Anyone been to?

[imissworthing2]

Following on from the cheap ryanair flights thread I have decided to have a couple of days abroad.

So leaving from brizzle I can either go to Endhoven, montpellier, perpignan, trieste or toulon. Has anyone been to the above mentioned, I havent a clue about any of them?

My girlfriend will be coming along which negates choosing a destination based around sport.Which I probably would of done and gone to see PSV.

Cheers

 

[coventrygull]

Following on from the cheap ryanair flights thread I have decided to have a couple of days abroad.

So leaving from brizzle I can either go to Endhoven, montpellier, perpignan, trieste or toulon. Has anyone been to the above mentioned, I havent a clue about any of them?

My girlfriend will be coming along which negates choosing a destination based around sport.Which I probably would of done and gone to see PSV.

Cheers

Go to Perpignan. You can either catch the bus to go to Canet plage. Nice beach or get the train to Carcassonne. Walled medieval city

 

[imissworthing2]

Cheers mate, It doesnt even have to b a beach holiday as fortunately my folks are going to faro in sept and have offered me a place on the sofa bed.

 

[Gully]

Don't go to Eindhoven, it is a bit of a soulless hole, unless you use the cheap flight there to go somewhere else...if you do that and want to spend a few days in a really nice town then my tip would be Maastricht, only an hour south of Eindhoven on the train and one of the most pleasant places I have ever been, loads of good bars, restaurants etc.

 

[The Ringleader]

montpellier - Lovely, great beaches friendly people and great food your have a great time

 

[bhaexpress]

montpellier - Lovely, great beaches friendly people and great food your have a great time

I'd go with that, I also agree with Endhoven as well, it is very dreary.

 

[coventrygull]

Forgot to add. You can also get a nice train Journey into the Pyrennes

 

[Hunting 784561]

Perpignan - as Carcassonne (Fr) , Roses (Sp) , Girona (Sp) , and the Pyrenees are all within an hour or so.

 

[Notters]

Montpellier is the Brighton of France, get on it.

 

[Seagulls over Lewes]

Endhoven big no, Montpellier big yes, Perpignan not been too, Trieste or here and Toulon an even bigger no

 

[wigman]

Perpignan is very nice;i stayed just outside in a place called Argeles-sur-mer.
We flew into Gerona and drove over the border which was about 45 mins,its also very handy for the pyrenes and Barcelona.

 

[Austrian Gull]

Toulon isn't great in spite of its Med location - it's primarily a harbour town which was quite badly bombed in WW2. It is however the home of France's nouveau riche rugby club who are signing up world stars like it's going out of fashion.

Perpignan, as advised by others, is much better. The town is okay but the location is top - beach 15 mins away by car, Pyrenees not much further (lovely hilltop towns villages and fantastic views of the Med). I would recommend the coast down to the Spanish border - Collioure is a beautiful little place. Even the Costa Brava isn't far and parts of it are really nice. Oh, and Toulouse is also a couple of hours away - and that's a great city!

Even better is Montpellier - really lovely city that has been cleverly modernised. Nimes, Avignon, Arles also close by as well as some good sandy beaches within 15 minutes. Can't go wrong with Languedoc as a region!

 

[crasher]

Trieste is a fascinating place, a port with lots of history and quite picturesque in parts without being chocolate-boxy.

It's an Italian city (obviously) but was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until the start of the 20th century so feels quite different to the rest of the country in many ways. I don't know it well enough to recommend different bits of it but I'm sure it wouldn't disappoint for a long weekend. Also very close to the border with Slovenia and Croatia if you wanted to wander a bit.

 

[grummitts gloves]

Just be sure to check the actual airport you are landing at. Ryanscare used to have a reputation for flying to some minor airport miles from the actual city you wanted to be in.

 

[imissworthing2]

Thanks all, great info. i shall decide in the morning between montpellier and perpignan.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Perpignan , definately .
Part of Catalonia (you'll see the red & yellow flags everywhere ) .
Just reccomended it my mum , who, with my aunt , is doing a road trip with from Bordeux
to Fuengirola on the Costa-del-Sol .
Enjoy .

 

[Gwylan]

Another vote for Montpellier - it's a great place, an example of how a city should be modernised. I remember a few years back, Le Nouvel Observateur (a French magazine) ran a survey on the best city in France and Montpellier won easily.

Mind you, of the choices you've offered, I'd have plumped for Trieste. It's a city with a fascinating history - part Italian, part Slavic - and looks like it might be an interesting place to spend a couple of days.

 

[Stat Brother]

I vote Perpignan. Mainly as it's the only one Ive been close too, having been to Carcassonne.

Lovely area esp the Pyrenees, although don't clash with Le Tour, in a months time, as hotels etc will go through the roof.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Perpignan is a good call, but you'll have to travel around a bit to get the most out of it. Public transport is great and it's countryside well worth seeing.

Carcassonne is insane. If you can, get into the mountains to see the cave paintings (while you still can - they are all gradually being closed to the public because they are so fragile the heat from visitors in the caves is gradually damaging them), some of them are truly humbling.

[Perpignan fact - the Languedoc means Land of Oc. Oc was the old Southern French was of saying 'yes'. Those in the South were proud of this and considered themselves a different country to the rest of France and were strongly aligned with the Basques. In the north they say 'oui' and it was known as the Langued'oui back in the past.]

 

[Smythe]

Perpignan definatly, close to Spain, Pyrenees, a small town near by called Coulliore is well worth a visit, carcassonne as mentioned already is good too. If you get a car your only actually about an hour from montpellier so you could go there too.