South of France: Provence–Alpes–Côte d'Azur family holidays and breaks

Medieval hilltop villages, fields of lavender, the flamingos and white horses of the Camargue, the Roman ruins of Arles and Orange, ancient monasteries, the Mediterranean playground of the Côte d'Azur, games of boules or pétanque in the shade of orange trees, and utterly divine food and wine… The South of France (officially known as Provence–Alpes–Côte d'Azur) is a world unto itself, and as such offers amazing diversity when it comes to family holidays and breaks. This is a region where culture and landscape go hand-in-hand (as the number of painters who sought and continue to seek inspiration here, including Matisse, Chagall and Picasso, shows), making for holidays with something to keep all members of the family happy.

A good choice of campsites and holiday villages mean that the South of France need not be as expensive as its popularity among the rich and famous suggests, although this is certainly not the cheapest region of France for family holidays and breaks. Over-development has also turned some part of the South of France into a pastiche of their former selves. But look beyond the tourist traps and you’ll find a region of remarkable beauty, especially if you come out of season.

Flying Time	2 hours
Carbon Footprint	0.92 tonnes CO2
Timezone	GMT +1
Local Currency	Euro

What to Do

Explore the beaches of the Côte d’Azur or French Riviera – St Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco are the big, brash names, but there are smaller, more-child-friendly spots, especially Fréjus St-Raphaël (in the Var département) and Antibes (in the Alpes Maritimes). Fréjus boasts not only a long sandy beach and a marina but also nearly protected historic monuments from Roman and medieval times, with the arena and the Gothic cathedral the most impressive remnants. There’s also a zoo here. Life in adjoining Saint Raphaël, meanwhile, revolves around watersports.

Then discover the rest of what the Alpes Maritimes has to offer, from the perfume city of Grasse to family ski resorts that are, bizarrely, within just an hour’s drive of the beaches of Nice.

Discover the rest of the Var. The capital, Toulon, is the main port for the French Navy and you can take boat tours of the Rade or harbour and visit the Museum of the French Navy. There’s also a charming pedestrianised old town famous for its fountains and for its Provençal market. Locals flock to the small seaside suburb of Le Mourillon to the east with its sheltered sandy beaches, and you can ride a cable-car to the top of Mount Faron, home to the Memorial Museum to the Landings in Provence (the road up to the summit is one of the most challenging stages of the Paris–Nice and Tour Méditerranéen bike races).

From the nearby palm-tree-filled (and –producing) resort of Hyères, hop aboard a boat to the Iles d’Hyères: Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and Île du Levant. The smallest, Port Cros, is home to five old forts, two of them open to the public, but of most interest is the fact that the whole island including a 600m ‘maritime zone’ around its coasts is a National Park featuring a unique signposted underwater ‘nature trail’ (bring a mask, snorkel and fins). Alternatively, ride in the glass-bottomed Aquascope, or, on land, follow 35km of signed paths and trails allowing you to see various wild and protected species.

Away from the coast, the Var is largely mountainous terrain occupying the foothills of the Alps, stuffed with picturesque ‘perched villages’ such as Fayence and Callian. The ancient mountain range of the Massif de l'Esterel, leading back from the Var into the Alpes Maritimes, is a great place for hiking with slightly older kids, over rugged reddish rocks (porphyry) swathed in juniper, lavender, rosemary, wild thyme and heather.

Venture into the Alpes de Haute Provence, the least touristy département of the region. It’s home to the best-known part of the Parc National de Mercantour, the gorgeous Gorges du Verdon. The world’s largest canyon after the Grand Canyon, the gorge is popular for kayaking, whitewater-rafting, canyoning, mountain-biking, via ferrata, treetop adventures, and other adrenaline-inducing activities, including aqua-hiking and hydro-speeding. The nearby man-made Lac de Sainte-Croix offers sailing, water-skiing, windsurfing and fishing.

Head north into the Hautes Alpes, for uncrowded family-friendly (if untrendy) ski destinations and great outdoorsy activities in summer.

Go west, to the Vaucluse, where the highlights are Avignon with its spectacular monuments including the famous bridge, Palace of the Popes and excellent museums, the Roman sites in Orange and Vaison la Romaine, and the iconic, UNESCO-listed Pont du Gard, the world-famous Roman aqueduct bridge and France’s most-visited ancient monument, with a visitor centre on Roman civilisation, a kids' area, and a marked trail.

Other must-sees in the Vaucluse are Serignan du Comtat’s Naturoptère, a ‘natural sciences cultural centre’ with hands-on displays related to insect and plant life, and the Nature Discovery Centre in Sault, which covers the wildlife of the nearby Mont Ventoux and traditional local human activities (including beekeeping and hunting) and regional products such as lavender, truffles and mushroom.

For something totally different, head to the Museum of Santons and Provence in Fontaine de Vaucluse, to see 2000+ santons (Provençal nativity scene figurines), of all sizes, including 60 crèches (one of them the world’s smallest, comprising 39 santons in a nutshell) and scenes from the work of Marcel Pagnol. At Gargas, explore a mysterious maze of old ochre quarries, while at Thor, walk along the fossil bed of the underground river that carved out Le Thouzon caves and marvel at stalagmites, stalactites and other crystallisations.

Wind up in the Bouches du Rhône. Marvellous Marseilles – Paris on Sea meets North Africa – has a heady cultural and ethnic mix that makes it worth visiting in its own right, but there are also several archaeological/history museums, the souk-like market of Noailles and the Vieux Port with its daily fish-market to explore. The Corniche, an ocean-side walkway and road, offers views of the jagged fjords known as calanques, but you can also view them by boat-trip. Marseilles is far from a resort town, but its beaches are fine for a spot of swimming, and its beach bars and restaurants are fantastic for people-watching.

Marvel at the contrast between Marseilles and the neighbouring Camargue, the largest river delta in western Europe, with its unearthly landscapes dotted with white horses, pink flamingos, black bulls, wild boar and French cowboys (gardians). Then discover Arles, where Van Gogh did more than 300 paintings and drawings, including some of his most famous. It's remained relatively untouristy, however, because his works are now so expensive, they've been snapped up for prestigious museums and collections elsewhere. Still, older (and maybe some younger) kids can have fun walking around matching up a book of his works with their original locations. Arles also has UNESCO-listed Roman and Romanesque monuments, including a Roman ampitheatre now hosting Provençal bullfights, which don’t involving killing the bull.

Lastly, atmospheric Aix en Provence is best known for its links with Cezanne (whose old atelier you can visit), as well as its fountains, intricate doorways and wrought-iron belltowers (which allow the mistral wind to blow straight through them). Just south of town, the Institut Pour la Forêt is an eco-museum with a walkway bringing children into contact with the forest.

Where to Stay

The South of France is a vast area with a wide choice of excellent hotels, apartments and holiday villas for family holidays and breaks on all budgets. See the right-hand column of this page for our recommendations including Pierre & Vacances’ family-friendly apartments and Canvas and Thomson Alfresco campsites.

See also our features Self-Catering in France and A Luxury Family Break at Le Mas Candille. In Marseilles, we can also recommend the Mercure Grand Beauvau in an historic building overlooking the harbour, with great duplex suites for families. In the Camargue, the most characterful choice is local mas (estates founded in the 16th and 17th century by wealthy landlords from Arles) converted into luxurious hotels, some offering riding excursions. Les Arnelles has triple rooms plus suites for up to 4 and a swimming pool, and offers riding lessons, courses and outings and ranch visits.

See also our features Unusual Places to Stay with Kids and A Family Motorhoming Trip in the South of France (the Camargue is a popular part of France for campervan holidays).

Photos

When

The ideal time for family breaks and holidays in the South of France is from mid-April to October – the height of summer can be too hot for those with younger kids, however, and of course the resorts are also more crowded (with French holidaymakers heading here en masse in August).

How

Get family holidays in the South of France off to an adventurous start by catching a Eurostar from London to Paris or Lille then hooking up with a TGV to one of numerous destinations in the South of France, including Avignon, Marseille, Toulon, St-Raphaël, Antibes, Nice and Monaco. Expect the Paris–Nice journey to take you around 12hrs, including changes. Overnight sleeper trains can save you holiday time and a night’s accommodation costs. In summer, you can also get direct Eurostars from London to Avignon, taking just under 7hrs.

For all details of train travel to France, see Man in Seat 61. For vehicle rental, see our car-hire page.

If you’re driving yourself, it’s a long old schlep (11hrs straight driving) from the ferry port of Calais to Nice, and motorway tolls will cost you almost €100. One alternative would be to book your car onto the Auto Train from Paris to Avignon, Marseille, Toulon, Fréjus or Nice and travel down separately too meet it. This could save on tolls and petrol and will certainly help avoid starting your holiday in an exhausted state!

Flights from a wide choice of UK airports, many by budget airlines, serve destinations in the South of France including Avignon, Marseilles, Nice and Toulon–Hyères. If you’re holidaying in the Bouches du Rhône, you could also fly to Nîmes or Montpellier in the Languedoc Roussillon.

See our flight deals and car-hire pages.

Note that from Marseilles you could catch a ferry to the French island of Corsica or to Tunisia. You can also sail to Corsica from Nice or Toulon, and from Corsica in turn you can sail to the Italian island of Sardinia.

Eat

The South of France offers some of the best food in the world, so eating here, whether out or at home (after shopping in a local market) should be a highlight of family holidays and breaks. There’s nothing quite like sitting outside on a summer’s evening with a good glass of local wine and a table of Provençal food in front of you, replete with oil, garlic, basil and tomatoes. As everywhere, in the resorts avoid restaurants with menus in various languages; smaller local bistros usually offer much better food at a fraction of the price.

Pistou (fresh vegetable and bean soup) and aioli (garlic mayonnaise) are well-known local recipes. Fish and seafood (including anchovies, red mullet, bream, sea urchins, oysters, clams and squid) feature heavily on menus, unsurprisingly, accompanied by classic vegetable dishes such as ratatouille or courgette flowers. Bouillabaisse and other fish soups are a must-try, with or without rouille (a spicy sauce with saffron and chilli), as are tapenade (olive, garlic and caper paste) and anchoïade (olives with anchovies). Also look out for socca (thin, golden chickpea-flour crêpes) in Nice and the similar cade toulonnaise in Toulon, and chichi frégi, a type of long doughnut flavoured with olive oil and orange blossom water.

There are also cheeses galore (often made from goat or ewes’ milk) and to-die-for fruit including muscat grapes, melons, white peaches, apricots, figs and cherries.

Some of France's best wine is produced in the vineyards of the Côtes du Rhone or along the coast, especially fruity rosés de Provence and robust red Côtes de Provence. But do try another local speciality, the aniseed-flavoured spirit pastis.

Cost

Despite its glamorous image, the South of France need not be an expensive destination for family holidays and breaks by virtue of having such a wide choice of self-catering apartments and campsites, and of being easily accessible by low-cost airline (although flights won’t be cheap unless you book far ahead, especially for school). A 7-night break in a self-catering apartment, including flights, can cost from as little as £160pp.