Driving to France & French Holiday Villa recommendations.. Post Reply

[Ceecee1972]

Hi,

We are considering avoiding the nightmare (and cost) of flying with small children (5 & 3) by driving to our, as yet unknown, holiday destintaion.

We were thinking South of France? Has anybody done this and can share their experience and perhaps recommend locations / villas?

Thanks!

[sezwedz]

Hello,
We stayed here last year and have just booked again for May. It was as relaxing as a holiday gets with children. Our children are about the same age as yours and met many great friends onsite. It's fully fenced, swimming pool, soft play area, outdoor playground, trampoline, bikes, chickens and rabbits to feed. It has a onsite bar which you can you use once the kids go down (they provide baby monitors). Leslie the owner is also a brilliant cook who will do your meals for you if you want but each gite has it's own bbq area and full kitchen. Lovely beaches about 20 mins away and surrounded by a few lovely small towns. Thouroughly recommend it. Good luck booking somewhere.
http://www.yourfrenchgite.com/

[nessbt]

Hiya

The above recommendation looks great but you are looking at the South of France my parents own a flat in the cote de provence region. There is a beach opposite and great views of the sea from the appartment. There is a swimming pool, tennis courts etc and you can take a boat ride over to St Tropez. Have a look at the website as I know he has some availability still in the season...www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/mikebadham

We love it and have taken my 15 month old before. The only thing you have to consider is that there are some steps up to the flat and you will need to hire a car from Nice airport. We always use Easyjet as best value.

Hope you have a good holiday!

[sgarnier]

Hi,

One of the best French websites for renting a house is homelidays.com. There are plenty of photos of the houses and you can read recommendations from previous tenants.

Avoid a website/Estate agent named Charming houses.

Hope it helps.

Sybille

[The holiday planner]

Hi,
The South of France is lovely but it is quite a long drive! Another beautiful area of France is the Charente Maritime region in western France which is not such a long drive and has lots to offer, even it's own micro-climate which makes it the 2nd sunniest region in France!
I have recently set up my own business to help people plan their holidays and to save money by booking direct. I specialise in family holidays to France, Spain and Italy and have lots of family friendly accommodation suggestions for all over France. If you could think that I could be of assistance to you, please have a look at my website for more information - www.the-holiday-planner.co.uk

[livieb]

www.provencemagique.com

highly recommended

[emsken]

http://www.simplychateau.com/

Speak to Ravi..he will find you somewhere perfect!

[lalectrice]

My mum lets our family's two properties (both with pools, each sleeping 6) as well as managing the letting for a further fifteen or so, all in the Var (i.e. Provence/Riviera, about 35 min drive from Cannes - the nearest town to our villas is Fayence). The houses are beautiful and reasonably priced.

It's a stunning area (think sun-soaked medieval hilltop villages and fabulous wine) with loads for families to do, from activities round the huge Lac St Cassien to days on the beach to hill walking, biking, horse riding etc. Needless to say, the restaurants are superb and there are plenty of vineyards to try a degustation at! We drove down France to holiday in the region as children and now take our own kids there.

If you'd like photos and further details, email Mary Senechal on auriou44@aol.com