SW France places to visit

[gotoPzero]

Heading to the area for several weeks. No plans, so looking at places to visit.
Never visited this part of France. Staying near Agen.

Cheap day trips and nice places to see, bearing in mind its January. Max drive ideally 3 hrs each way.

So far made a list of

Bordeaux
Lourdes
Pau
Perpignan

Maybe Millau but might be a bit far (nearly 4 hrs each way).

Anyone local got any tips? Will be in my Audi on summer tyres fwiw..

[Dal3D]

O/H (French) recommends;

Carcassonne - Medieval city - pretty
Albi - big cathedral, old
Cahors - if you like wine - pretty town on river
Pau - Entry to the Pyrenees - old town with castle

Basically, everywhere is nice she said

Edited by Dal3D on Monday 2nd January 22:06

[Pistonsquirter]

‘Condom’ isn’t far

In seriousness;
Monpazier (bastide walled town)
Chateaux Biron (big pretty chateaux)
Any of the scores of other pretty chateaux’ round those parts
Source; parents live by there

It’s also deep in wine country, bigtime..

[gotoPzero]

Excellent thanks. Any good markets?

Wine sounds good, not a wine drinker myself but I have already eyed a visit to Cognac.

Mrs will be keen on the wine stuff though.

[TvrJohn]

Lourdes is very disappointing

[gotoPzero]

TvrJohn said:

Lourdes is very disappointing

Irish wife.... :/

[smifffymoto]

Markets near Agen are plentiful,especially in Summer.

Issigeac on Sunday mornings is notable,Eymet on Thursday morning,the market is your typical market but it’s recommended because it has run non stop since 1270 and in Summer you will hear more English than French( plus I live there)

Dordogne has some of the best Châteaux in France so there is plenty to keep you occupied,plus some beautiful bastide towns and the obligatory canoeing down the river.

Edited by smifffymoto on Tuesday 3rd January 04:31

[Griffith4ever]

Pistonsquirter said:

‘Condom’ isn’t far

In seriousness;
Monpazier (bastide walled town)
Chateaux Biron (big pretty chateaux)
Any of the scores of other pretty chateaux’ round those parts
Source; parents live by there

It’s also deep in wine country, bigtime..

Yes to all of this. I got married near biron.

Do not miss out on Carcassonne!!!! Stay a day or two too.

[smifffymoto]

If you do go to Bordeaux ,the train is a brilliant way to do it.
The timetable is good on the Agen-Bordeaux line( stay in a cheap hotel for night) and use the excellent tram system.

[Simes205]

Biarritz, St Jean de Luz on the west coast have yet to be mentioned nor had Arcachon ( biggest sand dune in Europe)
The Med part is ok, we spend most of the summer there bug it will be shut this time of year.
Perpignon to Spain.

[omniflow]

Simes205 said:

Biarritz, St Jean de Luz on the west coast have yet to be mentioned nor had Arcachon ( biggest sand dune in Europe)
The Med part is ok, we spend most of the summer there bug it will be shut this time of year.
Perpignon to Spain.

Yup - it's possibly slightly over your 3 hr max, but Biarritz is fab.

Once you've committed yourself to that, then it's only a 30 minute hop to San Sebastian - which is quite definitely worth the extra 30 minutes - it's a fantastic place.

[Bill]

Pistonsquirter said:

‘Condom’ isn’t far

And is very pretty!

The Dune de Pila at Arcachon is spectacular and would be pretty lively in winter! Saint Emilion is stunning. Collioure is as well but med coast so a fair bit further.

Carcassonne is well worth it too.

[smifffymoto]

OP,you don’t specify when you are coming.

A lot of France and most tourist attractions shut out of season.

[gotoPzero]

smifffymoto said:

OP,you don’t specify when you are coming.

A lot of France and most tourist attractions shut out of season.

Setting off in a couple of days.

[nickfrog]

No one has mentionned Toulouse. Surprising. Far nicer than Bx, and a bit closer.

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 3rd January 13:55

[normalbloke]

Sarlat-la-Canéda is very pretty, and (IMHO) more interesting than Carcasonne,which we’ve done a few times and enjoyed.

[paulwirral]

normalbloke said:

Sarlat-la-Canéda is very pretty, and (IMHO) more interesting than Carcasonne,which we’ve done a few times and enjoyed.

I used to live 5 mins outside Sarlat , it has a large general market on Saturday and a smaller food one on Wednesday morning.
We used to holiday in biarritz and San Sebastián when we lived there .
As said earlier in the thread though , there may not actually be much open at the moment. I know most of the restaurants used to close in sarlat out of season and it could become a ghost town at times .

[President Merkin]

Bill said:

And is very pretty!

The Dune de Pila at Arcachon is spectacular and would be pretty lively in winter! Saint Emilion is stunning. Collioure is as well but med coast so a fair bit further.

Carcassonne is well worth it too.

The dune is a lovely spot. Or it was, I think the immiediate area got hammered in the wildfires last year.

[Simes205]

President Merkin said:

Bill said:

And is very pretty!

The Dune de Pila at Arcachon is spectacular and would be pretty lively in winter! Saint Emilion is stunning. Collioure is as well but med coast so a fair bit further.

Carcassonne is well worth it too.

The dune is a lovely spot. Or it was, I think the immiediate area got hammered in the wildfires last year.

Yep sadly it did.
We camped at the bottom of it a few years back. Quite a hike up if you don’t use stairs!!

[nickfrog]

TBF, Arcachon (or Arche à cons as it sometimes reffered to) is lovely even without the Dune. Nice 30s architecture, seafront and neighbouring lakes/pine forest. Great restaurants too.

But perhaps a bit grim this time of year.