Maisons Tournesol - property management in Pezenas

OOPS. Your Flash player is missing or outdated.Click here to update your player so you can see this content.
Home arrow Best Festivals in South France
Top 10 places for kids E-mail
Written by Iain Laverock   

Top 10 places for kids
Top 10 places for Kids
If you are in Languedoc with your children or grandchildren and you're looking for things to do to occupy their time, then here is our guide to the 10 best places for children in the South of France. The list has been compiled following extensive research and much debate by our 3 boys, Cameron 8, Archie 6 and Finlay 3. There were many other items that didn't make it into the Top 10 and we have over 2 years experience of touring around the South of France entertaining our little monkeys. If you are looking for a particular activity or want some ideas for your vacation, then please drop me a line ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and I will be happy to send you some suggestions. Enjoy your visit.

 

 

1. Canoeing up the Ravine

This is our boys' favourite day out in the South of France. Near to St Guilhem-le-Desert the Herault river has cut a dramatic ravine (Gorges de l'Herault) through the rock. Where the river emerges under the Pont du Diable (a wonderful medieval bridge that crosses the river), it has been dammed to form a small lake, complete with beach. The water is cool, crystal clear and wonderful for swimming in during the hot summer months. It makes an excellent alternative to the beach.

canoeing
Pont du Diable
On the beach there is a Canoe Hire kiosk, where you can rent a canoe for €10 per hour. They have a good range of canoe for families and couples. You will probably only need about an hour. You canoe across the lake and then about 1km up the ravine. It is a bit windy in places, but this all adds to the fun. After about 10 minutes you will discover your inate canoeing driving skills and may even be able to go in a straight line rather than from side to side. After about 20 minutes canoeing you will arrive at a big rock in the middle of the river. This is the turnaround point. Our kids love to scramble up on the rocks and jump into the river complete with dramatic screams. Some Mums have even been known to jump in! Going back always seems easier in the canoe. Just watch out for people jumping off the Pont du Diable as you canoe under it. This seems to be a bit of a tradition in France.

So if you're looking for activities for your kids and you want an alternative to the beach in the South of France, give this a try. It is a Cheap day out and you can easily spend half a day here looking up at the dramatic views or the lunatics diving off the Pont du Diable bridge Acapulco style. The children can occupy themselves in the lake or walking along the river or exploring the woods.

Getting there: St Guilhem is situated between Montpellier (20km west) and Lodeve (15km east) and Clermont l'Herault. The best route is from Gignac, through Aniane on the D32. As you leave Aniane you take the D27 towards St-Guilhem-le-Desert. It is well signposted to St Guilhem (and also Grotte de Clamouse) After about 3km and just as the mountains start to rise up, you will arive at Pont du Diable. Parking can be a bit difficult, it is worth getting here early. Park up on the right, before you cross the Pont du Diable. You can then either walk Kamikaze style down the pathways off the cliff, or take the 10 minute walk across the Pont du Diable and take the roadway into the back of the lake (you will emerge where the Canoe Hire kiosk is). If may also be able to coincide your trip with one of St Guilhem's celebrated festivals

 

2. Accrobranche

accrobranche
Fun in the trees
If you're looking for an activity for your children with a bit of a difference, then Accrobranche could be for you. Set in dense forest close to Motagnac, Accrobranche specialises in tree climbing adventures, encompassing abseiling, tree canopy walks and rope ladders. Whilst this may not be for those fearful of heights (like me!), this is great fun. It takes you back to being 10 years old again. Oh and the kids will enjoy it as well. Our lot thought it was brilliant and they slept like Pandas in the car on the way home.

Prices: it costs € 12-20 for 2-3 hours. It is always advisable to ring up the day before or so and book a time to avoid queueing. All the instructors we met spoke decent English (tel: 06 07 13 43 80).
Getting there: Accrobranche is situated within the Base Départemental de Bessilles Parc close to Montagnac. Montagnac is about 2km NE of Pezenas on the RN113. As you enter Montagnac from Pezenas you will turn firstly 90o right, then 90o left. Just as you emerge from this last turn, you will then see another 90o right turn. Take the road off the apex of this bend on the left hand-side. Follow this road (D5) for about 5km, following directions for Abbaye de Valmagne and Base Départemental de BessillesParc. The Parc is located on the right handside of the road befor you reach the Abbaye (also worth a visit). The parc is free to get in. Visit http://www.loisirs-foret.com/ for more details


 

3. Cycling along the Canal du Midi

canal du midi
Cycling along the Canal du Midi
The Canal Midi is one of the South of France's most famous sites. It also makes a great day out for the kids and gets them away from the Playstation or Gameboy for a few hours. Our favourite spot is to park up in Colombiers on the D11 west of Beziers. From here we cycle west towards Capestang. After about 15 mins you will reach the Oppidum d'Ensurune, a pre-Roman settlement perched on a hill above the vineyards. From here you get a spectacular view of the Basin du Montady. This is a Wagon-wheel shaped formation of fields (or like the 'triangle cheese wedges in a Dairylea cheese box' as Cameron describes it). We usually have our sandwiches here looking down on the Basin, before cycling on to XXXX for a drink. The return leg home is always quicker with a Stella Artois inside you! Also see Best sites in Languedoc for more information on the Canal du Midi.

 

4. Montpellier Zoo

Montpellier Zoo
Montpellier Zoo
Montpellier Zoo - or Parc Zoologique Henri de Lunaret, to give it its full title - is a free day out in a lovely parkland setting in the North of Montpellier. Zoos are always a hit with our boys and we easily spent 4 hours walking round and we still didn't see all of the animals. There are bears, lions, cheetahs, leopards, rhinos, antelope - you name it. I suppose the only thing that slightly lets it down is that when we went there is nowehere to go to get a drink or an ice cream. But it is free, so you can't expect too much. They're also going through a period of building work and I believe that new facilities will be open from 2008. Anyway, it is a good day out, our boys loved it and it is certainly a cheap alternative to Sigean African Safari. Did I mention that it was free?

For more details and directions please visit : http://zoo.montpellier.fr/

 

5. Sigean African Safari

lion
Sigean African Safari
Whenever we're out with the kids in the car, we always play the game of who is first to spot a poster for the Arican Safari Park in Sigean. Trust me wherever you go in the South of France you will see a poster advertising this park. We even saw a poster near Barcelona and up in the Pyrenees. It is a good 18 months since we took our boys here, but they still talk about it. The park is very well laid out and has all the animals you can think off: Lions, Giraffes, Rhinos, Gorillas, Elephants (Archie's favourite), Emus with attitude and lots and lots of  Monkeys. When we went the Pink Flamingos were flying in. It is well worth the visit, although I can imagine it gets busy in the Summer.

Prices: from memory it was quite expensive to get in, but you can take your own food in to even out the cost. I think it was around €60 for the car.
Getting there: Sigean African Safari is located south of Narbonne off the A9 at junction XX. You can't miss it, it is signposted from Paris!! For further details please visit: http://www.reserveafricainesigean.fr/

 

6. Dinosaur Museum

Not to be confused with 'DinoPark' located in Cap d'Agde, this Museum is the largest museum in Europe devoted entirely to dinosaurs. The park is well laid out and there is lots of information. The museum is located on the site of an important discovery of dinosaur eggs and fossils. Our 3 boys loved walking around and seeing all the real-scale reconstructed models located in amongst the tress and trying to find all the dinosaur eggs in the sand pit. There is a nice sheltered picnic area, a cafe bar, shop and outside cinema area. Connected to the Dinosaur Museum there is another park area devoted entirely to the development of Man. Personally I found this very informative, but the boys had probably had enough by then. However, the collection of arrow heads and axes kept their interest for a bit. You can buy a dual ticket that covers both parks.

The Dinosaur Park ranked highly with our crew. Even though when we went it was scorchingly hot, we still managed to grab some welcome shade as we walked around. Informative as well as entertaining

Opening hours: The Dinosaur Park is open from April to October (14.00 to 18.00; July & August: 10.00 to 19.00)
Prices: from memory it was about €40 for a family ticket for both museum areas. I think that the Dinosaur area on its own is about €30.
Geting there: The Dinosaur Park is situated on the RN113 road in between Meze and Pezenas. You can't miss it, there is a bloody big dinosaur overlooking the road! Visit http://www.musee-parc-dinosaures.com/ for more details.

Nearby: If you get chance, just pop around the corner after the Dinosaur Park and visit the olive oil producer: Mas Saint Laurent. The sell their produce from a shop adjoining their farmhouse. Don't be put off by driving up their driveway, the  owners Roland and Nicole are extremely welcoming. If you like olive oil, you'll not taste much better than this.


7. Le Petit Paradis

picnic
Picnic at Le Petit Paradis
This park is a real gem if you're at a loose end trying to find an activity for the kids to do. We took our kids (Cameron 8, Archie 5 and Finlay 2) together with some friends and their children. Set amongst the beautiful landscaped gardens and canals you can discover a real oasis here. The children will love all the animals (horses, cows, goats and ducks) wandering free in their own spaces. The kids will also enjoy the play area with its castle trampoline (for under 6 years only), a floating bridge and swings. Best of all though your children will enjoy the rowing boats (the water is not deep, only 1 meter or so and you can borrow life jackets from the kiosk). Also you can ride on one of the horses (or rather the kids can ride on the horse - I did try and get the General (Mrs L) on the horse but she thinks horses are evil creatures and by the looks of it the feeling is mutual from the horse's point of view!!).  The park is accessible for wheel chairs and buggies/strollers. There is a snack bar here (with choice of salads and omelettes, drinks and ice creams) but you'd be better off bringing your own food and sitting out and having a picnic.

If you get a hot day then walking around this park with its shaded greenery is perfect. The rowing boats are fun and kids always enjoy pony rides and seeing aniumals wandering free.

Getting there: Le Petit Paradis is located in between Montpellier and Nimes. From the A9 take the exit for Vendargues and follow the directions for Millau and Montpellier. The park is situated just off the RN 110 in between Vendargues and Castries and is well signposted. Visit http://www.petitparadis.com/ for more details.
Opening hours: the park is open all year around from 13.00 to 19.00 (10.00 to 19.00 on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in the summer holiday period)

Prices: it costs around €5 for adults and €4 for kids - you don't pay for toddlers under 2 years. If there are a lot of you it is worth buying the 10 ticket book because it works out at around €3 each. The rowing boats cost €2 (from memory) and the pony rides cost €1.50, although you can buy a ticket book for €10 that gives you 11 rides (we couldn't get Finlay off the bloody thing so we had to buy the extra tickets).


8. Having a Picnic at the Pont du Gard

pont du gard
Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard, situated just north of Nîmes, is one of the most dramatic monuments of the Roman architecture in France. This Roman aqueduct, was built around AD50 to carry water over 50 km from Uzes to Nimes. There are two alternative places to eat at this famous Roman Aqueduct. You can either eat on the banks of the river with a fantastic view of the bridge in all its glory, or you can pick a nice shady spot on the botanical trail through the Mediterranean garden. Once you've finished with your picnic, you children can be entertained swimming in the river under the bridge, visiting the childrens activity centre in the Pont du Gard visitors centre or just lazing in the sun besides one of the most famous sites in the South of France.

Prices: it costs about €5 to park in the Pont du Gard. The visitors centre is free, although you do have to pay for the childresn activity area.
Opening hours: Pont du Gard is open from 09.00 every day. We're not entirely sure what time it shuts in the summer but it is late (after 19.00).
Driving directions: take the Remoulins exit off the A9 just north of Nimes. The take the D981 in the direction towards Uzes. About halfway along this route you will see the signposts for the Pont du Gard. Visit http://www.pontdugard.fr/for more details.

 

9. Aqualand

We went twice to Aqualand in 2006. the first tim it was absolutely mobbed. You had to queue for every ride and it took about 1 hour just to get in. You then had to figh to get a decent place to put your towels and belongings. The second time we went towards the end of the season it was much better. We walked straight up to the cashier and we could find a place to lay down our stuff really easily. If you intend to go more than once, then purchasing the 2 day pass works out a lot cheaper. You can use this at any point during the summer. Another tip is to buy your tickets the day before (in the afternoon when it is not busy. That way you can then wonder straight in when you go rather than queueing up.

kids in south franceOur favourite rides were the Niagra - absolutely terrifying, a straight slide that takes you down from about 50m to zero in about 2 seconds!; the Colarado - you sit in a long rubber canoe and your whizzed round in the dark before descending like a bullet down the slide; and the Black hole - a massive flume. Don't bother with the Congo River - unless you have young kids or you're a bit of a girl.  You also get a nice view over Cap d'Agde from on top of the rides. The wave machine pool is very good and the toddler pools are safe and entertaining. There was not too much to go on if you were under 1.10m. If you do have small children, you might be better visiting La Grande Bleu in Grande Motte, as I doubt they will get their money's worth here.

Despite all the queueing we had a good day out. It is not something I want to do every day, but it is good fun nonetheless. It certainly brings out the big kid in you.

Prices: Adult €23.50; Enfant €17
Opening times: 6 June to 2 September. Normal opening times 10.00 to 18.00. In July and August it is open from 10.00 to 19.00
Driving directions: Aqualand is located in the heart of Cap d'Agde, but be warned it is ridiculously badly signposted. The only signpost we ever saw for it was about 10 meters away from the entrance!. Drive into Cap d'Agde and take the signs for Rochelongue Plage. We always park up in the car park near the beach and walk around the edge of the lake to get to Aqualand, it takes about 10 minutes. For more up to date information please visit http://www.aqualand.fr/cap_dagde.htm


10. Espace Grande Bleu

grande bleuIf you want an alternative to the beach or an economical alternative to Aqualand, then La Grande Bleu in La Grande Motte could be just the place for you. La Grande Bleu is an indoor and outdoor swimming pool complex with  'flumes'(or 'toboggans' in French), up to 48m in length, 3-4 swimming pool areas, a toddler pool, sun terrace, solarium, steam room & sauna, jaccuzis, water jets, wave machine, etc. There is also a cafeteria and ice cream bar inside the swimming pool area. We went about 2 months ago and all our children (ages 3, 5 & 8) had a great time. We've not been outdoors in the summer, but from what we saw it looked good.

Prices: a family ticket was around €14.
Opening hours: Espace Grande Bleu is open 10.00 to 17.00 every day all year round (closed Mondays in the winter). In the summer months it stay open until 20.00 Information on opening times and prices is also available from the La Grande Motte tourism website (http://www.ot-lagrandemotte.fr/parc-aquatique.htm).
Location: Espace Grande Bleu, La Plaine des Jeux, 195 rue Saint-Louis, 34280 LA GRANDE MOTTE.
Driving instructions: Espace Grande Bleu is well signposted once you get into La Grande Motte (initially follow directions to Point Zero, then you will see the signs). La Grande Motte is located close to Montpellier on the coast. It is reached by taking the D62 off the A9 to the East of Montpellier at Junction 31. Alternatively take the D979 at Junction 29 of the A9 just North of Montpellier.

 

Other best places for kids in South of France:

 

Planetarium Galilee - Montpellier's own superb planetarium. We have not been ourselves, but we've heard good reports about it. There is an excellent website for the Planetarium (http://www.planetarium-galilee.com/).

Train Juane - a yellow train that snakes its way up the Pyrenees from Villefranche-de-Conflet and climbs up to the highest train station in France at Bolquere. Further details can be obtained from the website at : http://www.tourinfos.com/gb/r0011/d0066/m0001/j0024/p000198.htm

Aquarium, Le Grau-du-Roi - one of the best aquariums around this area (do not go to the Aquarium in Cap d'Agde as it is rubbish). Visit http://www.seaquarium.fr for more information.

 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack Joomla Templates by Compass Design