South of France

[steveo]

Is it too gridlocked and expensive to visit these days?

Anyone know any hideaways in the hills or tourist lite beaches?

[Tradesman32]

Carcasonne. Fly direct from Stanstead with Ryanair. Lovely original old town. Huge wine region with lots of beautiful villages and also the canal du midi if you fancy a bit of cycling or hiring a boat.. 40 minute drive to the beach. Good base to start from.

If you only drink local french wine and eat local french bread you should be able to get by on ?5 a day!!!

[Nigello]

Sete, Pezenas, Beziers, Nimes are all very nice (even better with the accents etc. that I can't find on this keyboard).

[Alan Medic]

Probably depends on when you want to go. My frere was a few apartments in Cannes which is a nice town and of course a beach. Easy to get to from Nice Airport. He lives a bit inland in Mougins which is nice itself though I only know of a hotel there (budget but clean). It has a train station if you want to go to more remote areas.

I spent a few days in Carcassonne too but I didn't see much of the place apart from where we were staying and a sports centre. Easy to fly too though, as has been noted above.

If you're not stuck on France, I could mention places in the South of Spain.

[MrBen]

Tourist lite beaches...Avoid the Cote D'Azur and head West but on the Med coast. Ryanair to Perpignan then it's 20 mins by train to the Cote Vemeille and Argeles, Collioure and Banyuls. All those towns along there are worth a look and cheaper than Nice side. Even in summer a decent 3 star hotel is about 70 or 80 euros a night. Avoid August...May June and Sept or early October are great. You got taste Steveo.

[MrBen]

That end you have tumbling foothills down to the sea...hidden beaches and the scent of salt.

[BrandNewGuy]

Montpellier is a lively city and less than half an hour from the coast. Most of that south / southwest coast is far less packed and pricey than further east. Great food and wine too. Cheap flights to Montpellier with EasyJet - and Eurostar are soon to start direct (and pretty cheap) services to Avignon nearby.

[numbers]

The SW is my favourite part of France, fly to Beziers from Luton hire a car, preferably not a Citroen with a mind of its own, drive up into the hills. The village of La-Salvetat is lovely and the surrounding mountain scenery is breath-taking especially in late Summer with the scent of wild herbs and figs everywhere.

There is so much to do all around that area, sampling the wine in the vineyards of the Minervois, bit of local history taking in Cathar country and the Carcassonne, the Haut Languedoc and the Montagne Noire, between Montpellier and Toulouse.

Worth a visit to Roquefort and the cheese caverns, great walks to be had through the stunning Gorges d?H?ric passing through Olargues and plenty other beautiful places to stop for lunch. Definitely not too gridlocked or expensive. Plus the wine, the food...sigh.