I'm driving down to the South of France at the end of the month and have decided to do a couple of overnight stops on both legs. Just looking for some remommendations for places to visit. I havent looked at a route yet. Thanks

I stumbled on, and loved, Nîmes. Beautiful little city.

The Tarn region. Beautiful.

Where are you crossing?
Are you banging on, on autoroutes or touring?

Tours is halfway-ish. Beautiful city.

My favourite French town is Bayonne, not everyone's cup of tea though.

piston broke wrote:Where are you crossing?
Are you banging on, on autoroutes or touring?

Nothing set in stone but auto routes for the majority i guess

Avoid Paris at all costs. We always drop into the south via Picardy and Normandy.

Provence is great
Nice is a beautiful city
Within an hour or two from Nice loads of little villages which are fantastic- we were near Gorge de Verdon which is spectacular

HollandsPies wrote:Tours is halfway-ish. Beautiful city.

Looks superb. That's in, thanks

Troyes is awesome if you like medieval timber frame buildings

Rumbletonk wrote:Nothing set in stone but auto routes for the majority i guess

Tunnel is usually cheapest and quickest. Then onwards to Reims, (Champagne region) for an overnight stop. It's less than 3 hours from Calais so very driveable on day 1.
Then onwards with any of the following being well worth a stop. Troyes, Dijon, Lyon, Orange, Avignon and Nimes.
Lyon is a bit busy with traffic, but a magnificent city (if you like cities). The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[If you're not a frequent traveller to France, then ensure that you are up to date with the current driving regs. Make sure your yellow high vis jackets are inside the car - not in the boot, and if you are stopped by the police and asked to get out make sure you put your jacket on first otherwise you are technically committing an offence].
I'm sure you'll have a great time though. Driving is a great pleasure in France.

Driving in France this is worth a read.
https://www.drive-france.com/checklist/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

nil_desperandum wrote:Tunnel is usually cheapest and quickest. Then onwards to Reims, (Champagne region) for an overnight stop. It's less than 3 hours from Calais so very driveable on day 1.
Then onwards with any of the following being well worth a stop. Troyes, Dijon, Lyon, Orange, Avignon and Nimes.
Lyon is a bit busy with traffic, but a magnificent city (if you like cities). The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[If you're not a frequent traveller to France, then ensure that you are up to date with the current driving regs. Make sure your yellow high vis jackets are inside the car - not in the boot, and if you are stopped by the police and asked to get out make sure you put your jacket on first otherwise you are technically committing an offence].
I'm sure you'll have a great time though. Driving is a great pleasure in France.

Appreciate the advice, thanks.

Orange is worth considering. There's an Ibis hotel just off the motorway there and the Roman amphitheatre is well worth a visit.

I've visited many places in the world but Lourdes at the foot of the Pyrenees is by far and away the best for me.

You get extra heart beats when you walk through the gates to the wonderful Churches and Basilicas and the Grotto.

Hotel Panorama. Beautiful and welcoming.

Leisure wrote:Orange is worth considering. There's an Ibis hotel just off the motorway there and the Roman amphitheatre is well worth a visit.

Is it a Wetherspoons Roman amphitheatre?

Orb valleys stunning when I flew to bezier I explored some of surrounding scenery.

Use Hotel F1.. Basic but cheap.

I’m setting off Thursday morning for 3 weeks in St Tropez. As we have a 9 month old baby we are taking our time. First night in Dover, sail over Friday to Dunkirk. Friday night in Reims. Then we usually try and stay somewhere different a few hours away from the riviera. This time a little town called Pont-saint-esprit.
Coming back, Dijon then Lille and a stop over somewhere in the south of England.
Usually do two stopovers but with the little one thought it would be a bit of a push.

I used to love riding through France on my way to Portugal on my almost annual trip before I moved away from Britain. Since then, 2011, I haven't set foot in the place. It's my only regret regarding leaving England.

I stayed in so many places, but seeing as I was riding solo, cheap accommodation was important. Alencon was fun. I stayed in a couple of the small hotels near the station. Hotel De La Gare being one, not surprisingly. Poitiers was okay. Tours is nice. In the 90s there were any number of Les Routieres places with dirt cheap rooms and great restaurants, also dirt cheap. Real truck stops. Sadly, one by one, they've closed down. Spain is still good for bargain rooms, but that's a different story.

Have fun.

thatdberight wrote:I stumbled on, and loved, Nîmes. Beautiful little city.

Agree Nimes is a nice little place to visit.
Enjoy Cassis on the south coast too.

Another big like for Nimes.
Monaco and Antibes are wonderful on the Cote d’Azur.

Beaune, Burgundy's jewel...en route to the sun and worth stopping for the town and the wine!

Oradour-Sur-Glane is well worth a visit. It’s about 10 miles to the North West of Limoges.

Phathanded wrote:I’m setting off Thursday morning for 3 weeks in St Tropez. As we have a 9 month old baby we are taking our time. First night in Dover, sail over Friday to Dunkirk. Friday night in Reims. Then we usually try and stay somewhere different a few hours away from the riviera. This time a little town called Pont-saint-esprit.
Coming back, Dijon then Lille and a stop over somewhere in the south of England.
Usually do two stopovers but with the little one thought it would be a bit of a push.

Say hello to Jean Roch!

Have to recommend Montpellier. Genuinely one of the prettiest and most French little cities you'll find.

Although Montpellier doesn't have an amphitheatre but it's far better than Nimes. Nicer bars, better restaurants, better architecture (ampitheatre aside) and far far better nightlife.

Come to Montpellier. I'll give you a discount if you walk into my bar with a Burnley shirt on.

Rowls wrote:Have to recommend Montpellier. Genuinely one of the prettiest and most French little cities you'll find.

Although Montpellier doesn't have an amphitheatre but it's far better than Nimes. Nicer bars, better restaurants, better architecture (ampitheatre aside) and far far better nightlife.

Come to Montpellier. I'll give you a discount if you walk into my bar with a Burnley shirt on.

Send me a link to the bar Rowls. No promises but if I can squeeze in a visit I will. We'll have to pretend its a coincidence to Mrs Rumble rather than changing our whole route to fit in a beer with an exiled Claret

Rowls wrote:Have to recommend Montpellier. Genuinely one of the prettiest and most French little cities you'll find.

Although Montpellier doesn't have an amphitheatre but it's far better than Nimes. Nicer bars, better restaurants, better architecture (ampitheatre aside) and far far better nightlife.

Come to Montpellier. I'll give you a discount if you walk into my bar with a Burnley shirt on.

I think we're stopping for lunch in Montpellier today

I have stopped in Clermont-Ferrand and Le Puy-en-velay (where the lentils originate allegedly!) on recent tour de France holidays. I was in my campervan so can't recommend any accommodation, but those were two fantastic places to visit, very welcoming people too. I've not been disappointed with anywhere in the central massif to be honest, lovely area, definitely worth a stopover.

I can only echo the driving info, have a read up on it, I ended up getting an emissions sticker which covered a few cities. I can't remember which cities it applies to but Paris and Lyon were definitely two of them.

The area around Nice is lovely. We stayed on a camp site near a small town called Frejus. Beautiful part of the world.

Nice is great. Reminded me of an english resort from the 50s.

Mrs wants to go to france by train again soon. so looking at marseille or montpellier.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:Nice is great. Reminded me of an english resort from the 50s.

Mrs wants to go to france by train again soon. so looking at marseille or montpellier.

Yes, pretty certain it was designed as an old Victorian Seaside Town. Promenade des Anglais runs along the front. No pier though

Didn’t particularly like Marseilles. Felt quite scruffy and a little intimidating. Maybe just visited the wrong places?
If you are in the area though, a trip to Monte Carlo is a must. Amazing place!

1968claret wrote:Yes, pretty certain it was designed as an old Victorian Seaside Town. Promenade des Anglais runs along the front. No pier though

Didn’t particularly like Marseilles. Felt quite scruffy and a little intimidating. Maybe just visited the wrong places?
If you are in the area though, a trip to Monte Carlo is a must. Amazing place!

Done all three before. Loved monaco too.

Marseille is very rough and ready. But would love to visit again. Mrs hasnt been but has done the others.