Camping Les Tropiques

Should you find time among all the attractions to escape into the outside world, it’ll take you 10 minutes or so to trot down to the beach at Torreilles, where a long stretch of sand awaits for fun and games (or to sleep off the night before, perchance). There’s safe swimming in the lifeguarded area, access for disabled visitors and a dog-friendly area for accompanying canine chums. If it’s yet more activity you seek, there are pony rides, paintballing games, a go-karting circuit and a jetski park within a 10-minute drive or half-hour walk. For something a little gentler, hire paddleboards, canoes or kayaks from the town's watersports centre to paddle down the Bourdigoul river for a beach stopover. Club-wielders can play a round of golf on the 18-hole course half an hour away. Heading out of town, 20 minutes’ drive will take you either to the 16th-century Salses Fortress or to Cases-de-Pène to join trips up into the Pyrenees on the famed Yellow Train. It’s also about a 20-minute drive to get to Perpignan, to visit the historic big hitters – the Palace of the Kings of Majorca, the Campo Santo and the Castillet are top picks – or just to poke about in the palm-lined squares and smart arcades. (Keep a particular eye out for the pink marble paving of the Place de la Loge).