

These resources will help you:

https://www.saint-emilion-tourisme.com/en/

https://sauvistication.com/where-to-stay-in-bordeaux/

Safe Travels,

Stefan

Posted by julia.hoover1 OP

04/29/25 10:24 PM

2 posts

Thank you very much, Stefan! Will do!

Posted by thenosbigs

Vancouver, Washington

04/30/25 01:45 AM

318 posts

Hi Julie,
Welcome to the forum. When you say, “need medical care quickly” I’m assuming you’re saying the need for a hospital. I believe your closest options for hospital care from Sauviac would be Toulouse, Pau or Lourdes. Lourdes is closer by about 20 minutes. These three cities are also going to be large enough to afford you readily accessible food early and late. I’m afraid closer towns to Sauviac are going to be more villages with sketchy restaurant times and a drive to medical facilities.

Toulouse is the big pink city, the ultimate “la vie en rose”, but a little seedy in places. Pau is set against a backdrop of the Pyrenees known for an expat community. Lourdes…well it’s Lourdes. I’ve never been but if any place is geared for tourists it’s got to here. And nobody would blame you a dip in the waters should you want to cover your bases. Some people swear by it.

Posted by dlindstrom

la rioja

04/30/25 07:13 AM

686 posts

There is a hospital in the town of Mont de Marsan, about halfway between Pau and Sauviac.
It is small, about 30,000 people, but it is the capital of the Landes department.

Posted by JoLui

France Southwest

04/30/25 02:41 PM

2873 posts

The Sauviac area near the Landes forest is very rural and not necessarily very interesting from a tourist point of view.

If you're looking for a place to stay without traveling too far, Mont de Marsan, the region's "capital," may indeed be an option.

https://en.montdemarsan-tourisme.com/mont-de-marsan-la-parenthese-inattendue-en/around/les-villages-de-lagglo-en/mont-de-marsan-en/

Not far from Sauviac, there's also Labastide-d'Armagnac, which is nice:

https://www.guide-des-landes.com/en/tourism/discover/towns-and-villages/labastide-d-armagnac-356/labastide-d-armagnac-1328.html

But if you want to visit Carcassonne, I would say the most obvious place along the way is Toulouse, the pink city.

https://www.toulouse-tourisme.com/en/

As for medical services, just search "Hopital" on Google Maps to get an idea of the main hospitals.

The vast majority of hospitals have an emergency department.

France currently has a significant shortage of doctors in many rural areas, which are considered "medical deserts."
It can take one to two weeks to get a simple doctor's appointment,more than three months for a dentist or ophthalmologist, and more than five months for a specialist.

In case of medical need outside of daytime hours or on weekends, there are 24/7 doctor and pharmacy services.
Just go to a pharmacy to get all the information you need. If the pharmacy is closed, there will be a sign on the door with the contact information of the local "on-call" pharmacy.

Especially in rural areas, the easiest way to get any kind of assistance is to call 112, the equivalent of 911 in the USA (operators are also expected to speak English).