The south of France in brief
From the French Riviera to the Pyrenees
 The South of France, the regions that make up what the French refer to as "le Midi",
is generally speaking the most popular tourist region in France, and
needs little introduction. The coastal region is very busy in Summer,
and travelling to the south of France by car on a summer Saturday can
be a nightmare experience; but the region has masses to offer, in terms
of climate, history, and landscape.
The French
Riviera itself is a small part of the south of France, the thin coastal
strip from around Cassis (east of Marseille) in the west to the Italian
border in the east. It is a coastline that gets very crowded in summer,
though on account of the rocky coastline, there are still some quiet
and peaceful spots to be found.
Those who do not want to
spend their holidays being mass-grilled on a beach will prefer areas
inland from the coastal strip, notably to the hills and mountains of Provence,with their dry landscapes and deep river gorges and valleys, or the valleys of the Cevennes, more wooded and rural, or the inland areas of the Languedoc, with their huge vineyards and "garrigue", arid rocky Mediteranean hills with their vegetation  of
scrub, aromatic bushes and occasional fields. On their southern
flanc, the Massif Central mountains are similar to those in upper
Provence, and cut through by deep valleys such as that of the Tarn.
(photo).
The area has a lot of historic cities, such as Nimes with its superb Roman remains, Avignon with its famous bridge, Arles, and the university town of Aix en Provence. The Languedoc region coast offers large expanses of sandy beaches, between popular modern resorts such as Cap d'Agde or Le Grau du Roi.
The Pyrenees, forming a natural land barrier between France and Spain,
are a beautiful range of high mountains, thickly wooded on their lower
slopes, but offering good mountain and hill walking higher up - not to
mention the attraction of day trips into Spain, and also skiing in winter.
The biggest city in the Pyrenees area, Pau, was in the early 19th
century a favourite haunt of English travellers. On the Spanish side,
the Pyrenees are much drier. Between the Pyrenees and the southern
flank of the Massif Central, southwest France is in summer a land of
warm rolling hills and valleys, a rich agricultural area famous for its
abundant crops and cereals.
 In the Midi-Pyrenees region,
Historic cities such as Toulouse, the "pink city", and Albi, with its
astonishing fortified mediaeval cathedral built almost entirely of red
brick, are rich in atmosphere. But if you're driving down from the UK
or northern Europe, don't underestimate the journey time, and remember
too that these areas can get very hot in summer.
The French Riviera
("la Côte d'Azur") itself is fairly heavily built up in many parts, and
accommodation is expensive, particularly in the most famous resorts
like St. Tropez, Cannes or Nice. The mountainous hinterland, on the
other hand, the "Alpes de Haute Provence" and the "Alpes Maritimes", is
very attractive, with its small villages and towns, many of them
perched precariously on hillsides or beside trickling rivers that
become raging torrents in the springtime.
Main cities:
Toulouse, Pau, Montpellier, Marseilles, Toulon, Nice
Going further:
Accommodation:
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