Port Vendres and Collioure are two small towns in the Occitanie region of France. Situated close to the Spanish border, Port Vendres has a small fishing harbour while around the headland, Collioure is more of a seaside destination with a shallow, sandy beach.
Useful links for your trip: cheap flights to Perpignan
Both towns are accessible by train (3 minutes apart) and the nearest mainline station is Perpignan, but it is only a 30-minute walk between the two.
My trip was from Limoux to Port Vendres by car along the D118 to Quillan, then the D117 to Perpignan and D914 to Port Vendres. The journey takes just over 2 hours. It is quicker going by the A61/A9 but driving through the vineyards after Axat is much more scenic.
On arrival at Port Vendres, you drive down a steep road into the town where there is a fairly large public car park at the harbour.
Visiting Port Vendres harbour
To the left of the car park is the more commercial area and to the right, the more tourist area with shops and restaurants.
At the head of the harbour, you can buy fish straight from the boats and freshly grilled sardines here as well.
Walking down the harbourside, there are several places to stop for coffee but chose Bar la Quai as it had plenty of outdoor seating with good harbour views.
Port Vendres
A walk down the harbourside along Quai Pierre Forgas and, turning the corner, you can see a domed building on your right. This is an exhibition centre which houses the Charles Rennie Mackintosh museum.
The exhibits mainly focus on his later life and painting and not so much on his architecture, but it is an interesting insight into his work when he lived in Port Vendres. It is better to check with the tourist office (just beside the car park, at the top of the harbour) when the museum is open, as the times vary.
Back to the car for the journey along the D114 to Collioure. The road winds its way along the cliff tops with good views of the Mediterranean. There is a small car park on the right, but it is probably better to go further on where there is much larger car park nearer the town centre.
Collioure
There is a small harbour and, there is a beach just beyond the breakwater (Boramar beach). The church (Église Notre Dame des Anges) is at one end of the beach, built in the 17th Century with a tower that was once a lighthouse. A cool refuge on a very hot day!
Close by the church was the restaurant L’insolite which was very convenient for lunch and had a view back along the beach.
There are several other restaurants but most of them tend to be in the streets behind the Boulavard du Boramar.
Lunch was good value (18 – 35 euros) and was served quickly. There were also vegetarian and gluten free options.
After lunch it was a walk along the breakwater to the old lighthouse. You can only go within about 5 metres of it before the path is gated off. The pathway itself is rather narrow, especially if there are a lot of people walking along with the same idea.
After relaxing in the shade, it was time to head back to the car for the journey home.
There are several beaches to explore along this part of the coastline, the longest probably being Argelès Plage. Again, this is only a 30-minute bus ride from Collioure, and all the three towns are connected by rail.
Next time, I think a longer stay, perhaps a three-day break would be better to explore the coastline and the towns. However, they are definitely worth a visit and a change from the more popular resorts.
