South of France Photo Diary & Travel Guide

When I say ‘South of France’, I’m sure glamorous images of Cannes, St. Tropez and the Côte d'Azur spring to your mind. That’s all I regarded it as too, until I was invited along on a recent trip with family and friends to the southern region of Languedoc-Roussillon. You’ll have seen from my Instagram and Snapchat I spend a stunning few days away in the sun here. Languedoc is a historical coastal region in southern France that extends from Provence to the Pyrenees Mountains and the Spanish border, and is frankly one of the most beautiful, scenic places I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. So much so, I thought I'd put together a travel guide to share with you some of my favourite places we had the chance to see.

Carcassonne

Our villa was up on a hill in Carcassone, a town in the Languedoc region that’s famous for it’s medieval citadel, La Cité. Walking around the still-in-tact castle and forts was honestly like walking back in time, except now the narrow streets are lined with the boutiques, sweet and ice-cream shops and quaint restaurants – a real shopping haven for authentic and traditional southern french goods. 

Outside of La Cité and into the town, you’ll find a few more designer shops and even a Sephora, with lots more places for dinner around the Place Carnot. Our favourite restaurant was Au Lard et au Cochon, tucked away on a quaint street near the square. The portions are pretty mammoth but the food was i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e, from duck breast salads to pork belly and an amazing take on the local signature dish, Cassoulet, it was the best we ate the entire trip. 

Though we explored the best parts of Carcassonne itself in the first couple of days, what was also great about this historic little town was it’s location. As you can see, the villa was plonked in the most scenic of surroundings so days and evenings spent there were just as enjoyable as those spent exploring but it was, however, ideally located to explore some other beautiful parts of Languedoc.

Collioure
We hired a couple of rental cars between us (a definite must in the rural regions, so if you don’t drive – bring a mate that does) so had the freedom to explore new places on the days we wanted to. My favourite place we visited was the beautiful beach town of Collioure. In fact, it's up there with Amalfi Coast and Mykonos in terms of my favourite places ever. It's also only an hours drive from Barcelona so worth a day trip if you're visiting there too!

It's about an hour and a half drive from Carcassone (traffic depending) but so, so worth the travel time. Plus, it's all pretty scenic with views of the Pyraneés and quaint villages in rural France. Parking is a bit of a nightmare so I' suggest getting there early, we parked at the top and spent some time wandering down through the old pastel-hued town. Full of quaint shops, creperies and plenty of fish restaurants, it's a really gorgeous place to wander through. As you can see the beach is nestled in a beautiful little cove filled with small fishing boats, white pebbles and the iconic old clock tower. We had scorching hot weather the day we visited so the clear blue skies made the whole thing pretty as a painting.

Food-wise, it's worth taking note nearly all of the restaurants don't serve food between 4pm-6pm to give their staff a break, something our friends unfortunately discovered when they arrived later in the day! My parents and I arrived a little earlier so I had time to devour an epic seafood platter at a beachside restaurant whilst taking in the gorgeous views before spending the afternoon soaking up the sun by the sea. I forget the names of the restaurants on the front (doh) but there's only two main ones and we tried them both for lunch then dinner, both are a good price with similar menus.

Chateau de Queribus
This mountian-top, historical ruin took us the longest to get too. This was, however aided by Google maps originally taking us to the wrong place (watch out for that!). But to be honest, none of us really minded as the whole drive was so, so beautiful it didn't matter. You can see better photos of the actual ruins here (it was hard to take them once we reached the top), but I'd say it's a place worth visiting for the views alone.

There's not much by way of food or drink when you get there (bar a small shop selling soft drinks and some crisps) so I'd recommend taking a picnic and enjoying some lunch whilst taking in the views. It's a nice little hike to the top of the castle, but it's pretty uneven sure you wear good walking shoes – my new Teva's were absolutely brilliant for exploring this place. You can drive most of the way up through some long and winding roads that take you high up the mountains, it was a little tedious and our ears were popping like crazy but the panoramic scenes you're greeted with at the top make it all worth it.

Hope you've enjoyed this series of photos and my mini travel guide. Thanks for reading as always, links to everything I'm wearing in this post are below.

In order of appearance: Privacy Please pink stripe maxi via Revolve, Triangl bikini, Anita & Green bomber, Missguided white denim shorts, Asos western belt, Bimba y Lola rope sandals (similar), Privacy Please mint dress via Revolve, Motel Rocks tie strap slip dress, Ghost silk gown, Yellow crochet bikini, ABAD x Missguided black bikini top, Teva sandals.

When I say ‘South of France’, I’m sure glamorous images of Cannes, St. Tropez and the Côte d'Azur spring to your mind. That’s all I regarded it as too, until I was invited along on a recent trip with family and friends to the southern region of Languedoc-Roussillon. You’ll have seen from my Instagram and Snapchat I spend a stunning few days away in the sun here. Languedoc is a historical coastal region in southern France that extends from Provence to the Pyrenees Mountains and the Spanish border, and is frankly one of the most beautiful, scenic places I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. So much so, I thought I'd put together a travel guide to share with you some of my favourite places we had the chance to see.

Carcassonne

Our villa was up on a hill in Carcassone, a town in the Languedoc region that’s famous for it’s medieval citadel, La Cité. Walking around the still-in-tact castle and forts was honestly like walking back in time, except now the narrow streets are lined with the boutiques, sweet and ice-cream shops and quaint restaurants – a real shopping haven for authentic and traditional southern french goods. 

Outside of La Cité and into the town, you’ll find a few more designer shops and even a Sephora, with lots more places for dinner around the Place Carnot. Our favourite restaurant was Au Lard et au Cochon, tucked away on a quaint street near the square. The portions are pretty mammoth but the food was i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e, from duck breast salads to pork belly and an amazing take on the local signature dish, Cassoulet, it was the best we ate the entire trip. 

Though we explored the best parts of Carcassonne itself in the first couple of days, what was also great about this historic little town was it’s location. As you can see, the villa was plonked in the most scenic of surroundings so days and evenings spent there were just as enjoyable as those spent exploring but it was, however, ideally located to explore some other beautiful parts of Languedoc.

Collioure
We hired a couple of rental cars between us (a definite must in the rural regions, so if you don’t drive – bring a mate that does) so had the freedom to explore new places on the days we wanted to. My favourite place we visited was the beautiful beach town of Collioure. In fact, it's up there with Amalfi Coast and Mykonos in terms of my favourite places ever. It's also only an hours drive from Barcelona so worth a day trip if you're visiting there too!

It's about an hour and a half drive from Carcassone (traffic depending) but so, so worth the travel time. Plus, it's all pretty scenic with views of the Pyraneés and quaint villages in rural France. Parking is a bit of a nightmare so I' suggest getting there early, we parked at the top and spent some time wandering down through the old pastel-hued town. Full of quaint shops, creperies and plenty of fish restaurants, it's a really gorgeous place to wander through. As you can see the beach is nestled in a beautiful little cove filled with small fishing boats, white pebbles and the iconic old clock tower. We had scorching hot weather the day we visited so the clear blue skies made the whole thing pretty as a painting.

Food-wise, it's worth taking note nearly all of the restaurants don't serve food between 4pm-6pm to give their staff a break, something our friends unfortunately discovered when they arrived later in the day! My parents and I arrived a little earlier so I had time to devour an epic seafood platter at a beachside restaurant whilst taking in the gorgeous views before spending the afternoon soaking up the sun by the sea. I forget the names of the restaurants on the front (doh) but there's only two main ones and we tried them both for lunch then dinner, both are a good price with similar menus.

Chateau de Queribus
This mountian-top, historical ruin took us the longest to get too. This was, however aided by Google maps originally taking us to the wrong place (watch out for that!). But to be honest, none of us really minded as the whole drive was so, so beautiful it didn't matter. You can see better photos of the actual ruins here (it was hard to take them once we reached the top), but I'd say it's a place worth visiting for the views alone.

There's not much by way of food or drink when you get there (bar a small shop selling soft drinks and some crisps) so I'd recommend taking a picnic and enjoying some lunch whilst taking in the views. It's a nice little hike to the top of the castle, but it's pretty uneven sure you wear good walking shoes – my new Teva's were absolutely brilliant for exploring this place. You can drive most of the way up through some long and winding roads that take you high up the mountains, it was a little tedious and our ears were popping like crazy but the panoramic scenes you're greeted with at the top make it all worth it.

Hope you've enjoyed this series of photos and my mini travel guide. Thanks for reading as always, links to everything I'm wearing in this post are below.

In order of appearance: Privacy Please pink stripe maxi via Revolve, Triangl bikini, Anita & Green bomber, Missguided white denim shorts, Asos western belt, Bimba y Lola rope sandals (similar), Privacy Please mint dress via Revolve, Motel Rocks tie strap slip dress, Ghost silk gown, Yellow crochet bikini, ABAD x Missguided black bikini top, Teva sandals.