Hi all,
Planning a family holiday for 2 weeks. We’re flying into Girona. 2 boys tween/teenager, generally outdoorsy but like things like eating in nice restaurants and history / culture too.

Anyway, the first week consists of a villa with mates, loads of kids, probably a lot of time in the pool, on the beach, eating too much and drinking too much.

The second week is to do what we please with and we haven’t booked any accommodation yet.
We want to do something that contrasts with the first week, so are thinking of heading inland a bit, maybe into the Pyrenees, maybe into France. Where’s good to stay/visit? I don’t know the area at all.
*Probably* looking for a nice small town, with some facilities (shops for food / basics, nice places to eat etc), with also a good selection of outdoor activities like walking, kayaking, biking, whatever close by.

Any recommendations? Also if it isn’t a town but is a stunning location, then we’d have a look at that too. We might move around a couple of places also. We’ll have a car.

Only other requirement is not too much of a drive from Girona (maybe withing 5 hours absolute max if it’s amazing, but the closer the better really)

Any top tips?

Ta!

Ainsa Zarautz Cadaques.

nice places to eat etc), with also a good selection of outdoor activities like walking, kayaking, biking, whatever close by.

The Massif Central.

Lovely Mediterranean climate, very local French. Great canoeing, wild swimming, hills, road touring and some MTB.

Nice one, thanks. Any recommendations in the southern side of the massif central? Quite like the idea of doing a 50/50 Spanish/french holiday.

Bagneres de Luchon, or just Luchon as it’s commonly known is your best bet for a family holiday base in the Pyrenees. We have been many times and it’s easily the best place to stay if you’re after a bit of everything. Plenty of bars and restaurants and you have the natural thermal spa. The gondola runs in the summer if you want to ride some downhill or just take a hike. We’ve done white water rafting, but there’s every water/mountain sport available. Plenty of other stuff to keep the kids happy like the outdoor pool, crazy golf, climbing wall, etc. Accommodation is plentiful and therefore reasonably priced.

Florac on the Tarn fits your Brief. There’s a good camping municipal with a swimming pool next ot it.

Cerdagne/Cerdanya region? In the Pyrenees, between France and Spain and easy to get to from Girona. Plenty of walking, cycling etc and several villages/towns to choose

Our place ticks pretty well all your boxes. We can flex the accommodation to fit 4. Kayaking on the river Ebro 10km away, biking and hiking from the door and range of good quality bikes to hire. Historic castles and medieval villages nearby.
Casa Tomillo
Pm me for more info and prices.

Here’s a page from a thread about biking in Ainsa, there are some good pics on page 19 of the thread:

Buying and renovating a rural property on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees

I live in Pau and rate Ainsa the best waymarked pyrenean trails. If you feel the need for a guide and or bikes I’m sure that a PM to the thread’s owner would get you sorted.

The Pyrenees have what you want whether it be the French or the Spanish. Ribes de Freser is a good town and I’d thoroughly recommend the Vall de Nuria Rack Railway.

Wow @edukator Florac! Haven’t thought of that for years but stayed in the municipal on a lads’ hol when I was 18 (before lads’hols were a Bad Thing) and I’d love to go back.

My rec’s (live up in San Sebastian) – Garrotxa area about 45 mins from Girona. We usually camp around Besalú, I like the riding around Mare de Déu de mont. Hot in August round there though.
Also spend a lot of time camping at the far end of the Basque Pyrenees, Izaba if you want a town, or Zuritza for more remote. All the fun of the Roncal valley, and some easy 2000m+ peaks to schlep up.

Hey OP. You’ve mentioned Spanish side of the Pyrenees. I wouldn’t recommend Ainsa at all at that time of the year. The temperatures could be unpleasantly hot. Just a bit east, so closer to you, there is Benasque which will be much better and cater for what you want. Also closer still you have Val d’Aran which is a north facing Spanish valley and is beautiful. The Basque Coast is stunning too but you really need a guide because we don’t have the marked bike trails and I’m on holiday so can’t help 😉

Just a note to Bob, up in Roncal they have been cleaning new trails. I know the people doing it and they say there are 4-5 trails perfect for biking which they have prepared now. Worth an explore!

On the temperatures front, early August is the hotest time of year and heat waves are getting more frequent. From a riding perspective I don’t find there’s much difference between the north side of the Pyrenees with 40°C and high humidity, and the south side with a few degrees more but very low humidity, at least it cools off overnight in Ainsa. On the French side we become climatic refugees and move up to the ski resort to escape the heat.

The Basque coast is 5-10° cooler. I suggested Zarautz (or Guetaria, Zumaia) because between the waymarked coast path GR121 and Compostelle route, and some routes around Zumaia on a map you can get from the tourist office there’s enough riding for a few days without a guide even if Doug is on holiday. Pagoeta park above Zarautz is good but really requires local knowledge, after four visits we’ve finally got a handle on the place – stay on the trails or get told off/fined around the crosses at the top.

Benasque seems to have a lot going on. I’m considering it for a future family trip.

Andorra is great for a few days.

+1 for Bagnères-de-Luchon
also big +1 for Florac. Have been a number of times, lovely part of the world to be based. Good to explore from as well as stuff to do nearby.
Wrote this thread about riding round there some years ago
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/route-guideride-report-france-tarn-cevennes-big-post-pic-heavy/

Tend to go Atlantic end of the pyrenees these days but had a good few days here near Roddelar when my kids were a similar age. Bit basic maybe but nice remote feeling, river swimming, hiking, and did some memorable canyoning with via ferrata on the way in, sorted out by the site. Reviews still look good.

Thanks for the advice everyone, we’ve looked at the various options and narrowed it down to either Cerdanya or Andorra.
The reasoning for this was they both look great, not been there before, weather looks relatively cool (depending on elevation) and it avoids big drives – so make more of the time available.

Anyway – with that in mind, are there any specific recommendations for places to stay (either a town or a good hotel / apartment) or visit?

Thanks again!

Right, I’ve done some more searching. Andorra looks more rugged, but also a lot less pretty, lots of ski towns which look like they would be OK in the winter a a ski base, but not really very attractive – a bit bleak / concrete for the summer. Some interesting looking mountain refuges but TBH I think that’s a bit ambitious/problematic dragging our kids and gear there!

Cerdenya looks better. A couple of nice looking towns – Puigcerda – maybe a bit big, but bellver de cerdenya looks really pretty with lots of restaurants, hotels, places of interest, park naturel with walking just to the S and is probably looking front runner so far.

Any opinions?

We had a few days there about 8 years ago, staying in our camper at a site on the outskirts of Bellver. There’s plenty of walking in the Serra de Cadi and several bike routes. You’re not far from La Seu d’Urgell which hosted the white water canoeing at the Barcelona Olympics and has a watersports activity centre using the rapids, it’s perfect for all but gets busy. Can’t really remember how pretty Bellver is but the area is lovely.

Great thanks – bump for the Daytime crowd’s opinions 🙂

Carcassonne is only a couple of hours drive from Girona, well worth spending a night there (although it’ll be very busy at that time of year).