9 Cool Ideas for Zone B School Holidays

First day of school holidays!  Here are some suggestions for things to see and do to keep your kids entertained for the next few weeks.

1.  Take them to Top Marques Monaco held the second week of school holidays. Any child into supercars, cool gadgets or hover boards will love it. Saturday and Sunday have the cheaper tickets and kids under 6 years of age are free every day.

Top Marques Monaco – supercars and more

2. Head to Gonfaron and see the tortoises at the Village des Tortues.  The best way to get there from Cannes/Nice is to go on the A8 until Le Luc en Provence (exit 57) and follow the road to Toulon until you get to the Village.  There is a playground onsite and picnic areas.

Village des Tortues at Gonfaron

3. Discover some playgrounds in other towns on the French Riviera that you don’t always go to.

One of our favourite playgrounds – Parc des Loisirs in Opio has playground equipment plus cycling tracks

4. Visit some art museums on the French Riviera – many are free entry for kids so if your kids get bored you haven’t wasted your money.

5. Parc Phoenix is one of our favourites because it has a good mix of everything and covers a range of ages from toddler age upwards.  There is a playground, musical fountain, greenhouse with flamingos, beautiful tropical plants, mini aquarium and alligators, small animal enclosures with birds, meerkats, otters, snack kiosk for ice creams etc and you also get free entry to the adjacent Musée des Arts Asiatiques.

Car parking is free for up to 2 hours at the underground facility next to the park; entry is a bargain at €3 per adults and kids under 12 years are free of charge.

Parc Phoenix, highly recommended for families

6. Go cycling – the promenade from Villeneuve Loubet all the way to Nice is perfect for some time on the bike, the pathway is flat and paved all the way and there are enough cafés along the way especially at St Laurent du Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer to stop for a drink.  Or visit the bike park at Mougins for some off-road dirt track action.

7. Act like sleuths and follow one of the many family-friendly treasure hunts across the French Riviera and Var, some of them have prizes to win from the Tourist Offices year round.

8. The adventure parks at Villeneuve Loubet are all excellent and reopen for the year from Easter school holidays – try Bois des Lutins for toddler age, Pitchoun Forest for over 3 years, Le Village des Fous for 4 years upwards and Canyon Forest for 8 years upwards.

9. Take a trip to the Alpha Parc des Loups.  A ‘Pass Famille’ is great value for 2 adults and 2 kids (€30); kids under 4 years are free year round.  Situated at 1500 metres there’s still snow in the park so dress appropriately; it’s a pretty cool experience for kids to see the wolves in the snow.  Nearby, the Lac du Boréon is a pretty spot for a photo or two and adventurists types can visit the Centre Nordique to climb the 15-metre high cascade de glace, an artificial ice-climbing waterfall (from 10 years old).

Alpha Parc des Loups

Please share this post on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you!

 

Activities – VILLENEUVE LOUBET (Le Bois des Lutins)

Last Sunday we took our son to Les Bois du Lutins in Villeneuve Loubet.  It is a adventure play park located in a forested area and is suited for children from 2 years and older.

There is plenty of carparking and the park has many trees so is well shaded on hot days, and there are lots of picnic tables so you can take your own food.   They have inflatable play equipment including castles and wheels, zip lines, climbing nets, ball pits, 2 luge tracks, tunnels, and wooden games.  There is a water-misting area that continuously sprays water which is welcome on hot days.

The park has many picnic tables but there is also a snack kiosk onsite that sells icecreams, cold drinks and sandwiches.  All toilets are accessible and there are baby changing facilities onsite at the toilets located by the snack kiosk.

The park is on flat ground so it is stroller-friendly and is wheelchair accessible (though the activities are mostly climbing or crawling so your child would need good mobility for the attractions).  Adults are encouraged to join in with the fun; I crawled through a tunnel for the first time in 25 years and enjoyed the luge with my son.

Family tip:  You must purchase your entry for Le Bois des Lutins from the adjacent park ‘LabyFolies’ which is opposite the entrance to Le Bois des Lutins.

For a map of the park and opening hours visit their website www.leboisdeslutins.com