Itinerary help south of France

Geny,

I love Castres and Toulouse in the South of France! They're so beautiful and between the two, you'll hit lots of your requirements. Toulouse is quite big, but Castres and the surrounding areas are lovely smaller cities/towns with so many farms and rural areas nearby.

You'll find beautiful sunflower fields, lots of sheep, the best bread, canals galore, numerous ancient churches, and the best food. There are many Michelin Star restaurants in the area around Castres - small, unassuming, and with the best food!

Enjoy your trip!

This site may give you some ideas.....................http://www.beyond.fr/

Thanks to you two :)

How do you move? By public transport or rent you a car in Nice?

Since we are with young kids, we will rent a car in Nice :)

Summerime will be sometimes very hot, even up to 40°, what is not a funny time for doing full day excursions even with a/c in the car. If you stay outside of Nice and any other bigger town in southern France (there are not a lot) think about that you come in the upper high season. That means crowded wherever you go beside maybe less in the near Alps where the teperature is also a bit lower.
Coastline and beaches:
You will find two types of beaches along the French Rivera. Free or public ones and where you have to pay for.
The eastern part along the sea front has rocks and cliffs as the Alps are ending here and jumping into the water makes that you have to take care about your children more as on the western part where it starts in Cannes and after the Esterel mountains to be sandy. Most of the public parts have shower on or neaby the beach and are keept under surveillance the day over. Attention to the flaggs showing you if swimming is forbidden or not. Monaco for your children can be interesting if visiting the Zoo.
Mountains:
From Nice for example and just after leaving the airport start the national raod 202 (called here MN202) and Route de Grenoble. About 1 hours to 1,5h you find some pretty nice places, villages, like Beuil, Valberg, Guillaumes, Entreveaux. A little private steamtrain start in Puget-Théniers. Some up to 1600m and very nice little departemental roads, and nice to drive on. If passing by the town Grasse - in the backland north from Cannes - you find the Route Napoleon also going north via the Alps. A good help for is this site: viamichelin.com
La Provence:
It's a big region from the sea to the Alps about 200km and from east to west also 200km. There are a lot of nice villages and also places to stay outside in private accommodations. Search b&b for. A good day trip could be to see the Grand Canyon, called Gorges du Verdon. Its ending in a lake with possibilities to test the water as there are different beaches too. To spend some nights somewhere in the middle look at Montauroux, Callian, Tourrettes or look here http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/fr/provence-alpes-cote-dazur.html - this site cover all Provence and each place has his own tourism office in the Net too. Now the western end of the Provence tuch the national parc Camargue. In the middle is the town of Arles (distance Nice/Arles 250km on the motorway). From here in each direction you can discover a very nice part and long sandy beaches for kilometers (and free of charge). Your boys can also have a horse ride here or you take with them a little train to discover the wildlife in Mejanes.

Wow! Thank you so much ''regards'' for taking the time to answer! This is really helpful information!

You are welcome.

Hello all,

Here is my itinerary based on the reply to my post, some reading and a lot based on available house rentals that we like...
Please let me know what you think. Seems like we will change houses a few more time than I anticipated but there is so much to see :)

Côte d'Azur : 3 nights (debating betwen house in villefranche or Saint-Jeannet)
Mountains : 3 nights (debating between houses in La Gombe, Roubion, Pierlas and Valdebore)
Gorges du Verdon : 2 nights (debating between houses in Castellanne, Montagnac and Artignosc)
Vaucluse/Lubéron : 4 nights (debating between huoses in Lourmarin, Buoux and Auribeau)
Arles (Camargue, Avignon, Nimes) : 3 nights
Marseille : 3 nights
Back to Nice to fly