La Jonquera

This border town is actually in Spain, not France, but if you are staying in the area around Perpignan then the frontier is too close and too tempting not to cross for maybe just a day. La Jonquera used to be a wild-west type of place but in recent years, it has developed into a sizeable commercial centre. The reason we mention it is because it makes a good stopping-off point on your way to or from the popular Costa Brava and the shops here offer really good value. Whereas they might not be actually duty free, they always seem to have bigger sizes and better promotions available than most French hypermarkets. For lunch we recommend the Albergo de Jonquera where there is an extraordinary, all-you-can-eat buffet for only a few euros per person.