Last-Minute France Festival Road Trip

A festival road trip is one of the coolest ways to see an entire country. Travelling from festival to festival, you can check out local towns, try new things and bag yourself an amazing live music experience in one fell swoop. With May just around the corner, here’s how you can take on a last-minute festival road trip in France from the UK.

Marvellous Island, Paris

Just 20km from the centre of Paris, Marvellous Island takes over the natural park and beaches of Plage de Torcy on 8th and 9th May 2015 with live music for a full 18 hours straight. Considering this year will only be its third edition, it keeps getting better with recognised DJs, outlandish parties and exotic themes in an incredible setting. The capital’s first open-air festival, headliners this year are Adam Beyer, Monika Kruse, Nicole Moudaber and Matthias Tanzmann, for two days of house and techno. After the main event, Marvellous Island invites you to the Happy Sunday Closing party at Cabaret Sauvage on 10th May for an afternoon of electro with Barem, Nicone, Jean Nipon and Aleqs Notal. Three-day passes are still available at €99pp, or you can purchase day tickets, available from www.marvellous-island.fr.

How To Get There
By Car:

By Train: You can get to Paris on the Eurostar from St Pancras, London, to Gare du Nord, with trains to Torcy from Nord, Gare de Chatelet and Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Things To Do

In such a close proximity to the capital, why not explore the bustling and beautiful city when music isn’t filling the sky? Walk the city streets during the day, have a spot of brunch at Oh Mon Cake!! and sip cocktails or whiskey at Sherry Butt in the evening along Beautreillis, just three doors down from where lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison, tragically left us at the age of 27.

Nuits Sonores, Lyon

Five nights of electronic music await in unique locations and venues spread across the city of Lyon including galleries, warehouses, rooftops and swimming pools. From 13th – 17th May, music will come courtesy of Jamie XX, Daniel Avery, Ghostpoet, Kink, Tale Of Us and many, many more. Three-night passes have sold out, but you can still purchase the three-day pass and solo day and night passes from nuits-sonores.com.

How To Get There
By Car:

By Train: It takes about two hours to get to Lyon Part-Dieu from Paris Gare Lyon by train. You can then easily get to the events of your choice on the tram from Lyon Part-Dieu running conveniently between 4.40am and 12.35am the next day.

Things To Do

The freedom of Nuits Sonores allows you to explore the city of Lyon in east-central France. A charming city, there are wide open spaces along the Rhone River as well as narrow cobbled alleyways with cosy restaurants, cafés and bars to wine and dine. Wine drinkers will feel at home at La Cave d’à Côté, a converted 18th century wine cellar with leather sofas, communal tables, plenty of wine and charcuterie plates to match. There’s even free WIFI if you haven’t been able to get on Facebook for a while. Known as the City Of Lights, Lyon caters for night owls with comedy clubs, concert bars, piano bars and club nights that go on into the wee hours.

Papillons de Nuit,Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves

A line-up consisting of Ms Lauryn Hill, Placebo, Selah Sue and Christine And The Queens, Papillons de Nuit welcomes summer to the small village of Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves in Normandy. From 22nd – 24th May, this contemporary music festival supports the history and cultural development of its rural setting and offers local musicians a place beside international stars. In fact, more people volunteer at Papillons de Nuit than actually live in the village. Three-day, two-day and one-day passes are available from papillonsdenuit.com from just €38 and all tickets include free camping.

How To Get There
By Car:

By Train: Travelling from central-east to northern France, you can get to Avranches Station (20km from the festival site) from Lyon Part Dieu in around seven hours, with connections in Paris. With four days between Nuits Sonores and Papillons de Nuit, you can either explore Lyon, spend a few more days in Paris, or spend some time in Normandy before the festival kicks off.

Things To Do

While a pretty town, there’s not much to do in Saint-Laurent-de-Cuves. However, you can visit one of the most picturesque places in the whole of France. Le Mont Saint Michel is a stunning island commune and easy to get to from Avranches, with trains to Pontorson and onto the island every day. During high tide, access to Mont Saint Michel is prohibited, but when you do get across, you’ll be able to explore its steep cobbled streets with quaint shops selling homeware, souvenirs and chocolates, and restaurants serving shellfish, roast lamb and pancakes. With spectacular 360-degree views and tiny lights spiralling all the way up to the tower, it’s the closest we’ll probably ever come to Hogwarts.