Spring time, the season of blossoms, nice days returning...and vacations to take advantage of it. Take the train to some French destinations to be explored for a relaxing or dynamic stay! Here are our 10 ideas for a trip by train, more environmentally-friendly and more relaxing, without traffic jams, and without stress.
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Book a train ticket
Sommaire
- Wander in the forest in the Landes
- Explore Montpellier
- Enjoy the sun in the Hautes-Alpes
- Hike in Normandy
- Admire the beautiful landscapes of Grand Est
- Head to an island
- Visit the old trees of Brittany
- Take the bike for an itinerary along the Indre River.
- Explore the paths of Porquerolles
- Wander the most beautiful gardens of the Paris region
Wander in the forest in the Landes
Heading toward the Bordeaux region. South of Bordeaux, you will stop at the Teich rail station. And there, you are ready to recharge your batteries in a beautiful wooded space. You can have envigorating strolls in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park.
To take advantage of the park in a different way, you can take a canoe, an ocean kayak, or a rowboat to go down the Leyre River. There are bike routes and also the option of horseback rides.
Le Teich is one of the municipalities of the Arcachon Basin. Its ornithological park is known for finding animal life, including migratory birds such as storks. If the sun is really on the agenda, the marina has a swimming area.
Some real vacations in the heart of nature in all its diversity!
Radiate heading from Montpellier
Once in Montpellier, the world is yours... you can easily get to Nîmes or Béziers for a citybreak day, but you can also opt to take the TER to some more secret places, like Les Aresquiers beach, dive to see seahorses (no, really!) in the Thau lagoon near Sète, visit the Bambouseraie (bamboo gardens) near Alès, or take the Cévennes tourist train...
Montpellier is a Mediterranean city that is very pleasant and mild in the Spring. You will enjoy the charm of its old town, its Arceaux market, the Charles de Gaulle esplanade, its botanical garden, one of the oldest in France, is ideal in Spring and its walls are painted in street art...
Enjoy the sun in the Hautes-Alpes
Miss the February vacation in the snow? Catch up in Spring! In the Hautes-Alpes, there is still snow in Spring. Montgenèvre is accessible by train and offers 100km of runs, between 1860 and 2450m in elevation, many activities and a water sport centre to relax. Montgenèvre is one of the last resorts in the region to close, on 28 April.
In the mountains in Spring, you can go cross-country skiing, sledding, snow-shoeing, or simply hiking in the mountains.
Hike on the Sentier des Douaniers trail in Normandy
Nature is reawakening, it’s a time to get out and follow the coast, between the sea and nature, cliffs and wide beaches, the iodized air in your lungs and walking shoes on your feet. The Sentier des Douaniers trail follows the coast, but the nicest section to do in the Spring is the one in the department of the Manche.
The GR®223 connects Carantan to the Mont Saint-Michel. The cliffs of the Hague overlook dunes and beaches, the wild natural landscapes, like the Nez de Jobourg, an ornithological reserve where you can best see the European shags and European herring gulls. Each headland warrants its own photo or inspires mediation: Carteret, Hague, Flamanville, Fermanville.
Enjoy the beautiful landscapes of Grand Est
Grand Est is a vary nature-filled region between the vineyards of Champagne, the canals of Strasbourg, the mountains of the Vosges, the Lac du Der, the Lorraine Regional Natural Park... You will have a choice of many destinations to head off for the green of Spring.
The Lorraine Regional Natural Park is the perfect setting for vacations in Spring. You will immerse yourself in nature, between forests, rivers, lakes, orchards, prairies, and villages, on foot, by bike, along the water... Near Pont-à-Mousson, the Lorraine Regional Natural Park takes its name from “the little Switzerland in Lorraine” where the hiking trails will offer you some nice hikes but also the chance to observe migratory birds, which are plentiful in the region in Spring.
The Voie Bleue cycle route lets you bike from Pont-à Mousson > Nancy In 3:20, you can travel 33km by following the towpath along the old Moselle canal. And you can return by TER.
Partez sur une île
Feel like being surrounded by the sea without waiting for summer? The île de Ré is the perfect destination, because it is very easily accessible by bus from the La Rochelle rail station and is decked with flowers in Spring.
This island is a cyclist’s paradise, everything is doable by bike, like the crossing of the saltworks. Saint-Martin-en-Ré is the "Capital" of the Ile de Ré, and as it was fortified by Vauban, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here, the donkeys wear pyjamas and the white walls of the houses are covered in hollyhocks.
And since you are on an island, you have fresh fish at the market, walks on the beach to be enjoyed, and water sports to suit your whim. 100km of coastline to learn to paddle, surf, kite surf, and much more nautical activities.
Visit the old trees of Brittany
Do you also need to reconnect to nature this Spring? To cuddle up against a tree? Or just admire the finest trees in Brittany? The remarkable trees represent a heritage due to their rarity, their dimensions, their position, their age, and just their symbolic strength and the legends that have grown up around them.
To see at least one of them during your Spring vacation in Brittany, head to Paimpont. There you can see a beautify abbey before you head off on your hike.
On the Circuit of the Korrigans, which will take you through the Brocéliande forest, don’t search for Merlin’s tomb (which is there as well) but Guillotin’s Oak, the most spectacular tree in the area, which measures 9.6m in circumference!
>>Your train tickets for Rennes, then the Line 1a Breizhgo bus will take you directly to Paimpont.
Take the bike for an itinerary along the Indre River.
Do you know the Indre, a tributary to the Loire? This 280km-long waterway runs from Saint-Priest-la-Marche in the department of Cher (northeast of Limoges), joining the Loire at Avoine (near Saumur)
The biking itinerary that follows the Indre travels 200km between country roads, villages, and major tourist sites of the old Touraine province, including some Châteaux of the Loire. For example, the 100km itinerary from the Château of Azay-le-Rideau to Château of Chenonceaux, goes by the Montbazon fortress, the Martinière Arboretum, “City of art and history” of Loches, the village of Chédigny and its 800 rose bushes...
To continue the cycling adventure, you can combine the Loire by Bike itinerary with Chenonceaux or Azay-le-Rideau. The Loire by Bike is a 900km itinerary between Cuffy (near Nevers) and Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique).
Explore the paths of Porquerolles
Porquerolles is part of the îles d’Or archipelago. From Hyères, a bus will take you to the boat and, just 20 minutes later, you’re there. There are 56km of trails to walk or cycle (rentals available in the port). Lovely beaches, abundant nature, this car-free island seems like it’s in another place and time.
Hyères is a charming little city and an excellent starting point to discover the region: Toulon and its harbour, the charming village of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Pradet beach, the wild Giens peninsula, the seaside resort of La-Londe-les-Maures, l’île du Port-Cros…
Wander the most beautiful gardens of the Paris region
When you think of Paris or the Paris region for your Spring vacation, do you even imagine immersing yourself in nature? Yet, the region has many beautiful gardens of all sorts: artistic, contemporary, kitchen, rose, remarkable...
Paris is magnificent in the Spring: the roofs of Paris from Montmartre, the Luxembourg, Tuileries, or Buttes Chaumont gardens, a walk in Père Lachaise cemetery or a street art tour of the 14th arrondissement... there are always discoveries to be made in the French capital. And to immerse yourself in green, the Fontainebleau forest is very easy to access by train.
