Recommendations on how to spend two weeks around Collioure & Perpignan in the very south of France?

My wife and I are hoping to spend 2 weeks in Collioure http://collioure.com/ near the Pyrennes on the Mediterranean coast of France next year. We'd love to hear anyone's experiences and suggestions on:

Where to stay or eat in Collioure?
How busy will the theatre festival be in August?
Any places you'd recommend we visit?
What wonderful food can we expect to enjoy?

Expect the area to be cramped in August. Simplifying, half of France goes on vacation in July and the other half in August, and during that entire time, add the tourists from abroad. So normally, I'd tell you that Carcassonne is always worth a visit, however in August, you better be ready for tourist stampedes there. My parents live in the area and they downright refuse to drive to Carcassonne in high season. You could still try and see some of the Castles involved in the Albigensian Crusade, though these, too, become more and more stops for tour buses.

If you're into art, you can make a trip across the border into Spain, to Cadaques / Port Lligat to visit the house of famous surrealist painter Salvador Dal铆 or his museum in the town of Figueras. Note that at least for the house, you have to call in advance and reserve tickets. They only have a fixed number of guided tours, unguided visits are not an option. You could even simply continue along the coast to or from Collioure, it's not that far -at least as the crow flies, since you'll have to follow the cliffs, it makes for a lot of turns ;) And if you're staying in the area, a day trip to Barcelona is also an option.

I can second the recommendation to make the tour with the "little yellow train".

Overall, there's so much to see in the area that two weeks are going to be very little time, though August is just about the worst time to go there. Perpignan itself also has a lot to offer, such as the palace of the Kings of Mallorca, the old city and the Castillet city gate.

If you like wines, there is a huge variety to choose from in the area, from aperitifs or dessert wines to nice red and rose wines.

I have copied a ToGo list of someone who was there

http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-...

also I recommend that you look at the forum dedicated to Prepignan
http://www.tripadvisor.com/SearchForums?...

and ask there.

I have been there myself but not for two weeks, we visited Andorra, we toured the Pyrenees we have been to Narbonne (north of Prepignan) there is so much to see and explore but if there is a festival you better book your hotels right now as its going to be real BUSY and hot in August! Its very hot in the Mediterranean Coast, hot and humid so be prepared.

http://www.cg66.fr/ will help!

Also think about taking the train up into the mountains. You can go direct from Perpignan to a town called Villefranche (beautiful place) and then you can take the small train (petit train jaune) up to Font Romeu where you get a wonderful view out over a valley at 1800m.

Hello !

Check out :
http://www.petitfute.com/tourisme_en_fra...
http://www.es-conseil.fr/panorama/collio...
http://www.linternaute.com/sortir

Have a nice day and welcome to France,

Cat.

Hi

Hotels :
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/touris...
Villas :
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/touris...
Restaurants :
http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/touris...

You can visit the nearby area, and also do trips to Spain, Andorra, East Languedoc, Camargue, Cevennes and Provence.

Food around Collioure has Spanish influence. So, expect a lot of seafood, some paella and gardian de toro.

Bon voyage

Peter