Weekend beach town trips from Paris?

[lola]

I see that Easyjet flies to Malaga, Majorca, Bilbao, Corsica. Any opinions on quietish destinations fairly easily gotten to from Paris, and near a beach?

[Deleted]

Easyjet flies nowhere quiet in mid-summer. Now if you want to find a quiet beach in January, perhaps I can help. Corsica and Majorca are the two best options on your list, though.

[lola]

Thanks, K. This would be Sept - Nov, for my student daughter and possibly me. Possibly Nice?

[Deleted]

I'm kind of weird, but I love the beaches of the north. I have no interest in lying on a beach mostly unclothed in the sun, but I absolutely love walking along immense empty beaches. If jumping into the ocean is not a priority, I would have a number of recommendations less than 300 km from Paris (preferably by driving but not always essential).

If bathing is a requirement, I would vote for going around Arcachon or Hossegor (France's Surf City) -- still fine in September and maybe even the beginning of October.

Actually, it is best (but probably more expensive if you are not driving) to wait until you arrive and see the weather to make any decisions.

[lola]

Yes! Thanks. Jumping in and sunbathing are not necessary for landlocked types who miss the sea.

[Deleted]

I do need to see the sea from time to time, since I saw it every day for the first 20 years of my life, before becoming landlocked myself.

[lagatta]

I got to places in Normandy from Paris very easily by train.

There are lots of quiet places in Corsica - noisy places too. It is a big island.

And plenty of interesting places to see not far from Nice off-season, in France and in Italy. I do love the scenery on the Mediterranean, where it hasn't been spoilt by ugly holiday condo developments.

[MC]

Hi, this is lola's daughter. Walking along immense empty beaches sounds fantastic, Kerouac, so I was wondering what those 300 km from Paris recommendations were. Unfortunately, driving is not an option, so if you could throw a couple names this way that are accessible by train or bus, I'd appreciate it!

The other kind of beach is also appealing, although I know it's late in the season to actually do much sea bathing. I'm thinking of making a weekend trip to Corsica and/or somewhere near Nice. I see easyJet flies into Ajaccio and Bastia in Corsica... which one would provide better things to see for someone with no car-renting qualifications? Basically looking for beautiful, distinctive scenery, maybe some nice places to walk around.

Thanks!

[lola]

Any opinions on Biarritz or La Rochelle, just to throw a net for EasyJet or easy train destinations?

Both of these cities have youth hostels. I didn't have much luck with finding hostels in Corsica.

(MC brought me on board this project because she knows I find travel searches recreational.)

[lagatta]

La Rochellle is a beautiful little historic city, a centre of international trade many centuries ago (unfortunately this included the slave trade; I believe the city of Nantes was an other important centre) and it is well known here for the role it played in launching French exploration and settlement in America. L'ïle de Ré (Ré island) is accessible by a bridge now, off the Atlantic coast. Is there a fa s t train there now? Look up La Rochelle and click on to Île de Re on wikipedia.

I've never been to Biarritz and for me, that would be a stop on a longer trip I am hoping to make, to the Basque Country (Euskadi) on both sides of the French-Spanish border. Biarritz is very glitzy, of course. Interesting that there is a cheapo hostel there. I presume that these are both all ages hostels?

I'd be more interested in visiting the nearby city of Bayonne and the Basque ethnographic museum, and Basque villages, but can see the appeal of that beach for beach lovers (I don't mind a beach, or a rocky coast, and seeing the sea, but don't enjoy days of sunbathing at all).

I know a Swedish guy who moved to Bayonne and actually learned Basque, reputed one of the hardest languages to learn (no relation to most European language groups, perhaps a tenuous one to another "isolated" language).

[Deleted]

My favorite empty "cold" beaches for walking are in the Somme and the Pas de Calais. I can assure anybody who saw my thread about Berck-sur-Mer that any time out of season, you have the beach entirely to yourself (i.e. about 1 person per km²). Downtown is just as empty and closed out of season, so you have to be in the mood for that to appreciate it.

A more easily accessible place with a huge beach is Le Touquet, and of course there are the great old standbys of Deauville and Trouville in Normandy. They share the same train station, but you need to know that the beach for walking is in Deauville and the cheap accommodations are in Trouville -- all of this is in easy walking distance.

For a warmer experience, the best beaches are in the Landes, but it's not my part of France, so I don't know much about rail access out that way.

Biarritz is a real city, so it has both the aging glitz and normal life, which would explain why there is a hostel there. The suburbs are pretty normal and probably easily accessible by bus.

[bjd]

We spent a few days in Biarritz in September. Citywise, I prefer Bayonne, but you can also get by bus to Anglet (the city is called BAB for Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz) where there are long sandy beaches. Bayonne is on a river, and the beaches of Biarritz are either for showing off (Grande Plage beside the casino) or surfing (Côte des Basques).

We went to the Landes (just across the Adour River from Bayonne) for years during the Toussaint school holidays. It was possible to swim nearly every year because the water warmed up over the summer. But there are big waves, so it's not really "swimming" and there are no more lifeguards. But the beaches are great. You can get a train to Dax from Paris, and then a bus towards the coastal towns like Capbreton.

There are also great beaches west of Bordeaux. 60km and you are at the beach, and Bordeaux is fast from Paris by train.

This is what the Landes beaches look like

[lola]

Thank you, Lagatta, Kerouac, and BJD. Helpful!

Aging glitz and beaches are what we US Midwesterners hardly ever get back home.

[hwinpp]

I loved La Rochelle, went there three times! There's also another walled city somewhat further to the northeast, inland, similar to Carcassonne but no tourists, I've forgotten the name...

[lola]

My daughter very much enjoyed her weekend trip to Biarritz, liked the hostel there a lot, and improbably got to go surfing:

spellingitthefrenchway.blogspot.com/

Thanks to you all for your help. I hope she gets to go to a northern beach later. It was good that she could get to a sunny beach while it was still warm there, despite the strike.

[Deleted]

Glad she had a good time! Gee, time is really flying, isn't it?

[bjd]

Glad you daughter had a good time. From her blog, it sounds as though she was at the youth hostel in Anglet. It's right beside the beach.

[lola]

I think this hostel is on a lake, out aways from Biarritz centre ville, easy walk from the train station.

www.fuaj.org/Biarritz#

[Deleted]

That looks like a pretty chic hostel. But then again a lot of them are in France. The headquarters of FUAJ is just two blocks from my place, and just across from them on the old rail yards, they are going to be building the biggest and best hostel in Paris (opening in 2012?). I'll be seeing lots of backpacks at my metro station then.

[lagatta]

That sounds lovely. Kerouac, do those auberges have private rooms (for one or two people?)

[Deleted]

I think that the big ones always have 1-2-4-8 rooms. Of course the single rooms are rare.