dshiels wrote:

Hi everyone,
Does anybody know much about the area (recommended restaurants etc) also is there a list of "must see's" or "must do's"

Things/places that have been recommended so far are:

Thuir
Ceret
Perpignan
Argeles Sur Mer
Collioure
St Cyprien (for the water park)

Not sure if anyone has anything to add to that list or specifics on any of those locations.

Finally is it easy to find parking in Perpignan?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Darren

Hi Darren

Not sure about Perpignan actually never been into the city just to the Hypermarché on the outskirts(Polygon )

Collioure is definitely a must park in the Castle if you can lunch the other side of the harbour is a must

Argeles plagé at night is a lively place lots of bars and restaurants and market stall of touristy stuff

Canet for the restaurants not many but they are good

IF you are into shopping and like a bargain then you must go to Le Perthus (RN9 not A9 ) but arrive before 8:45 and try for street parking if not the car parks are at the top of the hill the shops at the bottom good bargains to be had as the prices are duty free but as you are in France they are also duty paid

Try a trip out on the Train Jaune it's a tourist train with a difference into the Catalan Pyrenees

If you really like driving there is Andorre - Pas de La Casa is around a four hour rally drive from Perpignan

Not been my self but there are a few wine caves areound Banyuls which isn't far from where you are

Will be popping into Collioure in May myself as usual we go every year since we got married 17 years ago

If you are into science then a drive into the Pyrenees to Odello to see the solar furnace. It a good day out. There is a visitors' centre there. We went in and they asked if we were English. We said yes and carried on in. A bit later there was an announcement that the video presentation was about to begin for the English visitors. This was news to us, we were standing in the queue with everyone else waiting for the show. To our embarrassment we were ushered to the front and sat in an empty cinema (about 100 seats) whilst we watched the show and the French waited outside for another 15 minutes! We can understand French and really didn't need an English version.

Thanks for the replies guys, it is very much appreciated.

I guess we are looking for a varied holiday, bit of relaxing, bit of sightseeing and of course a lot bit of good wine and food!

On the subject of wine, people have been saying that in France you basically just take empty containers along and fill up. Where do you do this at? Vineyards? Shops?

I assume Le Perthus is in Perpignan or is it a different town?

Finally we are travelling on the 11th June for 2 weeks. What can we expect weather wise, especially in the evenings. Flying with Ryanair so very restricted with luggage and there is a 1 year old baby with us so that has to be factored in too!

Cheers

Darren

Le Perthus in near the Spanish border.

Traffic can be mad,

Billyboy.

Parking in Perpignon is not easy.

When you say the traffic is mad in Le perthus you really mean impossible! We mistakenly drove through it on the way out of Spain one year. 2 hours to get into the town from the Spanish side. heven knows how long to get in from the French side but we drove past a queue of stationary cars 12 miles long as we drove into France!

Hi De Hi wrote:

When you say the traffic is mad in Le perthus you really mean impossible! We mistakenly drove through it on the way out of Spain one year. 2 hours to get into the town from the Spanish side. heven knows how long to get in from the French side but we drove past a queue of stationary cars 12 miles long as we drove into France!

IF you do go shopping there to get a street parking spot you need to be there early or else you end up in either a queue oftraffic or the car park at the top of the hill

btw the shops are at the bottom of the hill

Hi,
Perpignan isn't that bad for parking, there is a multi storey carpark in the centre and it's not that expensive, we always leave our car there for a few days. take not though it is rugby league season whilst you are there and the centre is quite busy but has a great atmosphere. game days are on saturday evenings but the town is busy all day, i know catalans are at home on the 21st june and warrington are the visitors, there biggest away support fro the year. we actually stay in a village 20kms away for a week and do alot of touring while we are there. lots to do.

paul

Well we go next Tuesday, can't believe it has come around so quickly and really looking forward to it. Weather forecasts for what you can believe also seems quite good!

One final question, if we want to be a bit more adventurous and try out some sports what are our option in that area. I am thinking of white water rafting, canoeing etc.

Thanks

Guess these guys are there now
Hope the prices in Le Perthus /La Jonquera don't put them off for some drinks the FERRY was actually cheaper this year

We ended up at Canet Plagé just a few miles away from their aim point too